An exploration of stewardship theory in a Not-for-Profit organisation

Abstract

The aim of this study is to understand the ability of stewardship theory, as compared with agency theory, to explain motivation of the staff in a Not-for-Profit (NFP) organisation. Agency theory is seen as providing an explanation of motivation in the business sector however we argue that the different cultural and organisational conditions weaken the explanatory power of agency theory in the NFP sector. In pursuing this investigation, we were mindful of Brinberg's (2009) encouragement for a more outward-looking approach to management accounting issues and in particular his call for the use qualitative research methods and to allow practice to inform theory.

Keywords:

• Intrinsic rewards
• Extrinsic rewards
• Motivation
• Not-for-Profit organisations