Leading and Managing Organizational Change among Transnational NGOs

• In Event: Organizational change

Abstract

After decades of growth and financial prosperity, transnational nongovernmental organizations (TNGOs) have been challenged to fundamentally change their business models (Banks et al., 2015; Mitchell et al., 2020). External pressures forcing TNGOs to adapt include the shift of economic and political power away from the Global North and the emergence of other types of actors competing with TNGOs. Other challenges experienced by the sector include a growing mismatch between what TNGOs promise and their capacity to deliver on those promises, as well as struggles to manage increasing complexity and the tensions that emerge between their growing sizes and the desires of many to maintain grassroots authenticity.

TNGOs are a major target of critics pushing for “decolonizing aid” (Worden & Saez, 2021)and “shifting the power” from the Global North to the Global South (RINGO Project, 2021). Some observers argue that TNGOs may have become an outdated organizational form with an uncertain future (Abrahams, 2023; Srinivas, 2022). While many TNGOs have committed to transforming their roles, they also remain largely under the control of wealthy elites, especially funders and national members in resource-rich countries. This architecture of sectoral forms and norms presents obstacles to organizational change in the sector.

This paper will present a framework for understanding different pathways of organizational change embraced by large TNGOs responding to pressures for their transformation. We examine significant organizational change processes in Amnesty International, Care, and Oxfam with an emphasis on identifying obstacles to change and deriving lessons learned from practitioner experiences leading and managing change. Data are sourced primarily from practitioner interviews and organizational documents. The research will present an overview of the need for change, models for the change process, and insights for leading and managing change. In particular, the paper examines how specific forms and norms embedded in the architecture in which TNGOs operate inhibit the transformational change that many stakeholders believe to be necessary to ensure the sector’s future relevance.

References

Abrahams, J. (2023, October 4). The end of the NGO? Prospect Magazine. https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/world/international-development/63350/the-end-of-the-ngo
Banks, N., Hulme, D., & Edwards, M. (2015). NGOs, States, and Donors Revisited: Still Too Close for Comfort? World Development, 66, 707-718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2014.09.028
Mitchell, G. E., Schmitz, H. P., & Bruno-van Vijfeijken, T. (2020). Between Power and Irrelevance: The Future of Transnational NGOs. Oxford University Press.
RINGO Project. (2021). Fostering equitable North-South civil society partnerships. Rights Co Lab. Retrieved March 21, 2022 from https://rightscolab.org/ringo-projects-first-research-report-voices-from-the-south/
Srinivas, N. (2022). Against NGOs: A Critical Perspective on Civil Society, Management and Development. Cambridge University Press.
Worden, R., & Saez, P. (2021). Decolonizing the Humanitarian Nonprofit Sector: Why Governing Boards Are Key. Center for Global Development.

Authors

• George Mitchell, Baruch College

• Tosca Bruno-van Vijfeijken, Five Oaks Consulting

• Hans Peter Schmitz, North Carolina State University