Spanning “Bleeding” Boundaries: Humanitarianism,NGOs, and the Civilian‐Military Nexus in the Post–Cold War Era

How do nongovernmental (NGO), international (IO), and military organizations cope with their dependencies and address their perceptual and real differences in order to coordinate their field operations? This question is addressed through the creation of a matrix grouping civilian (NGOs and IOs) and military operations into four general types: peacekeeping; disaster relief; complex humanitarian emergencies/warfare; and stabilization and reconstruction. Second, using Galbraith's information processing approach to organizational design, a range of formal coordination mechanisms that organizations use at the strategic and operational levels to help them cope with their dependencies in different field operations is identified. Third, the author underscores how communities of practice are emerging as informal mechanisms of coordination among civilian and military organizations. And finally, a framework of organizational forms that views communities of practice as an alternative to hierarchy and markets is offered. Believing communities of practice hold the most promise for coordination in the human security domain when hierarchies are politically untenable and markets lack accountability, the author concludes with implications for interorganization coordination research and practice.     

农民工NGO建设的政策需求与生成路径

农民工的出现是中国社会转型的必然;农民工为社会的发展做出了重大贡献.但是,其合法权益却没有得到应有保护.而农民工仅凭个人的力量往往难以维护自身的合法权益,从而产生了对组织的需求.农民工非政府组织(NGO)为保护农民工合法权益提供了组织保障.然而,农民工NGO的建设是一个长期而复杂的工程,许多问题值得探讨.试图通过对实际情况的分析,对农民工NGO的建设目标、政策需求和生成路径进行探讨.通过文献研究法和个人观察归纳法,认为农民工NGO的建设依然面临着法律、经费、制度、人才等方面的困境.根据农民工的实际需求和组织的生存困境,得出:现阶段农民工NGO的建设目标应该是发展面向基层的能够解决实际问题的基层组织.政府应该给予农民工NGO提供政策支持,包括进入与退出政策、资金与资助政策、制度与技术政策和人才与人事政策,从而推动农民工NGO的内生路径和外生路径的协调发展.     

After the halcyon days: the anti-/alterglobalization movement and international organizations, 1996–2011

Why are relations between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and international organizations (IOs) sometimes conflictual and other times collaborative? This article evaluates hypotheses in the international relations and social movements literatures with reference to relations between NGOs associated with the anti-/alterglobalization movement and multilateral economic institutions (MEIs). Drawing on an original database and interviews with MEI and NGO staff members, the article shows that attributes of NGOs – including NGO budgets, ideology, and organizational structure – rather than the political or economic environment better account not only for an overall increase in collaboration with IOs since the late 1990s, but also for a growing divergence among NGOs regarding the acceptability of such collaboration.     

MOVING INTO THE NEW AID APPROACH,DILEMMAS FOR NGOs: THE BELGIAN CASE

Under the new aid approach, nongovernmental development organizations (NGOs) are expected to move from “delivery” (service delivery projects) to “leverage” (lobbying and advocacy). In line with this international tendency, the Belgian government has signed a pact with the NGO sector in which a move away from delivery and toward leverage is being proposed. Given that Belgian NGOs are heavily dependent on government funding and strongly oriented toward the “delivery” model, this pact implies that a number of NGOs will have to undergo organizational changes. This article shows that there is a major cleavage in the NGO landscape in Belgium. Some organizations clearly favor the leverage, whereas others prefer the delivery roles. Those that are more dependent on government funding tend to incline toward the leverage orientation. The attitudinal orientation toward the leverage model however does not imply that organizations are effectively willing and able to change. A number of identity and legitimacy concerns are perceived by NGOs to be important sources of organizational inertia. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Management standards and development practice in the South African aid chain

