Drivet bakom klivet - en studie av drivkrafterna bakom steget från näringsliv till ideell sektor
The Swedish nonprofit sector is experiencing a sectoral change, moving closer to the corporate sector to become more commercialized. The recruitment of leaders with corporate experience constitutes one of the factors influencing this development. Hence, to create an understanding of this sectoral change, the thesis aims to investigate the motivational forces underlying the leaders' decisions to work within the nonprofit sector. Additionally, the thesis seeks an understanding of why the leaders' decisions were made later in their careers. Through conducting qualitative interviews with leaders representing top management of six humanitarian organizations in Sweden, the study finds that nonprofit leaders with corporate background, analogous to volunteers and employees, are motivated by a sense of relatedness to the vision of the organization. What distinguishes these leaders are instead other motivational forces, contradictively associated both to the perceived differences between the sectors as well as the sectoral change contributing to the sectors becoming more alike. The leaders identify an inspiring challenge, a possibility to influence an organization, and an appealing career opportunity. The sectoral change also explains the late entry to the nonprofit sector. For the leaders expressing an early desire to work within the nonprofit sector, the sectoral change contributes to the feeling of their competence being both applicable within and demanded by the sector. The sectoral change also enables an understanding of the nonprofit sector being a comparable alternative to the corporate sector. Consequently, the decision to work within the nonprofit sector is made, not only by leaders with an expressed desire to do so, but also by leaders who previously did not consider a career within the sector.