Toward a Measure of Innovation in Nonprofit Organizations: Scale Development and Nomological Validation

Although innovation plays an important role in attaining competitive advantage for any organization, no currently available scale is adequate for the measurement of organizational innovation in nonprofit organizations (NPOs). Through a concise review of the literature, three dimensions of nonprofit organizational innovation (NOI) were identified. A cross-sectional survey methodology was used to collect the data. Based on exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, we constructed the NOI scale, with three factors and 12 items. Reliability and validity assessments provided evidence of the scale´s psychometric property. Organizational innovation was found to be a significant predictor of organizational performance in NPOs. This study used a convenience sampling method which may limit its generalizability to other respondents. Future research should investigate other different industries and cultures outside of the industrial associations and community medical institutions examined in the current study. Furthermore, the antecedents and consequences of NOI need to be investigated in future studies.