The article addresses how South African non‐governmental organisations (NGOs) approach the management of their development activities and the influences upon their approaches. Based on interviews, field visits and programme documents from 40 organisations working in South Africa, the article explores the extent to which NGO programme priorities and adopted management practices arise out of donor conditions, succeed in their stated aims and generate other unintended consequences. Four aspects of contemporary NGO management dynamics are explored: logical frameworks, participatory processes, impact enhancement and financial probity. While donor requirements in these four areas generally impose heavy costs on South African NGOs and poorly achieve their stated aims, the research documents cases, in which local managers were able to work effectively and learn within these constraints, found ways around the more intrusive requirements, or challenged donors to change their policies to permit more equitable donor‐recipient relationships and better development practice. However, an unintended impact of tighter funding requirements is an observable differentiation within the South African NGO sector, with smaller community‐based organisations excluded as larger professional organisations establish more enduring links with international development organisations. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

NGO Accountability from an NGO Perspective: Perceptions,Strategies, and Practices

Extant research in the nonprofit literature focuses on non‐governmental organization (NGO) accountability, framing it relationally. We examine the interplay of several constitutive elements of NGO–donor relationships based on narratives of NGO executives and other staff: NGO perceptions of accountability and of their donors, their assumptions about donor perceptions of the NGO role and expectations of NGO accountability, and their responses to shifts in donor funding. We argue that perceptions and practices of accountability do not only determine to whom an NGO should be primarily accountable but also shape NGO behavior and alter dependence on donors. As such, accountability is not necessarily a consequence of a relationship, but more likely a constitutive element of the relationship. While a favorable response to donor interests might signify upward accountability, it might also suggest that NGOs are more assertive about managing their institutional environments, thereby mitigating their dependence on donors. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

近年来我国草根NGO问题研究综述

草根NGO在社会的各个领域发挥着不可替代的作用,但其理论研究滞后于实践的发展。通过对草根NGO问题的研究现状(包括草根NGO的概念、发展困境以及应用对策建议的研究)的综述,梳理当前我国对草根NGO的大致研究脉络,找出现有研究存在的不足,并为今后的深入研究寻找方向。     

Influence of leadership style on job satisfaction of NGO employee: The mediating role of psychological empowerment

The objective of this investigation is to analyze the impact of leadership styles on frontline employee psychological empowerment, and thereby, improving the job satisfaction level of employees. A questionnaire‐based survey was conducted in nongovernmental organization (NGO) functioning in two major cities (Islamabad and Peshawar) of Pakistan, analyzing a total sample size of 319. Structural equation modeling results revealed that transformational leadership style has a significant association with job satisfaction, and the effect is partially mediated by the psychological empowerment. Conversely, findings showed that the relationship between transactional leadership and psychological empowerment was insignificant. Though, there existed a direct positive relationship between transactional leadership and job satisfaction. This research makes an important contribution in the area of leadership, which can be useful for NGOs to recognize the importance of leadership and encourage psychological empowerment of frontline employees. The findings also provide significant implications for organizations to understand better the importance of leadership, which will be helpful to enhance organizational success.     

Is Trafficking Slavery? Anti-Slavery International in the Twenty-first Century

Why was Anti-Slavery International (ASI) so effective at changing norms slavery and even mobilizing the support that ended the transatlantic slave trade at the end of the nineteenth century, and why has that success not continued on into subsequent eras? This article claims that ASI's organizational structure is the key to understanding why its accomplishments in earlier eras have yet to be replicated, and why today it struggles to make modern forms of slavery, such as human trafficking, salient political issues. Organizational structure is defined by how an NGO distributes power over agenda-setting (proposal and enforcement power) and its implementation. Those NGOs that centralize agenda-setting and decentralize the implementation of that agenda will be most effective at changing international norms. This paper demonstrates the tractability of that claim with a comparative analysis of ASI past and present to show that changes in organizational structure have led to differences in their effect on international norms, in spite of the fact that slavery in its modern forms persists as a political and social problem.     

