A Preliminary Study of Neuro-Linguistic Programming in Nonprofit Organizations

Abstract

Knowledge and learning capabilities assist organizations to become more innovative and adaptive as the capabilities help organizations to recognize and assimilate knowledge and apply it toward new ends. The development of the capabilities becomes critical if organizations are to become and remain competitive. Previous literature-based research suggests that Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) helps to facilitate the development of knowledge and learning capabilities in organizations. NLP suggests that subjective experience is encoded in terms of three main representation systems namely: Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic (VAK). Based on 15 qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews across 7 Australian nonprofit organizations, this chapter argues that NLP may be used as a key approach for nurturing organizational knowledge and learning capabilities for innovation in the knowledge economy. Examples are used in the chapter to illustrate the possible benefits of utilizing NLP in developing the capabilities for organizational innovativeness. Future research direction and limitations are also discussed.