Leadership and Effectiveness of Transnational NGOs: Perspectives from cross-sectoral research

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Leadership and Effectiveness of Transnational
NGOs Perspectives from cross-sectoral research
Steven J. Lux Transnational NGO
Initiative Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs
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Outline

• Rationale for interview study
• Design sampling, protocol and interview process
• Coding, data structure and data transformation
• Preliminary findings

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Rationale

• A rapidly growing awareness of TNGOs is not
  matched by systematic and interdisciplinary
  research efforts
• In particular, we diagnose a dearth of large-N
  studies cutting across size, sectors, and
  financial capacity

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Objectives

• Create data in a cross-disciplinary context,
  using quantitative as well as qualitative tools
• Add the perspective of TNGO leadership on their
  role in global governance
• Develop a research program integrated with
  teaching and practitioner engagement

TNGO Initiative _at_ The Moynihan Institute of
Global Affairs
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Design/sampling

• In-depth interviews with leaders from 152
  US-registered TNGOs
• Sample selection 1. sector, 2. size, 3.
  financial health and capacity
• Selected from a population rated by Charity
  Navigator in 2005

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Limitations of the sample

• The claim of representativeness is limited to
  US-registered TNGOs, not global community of such
  orgs.
• Charity Navigator provided a specific population,
  but was the only one containing financial
  ratings.

TNGO Initiative _at_ The Moynihan Institute of
Global Affairs
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Interview protocol

• Changes in organizational goals and governance
  structures
• Effectiveness and its assessment
• Accountability
• Funding as related to effectiveness and
  accountability
• Communication, collaboration, networks and
  partnerships
• Leadership characteristics and preparation

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Interview process

• Response rate 123 out of 177 in-sample
  replacements
• Interviewees largely top leaders (81)
• Researcher visit headquarters
• Interviews lasted an average of 85 minutes

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Limitations of the method/ coding

• What measures did we take to increase the candor
  of TNGO leaders answers?
• Confidentiality was guaranteed.
• Interviewers assessed candor after the interview.
  
• Most TNGO leaders exceeded the time commitment,
  indicating a strong interest in the results.

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Coding process

• Professional transcriptions
• Atlas.ti software used to code interviews
• Development of codebook

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Alignment
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Emerging findings

• Motives and goals
• Effectiveness
• Accountability
• Leadership
• Networking and partnerships

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Bridging the gap
A general conclusion When we look across data in
different areas of the interview protocol, one of
the striking results is the consistent gap
between the academic literature and
practitioners perspectives.
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Motives

• How do we best understand TNGOs?
• Principled and interest-driven views compete in
  the current debates, in particular in IR.
• Interviews show that TNGOs are not best
  understood as either principled or
  interest-driven actors.
• Strategic pursuit of impact TNGOs pursue
  principles within a dynamically constrained
  environment.

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Effectiveness

• Leaders conceptualize effectiveness largely as
  goal attainment and evaluation -- outcome
  accountability
• Stronger conceptualization of goal attainment at
  the program level than at the organizational
  level
• Resource availability/growth, overhead
  minimization and stakeholder satisfaction are far
  less pervasive in the answers

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Effectiveness a gap

• TNGOs monitor outputs closely but relegate
  outcome attribution to narrative process tracing
  or speculation (lack of rigor).
• Definition of effectiveness as goal attainment
  contrasts sharply with the academic literature
  which has largely abandoned goal attainment for
  proxy measures, including reputation or resource
  acquisition.

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Defining Accountability

• TNGO leaders primarily focus on three dimensions
  of accountability financial management, mandate
  and transparency
• TNGO leaders are less likely to mention the
  following dimensions of accountability
  responsiveness, evaluation, and participation

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Benefits of Accountability

• Service-delivery organizations emphasize growth
  as the main benefit of accountability
• Advocacy organizations emphasize reputational
  benefits

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Accountability a gap

• TNGO leaders are satisfied with the level of
  their organizations accountability
• The three dimensions of accountability emphasized
  by TNGO leaders are least likely to lead to
  organizational learning.
• TNGO leader perspectives confirm a gap between
  their current practice and ideas advanced by
  standard-based initiatives and the academic
  literature.

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Leadership

• Leadership behavior in the face of constraints
• 57 of leaders work within the system, i.e.
  make incremental changes rather than challenge
  governance constraints head-on (constraint
  respecters)
• 11 prefer to work behind the scenes
• 13 challenge constraints head-on

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Leadership

• 19 have ability to either challenge directly or
  indirectly, depending on context

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Networking/partnerships definition

• Networks informal, loose relationships among
  organizations, sub-units or individuals.
  Membership tends to be more homogenous.
• Partnerships more formal working or contractual
  relationships between institutions. Different
  types of expertise brought together.

TNGO Initiative _at_ The Moynihan Institute of
Global Affairs
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Networking/partnerships motives and benefits

• TNGOs join networks primarily to interact and
  share resources (information, expertise).
  Networks help TNGOs raise their voice and may
  help in identifying sources of funding or
  potential partners.
• TNGOs form partnerships primarily for joint
  implementation. Partnerships can attract donor
  support, improve effectiveness/efficiency, and
  increase transparency.

TNGO Initiative _at_ The Moynihan Institute of
Global Affairs
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Networking/partnerships answer samples

• a network expands your universe (Interview No.
  150)
• need to pool resources to actually be able to do
  this project we are doing it jointly and
  splitting the budget (Interview No. 27)

TNGO Initiative _at_ The Moynihan Institute of
Global Affairs
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Networking/partnerships challenges

• Networks lack of commitment, may involve wasting
  time and resources.
• We get tired because often the network is over
  time (Interview No. 142)
• Partnerships inequality and (un)fair
  distribution of benefits.
• For an NGO getting one percent of the one
  percent of a fortune five-hundred companys
  annual revenues, how can you call that a
  partnership? (Interview No. 148)

TNGO Initiative _at_ The Moynihan Institute of
Global Affairs
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Future plans

• Research collaboration
• Data sharing
• Practitioner engagement
• Summer Institute
• Education