Partnering to beckon them home: public‐sector innovation for diaspora foreign investment promotion

This article examines a little‐studied component of public administration existing in most countries around the world and particularly important for developing countries: national investment promotion agencies (IPAs). Diasporas are an increasingly important and relatively untapped resource for development and many homeland governments view diaspora foreign investment as key to their economic development. In addition to being generally under‐resourced, many IPAs struggle to identify ways to effectively target, cultivate and facilitate diaspora homeland investment (DHI). To accomplish these goals, these public‐sector entities are beginning to identify and leverage key partnerships in the NGO sector. We describe the services IPAs offer and enumerate the challenges they face associated with DHI. Drawing on three illustrations of IPA–NGO partnerships, we develop preliminary tools for identifying and designing partnerships for the purpose of promoting DHI based on their scope, function and degree of formality. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The charitable activities of terrorist organizations

Violent groups sometimes invest significant resources in social work, notably in the form of charities and NGOs. The present paper models a terrorist group's charities as a means to advertise its cause in order to raise popular support. The analysis explains how different types of organizations arise in equilibrium, depending on government policies. Then, the interaction between a purely terrorist group and an independent local NGO is examined. It is shown that a purely terrorist group always invests in more attacks than an integrated terrorist-charity organization. Furthermore, the latter may have more NGO activity than a separate local NGO.     

From International Relations to Global Governance Theory: Conceptualizing NGOs after the Rio Breakthrough of 1992

Abstract

This essay systematizes the ontology of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the processes of their inclusion in world politics. It tracks conceptualizations of NGOs, their integration into IR theory, and the resultant move toward global governance (GG) theory. First, I provide an interdisciplinary ontological evolution of NGOs in international relations (IR): as international interest groups, then transnational social movement organizations, then transnational advocacy networks, and most recently as global civil society. All stress different features of NGO activism, but none have successfully replaced the term ‘NGO.’ Second, this new ontology requires a new process for participation in world politics—GG. GG theory expands on IR theory to include NGOs in multi-actor, issue-driven relationships.     

非营利组织：美国社区建设的主力军——美国非营利组织的调查与思考

本概述了美国非营利组织发展的过程,阐述了非营利组织的概念及其在美国社区发展中所起的作用,并对美国非营利组织的管理方式进行了研究。作对我国政府培育和发展非营利组织提出了政策建议。     

Dark Networks as Organizational Problems: Elements of a Theory 1

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we try to understand and interpret why and how dark networks manage to survive despite massive control efforts by nation states, thus demonstrating a high degree of resilience. We approach this question from an organizational perspective looking at the (organizational) changes dark networks undergo in adapting to attempts to destroy them. We draw on insights based on the analysis of how Al Qaeda changed after the massive control efforts by some of the world's most powerful nation states since their attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001. In order to develop more general propositions, we contrast the Al Qaeda case with the development of the organizational structure behind the cocaine trade from Colombia to the United States after it had become the object of massive control efforts by the U.S. during the 1990s. Through the analysis we inductively develop a theoretical framework for the analysis of dark networks. Central to this framework is the assumption that dark networks, which are resilient, manage to rebalance differentiation and integration mechanisms in their internal structure and adjust to the new requirements in their task environment based on the actors, their linkages and resources available in order to persist and maintain some capacity to act. We further identify drivers and facilitators stemming from larger societal and political problems that create the motivation for new people to join dark networks. The analysis shows that control efforts that are directed towards the organizational extinction of dark networks will be likely to fail as long as the central problems behind their existence are not tackled. We conclude by sketching out an agenda for future organizational research on covert and illegal networks and organizations.     

Project identification,formulation and start-up by voluntary organizations (NGOs) in Thailand's rural development

This paper presents an overview of issues in NGO project identification, formulation and start-up in the context of rural development in Thailand. It identifies the types of projects, the methods used to identify them, the initial activities in projects, the problems faced in project formulation and the influence of various factors on the process, e.g. government regulations and the NGO staff in the organization. There is limited pressure on NGOs from the government even though recent regulations may lead to more control of their activities. The importance of leadership training in the initial stages of a project is emphasized. In particular, when comparing small with larger NGOs, the technical inputs in project identification and formulation seem to be a constraint for small NGOs. Usually project identification methodology consists of following up on existing projects. In larger NGOs more bureaucratic or formalized methods are used and the ideology of the organization is more important.     

