IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ehl/lserod/29090.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

NGOs and participatory management styles: a case study of CONCERN Worldwide, Mozambique

Author

Listed:
  • Sheehan, James

Abstract

The concept of participation has become important in the struggle to improve the effectiveness of both the 'management of organisations' and the 'management of development'. However, NGOs may be confused about these two different though related applications of the term. The first part of the paper seeks to clarify this distinction. The author first disaggregates a range of complex issues surrounding the concept of participatory management and attempts to clarify the term. Secondly, the paper points out that the interest in 'participatory management' in NGOs is related to similar efforts within management more widely in the private sector, and has similar goals of seeking to improve organisational effectiveness. Thirdly, the paper distinguishes the introduction of a set of 'participatory techniques' from full-scale 'participatory management' as a comprehensive empowering strategy designed to involve staff more fully. In formalising the use of 'participatory techniques', it is argued that paradoxically more managerial control may be needed. The second part of the paper presents a case study of CONCERN's ongoing attempts to introduce a more participatory management style into its programme in Mozambique. As might be expected, motives and methods for such a change remain complex and diverse. Through discussion with key NGO staff it is found that CONCERN's primary aim in introducing a participatory management style is to benefit the people the NGO seeks to serve, rather than the staff of the NGO, whose needs are seen as secondary. The paper concludes that 'participatory management' for NGOs is perhaps best seen as an aspirational concept which can help to improve organisational impact on beneficiaries through the greater involvement of staff in decision-making. Rather than forming a unitary approach, 'participatory management' is best seen as a bundle of different ideas. It is argued that such a view provides real choices and opportunities for NGOs to improve their effectiveness.

Suggested Citation

  • Sheehan, James, 1998. "NGOs and participatory management styles: a case study of CONCERN Worldwide, Mozambique," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 29090, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:29090
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/29090/
    File Function: Open access version.
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ouchi, William, 1981. "Theory Z: How American business can meet the Japanese challenge," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 82-83.
    2. Korten, David C., 1987. "Third generation NGO strategies: A key to people-centered development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 15(1, Supple), pages 145-159.
    3. Nogueira, Roberto Martinez, 1987. "Life cycle and learning in grassroots development organizations," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 15(1, Supple), pages 169-177.
    4. Richard M. Auty & Ann C. Hudock, 1995. "Sustaining Southern NGOs in resource‐dependent environments," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 7(4), pages 653-667, July.
    5. Martin de Graaf, 1987. "Context, Constraint or Control? Zimbabwean NGOs and Their Environment," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 5(3), pages 277-301, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hanibuchi, Tomoya & Murata, Yohei & Ichida, Yukinobu & Hirai, Hiroshi & Kawachi, Ichiro & Kondo, Katsunori, 2012. "Place-specific constructs of social capital and their possible associations to health: A Japanese case study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 225-232.
    2. Kaja Prystupa, 2017. "The Role of Organizational Culture in KnowledgeManagement in Small Companies," Journal of Entrepreneurship, Management and Innovation, Fundacja Upowszechniająca Wiedzę i Naukę "Cognitione", vol. 13(3), pages 151-173.
    3. Lefroy, Kathryn & Tsarenko, Yelena, 2014. "Dependence and effectiveness in the nonprofit-corporate alliance: The mediating effect of objectives achievement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 1959-1966.
    4. Cabrera, Elizabeth F. & Bonache, Jaime, 1998. "A computer-based aid for the design of a strategic organizational culture," DEE - Working Papers. Business Economics. WB 6541, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Departamento de Economía de la Empresa.
    5. Sinem AYDOGDU & Baris ASIKGIL, 2011. "The Effect of Transformational Leadership Behavior on Organizational Culture: An Application in Pharmaceutical Industry," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 1(4), pages 65-73.
    6. Hisako Matsuo, 2012. "Transfer of Japanese Human Resource Management to US Subsidiaries: Resource Dependence Theory and Institutionalism," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 2(6), pages 34-46, November.
    7. Caligiuri, Paula & Bonache, Jaime, 2016. "Evolving and enduring challenges in global mobility," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 127-141.
    8. Damianus Abun & Nimfa C. Catbagan & Theogenia Magallanes & Robert Rodrigo & Egdona A. Quinto, 2021. "Leadership Attitude of office Heads toward Employees and Leadership Styles," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 16(1), pages 401-419, February.
    9. Sarah Lister, 2000. "Power in partnership? An analysis of an NGO's relationships with its partners," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 12(2), pages 227-239.
    10. Nadia Kabbara & Hale Ozgit, 2023. "Effectiveness of resource management of Lebanese NGOs in response to COVID-19 and the Syrian crisis," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-11, December.
    11. Yoshiko DeMotta & Sankar Sen, 2017. "How psychological contracts motivate employer-brand patronage," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 28(3), pages 385-395, September.
    12. Dengjian Jin, 1995. "Bounded governance within extended order: The Confucian advantage of synergy under generalized constitutional rules," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 6(3), pages 263-279, October.
    13. Lukáš Copuš & Peter Madzík & Helena Šajgalíková & Karol Čarnogurský, 2023. "Is There a Possibility to Characterize an Organizational Culture by Its Selected Cultural Dimensions?," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, October.
    14. Brinkerhoff, Derick W., 2000. "Democratic Governance and Sectoral Policy Reform: Tracing Linkages and Exploring Synergies," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 601-615, April.
    15. Dawood MAMOON & Silvia HERNANDEZ, 2017. "Principle-agent analysis of technology project (LINCOS) in Costa Rica," Journal of Social and Administrative Sciences, KSP Journals, vol. 4(4), pages 320-351, December.
    16. Zu, Xingxing & Robbins, Tina L. & Fredendall, Lawrence D., 2010. "Mapping the critical links between organizational culture and TQM/Six Sigma practices," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 86-106, January.
    17. Gatignon, Aline & Gatignon, Hubert, 2010. "Erin Anderson and the Path Breaking Work of TCE in New Areas of Business Research: Transaction Costs in Action," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 86(3), pages 232-247.
    18. Kertai-Kiss Ildikó, 2014. "The Fit of National and Organisational Cultures in International Scientific Literature," Proceedings- 11th International Conference on Mangement, Enterprise and Benchmarking (MEB 2014),, Óbuda University, Keleti Faculty of Business and Management.
    19. Masaaki Kotabe, 2020. "Japanese management and the climate of the time," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 25-35, February.
    20. Goncalo, Jack A. & Staw, Barry M., 2006. "Individualism-collectivism and group creativity," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 96-109, May.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General
    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:29090. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: LSERO Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/lsepsuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.