Exploring organizational performance: A case study of four Christian organizations in Nigeria

This research demonstrates how the performances of Christian organizations are influenced by their organizational models, accountability and evaluation. Organizational performances influence the flow of participants and resources to and from organizations as well as facilitate the achievement of organizational mission. This study provides a platform for synthesizing relevant organizational theories on leadership, culture, climate, ecology, and accountability as well as applying them in organizational analysis.;Integrating insights from organizational studies, management theory, missiology, theology, metaphorical sociology and culture theory, this study used a qualitative research methodology to examine the organizational factors that influence the performances of church and other Christian mission organizations in cross-cultural mission.;Employing the case-study approach gave access to multiple data collection sources. The organizations selected for this case study were the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), the Foursquare Gospel Church Nigeria (FGCN), the Calvary Ministries (CAPRO) and the Great Commission Movement (GCM). In-depth interviews, focus groups, and documents were the main data collection sources used, with event observation and survey questionnaires as supplementary sources. Data analysis was carried out primarily through grounded theory with content analysis used for the initial analysis of data from documents and survey questionnaires.;Through grounded theory, data analysis was processed using open, axial and selective coding. Ten themes emerged from the analysis, which led to the development of three theoretical constructs from which a theoretical narrative was generated for this research exploring some organizational factors influencing performance of Christian organizations.;Acknowledging the contributions of other factors to organizational performance, this study found that performance hinged on the organizational life. The organizational life was shaped by the organizational model, which defined the organizational accountability; while accountability influenced organizational evaluation, which facilitated the building of the organizational capacity for performance.;The research findings also helped in proposing a missional framework for analyzing and enhancing performances of Christian organizations in cross-cultural mission. It is hoped that this is one of the contributions of this research to organizational studies.