What’s (Really) Communicating Control in Intersectoral Foreign Aid? Contracts, Competence, and Lip Service

• In Event: Organizational Communication Research Escalator - Extended Session

Abstract

Foreign aid is linked with acute global security issues that affect our life span, from war to health epidemics and food security. This reality escalates the importance of aid effectiveness in an era where actors are communicating and organizing across sectors in an increasingly volatile and uncertain environment dependent on billions of global taxpayer and charity dollars annually. Using resource dependence theory, this paper investigates how control is communicated in intersectoral aid agreements between public donor agencies and their private sector partners. Survey data from 51 private contractors, representing 20 organizations with experience in 135 countries revealed many findings. For example, an increase in contract length increases donor control over aid implementation. These findings, combined with extensive closed and open-ended data, shed important insights on why the management and measurement of foreign aid effectiveness should account for intersectoral communication challenges that ultimately manifest into organizational processes.

Author

• Shabnam Shalizi, U of Southern California - Annenberg School for Communication