Regulatory reform in the era of new technological development: The role of organizational factors in the public sector

What is the role of organizational factors in fostering regulatory reform in response to new technological development? Existing studies provide useful frameworks to understand regulatory reform in rapidly changing circumstances but still lack a systematic analysis of how organizational factors affect regulatory reform in the public sector. To fill this gap, we examine the impact of several institutional elements that are central to defining organizational characteristics, such as job tasks, bureaucratic autonomy, and organizational culture. We theorize that regulatory reform is more likely when public sector organizations are more receptive to external changes, which are determined by these characteristics. We leverage original surveys from over 1,000 civil servants in Korea, one of the front runners in new technological development, and find support for our prediction. We find that the implementation of regulatory reforms is more likely when (i) organizational tasks are relevant to scientific and technological development, (ii) higher levels of bureaucratic autonomy are granted, (iii) agency heads demonstrate stronger leadership, and (iv) organizational culture is less authoritarian. Our study makes clear contributions to the literature on public management and regulation theory, and has important implications for regulatory reform in the face of new technological development.     

EXPECTATIONS AND CAPACITY OF PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT IN NGOs IN THE DEVELOPMENT CONTEXT

There are many obstacles to promoting learning as an outcome of performance measurement in non‐governmental organizations (NGO) social service providers, especially in less developed countries. Building upon a conceptualization of accountability as a multifaceted set of relationships through which funders, or principals, and non‐profit providers, or agents, jointly shape organizational learning, and performance, this study expands our understanding of how accountability mechanisms affect learning within service providers. This paper explores the role that funders play in shaping performance measurement, or monitoring, practices within NGOs serving disadvantaged children in developing countries. We examined the experience of service providers in Egypt and Colombia to assess how the barriers to use of performance data and learning may be addressed. We conducted interviews using the same protocols with program managers in six non‐profit providers in each country that provide services to children, and we also interviewed major donors in the arena of children's services in the USA. We probed the NGO managers' experiences with performance measurement to identify obstacles and potential solutions to improve the use of the data to promote learning. Our findings support previous research about the potential for upward accountability mechanisms to influence internal learning. We suggest that funders should be held accountable for how the incentives and disincentives they provide to grantees affect their internal learning about how to improve their services. This notion of ‘reverse accountability’ means that funders need to be strategic and intentional when they design reporting mechanisms that affect the learning behaviours within their grantees. In line with our call for reverse accountability, we offer a model demonstrating our notion of the two‐way flow of accountability and we offer recommendations to help improve the performance reporting environment for NGOs who are addressing complex problems with less than adequate capacity. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

从洋超市进入思考我国零售商业业态建设问题

洋超市进入我国市场对本土商业形成很大的冲击,但在这种情况下我们不能盲目模仿,而应该了解商业业态的内涵,积极学习外商经营精华,并根据我国的实际情况,因地制宜地构建我们自己的商业网络.     

Questioning local ownership: Insights from donor-funded NGOs in Tajikistan

ABSTRACT

Local ownership is one of the popular paradigms of Western development aid. It involves giving more effective control of the design and implementation of development aid to local actors in aid-receiving countries, including governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and local communities. This article contrasts the understanding of local ownership as a top-down process triggered by donors, with an alternative, bottom-up ownership, which emerges spontaneously on the ground. By looking at the case of a local NGO in post-Soviet Tajikistan, the article analyses practices which reveal how the NGO actively takes ownership of development aid through everyday work. This includes fundraising, structuring relations with other organizations competing for donor funding, selecting calls for proposals from NGOs and writing grant applications. Each of these activities involves negotiations of the goals and scope of development work, against parameters imposed by donors. By means of example, the article questions the application of the local ownership paradigm in development work.     

Modernization Programs in Perspective: Institutional Analysis of Organizational Change

Contemporary reform programs give students of comparative public administration a new chance to update their theoretical ideas about organization and organizing. Do forms of government and political institution matter? If so, what are the effects of different organizational forms? Why do we have the institutional forms we have? How can we explain their origins, persistence and development? This article explores the possible value of organization theory for the study of comprehensive administration reform. An attempt is made to specify how modernization efforts may be affected by properties of existing institutions. It is argued that contemporary modernization programs are based on an instrumental view of organizational decision-making and change. An institutional perspective is then outlined.