IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v160y2022ics0305750x22002534.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Governance for global integration: Designing structure and authority in international advocacy NGOs

Author

Listed:
  • Ebrahim, Alnoor
  • Brown, L. David
  • Batliwala, Srilatha

Abstract

We examine the design of governance in international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) engaged in global advocacy. A central governance challenge facing INGOs is how to integrate their global advocacy efforts across diverse country units and memberships, in the face of limited authority and weak ownership over those units. Through a qualitative multi-case study of ten organizations, we analyze governance reforms intended to enhance global integration. We identify and discuss: a) four distinct governance structures for enabling more coherent global decision making (federation, confederation, network, constituency backbone); b) various mechanisms of formal and informal authority employed by headquarters in order to integrate the diverse interests and actions of their units; and, c) decision rights allocated to units or members to secure commitment to global goals. We synthesize these findings to offer a contingency perspective on designing governance for global integration. We hope this research will not only help to advance scholarship on governance in complex global organizations, but will also be useful to the leadership and boards of international organizations in strengthening the collective voice of their diverse constituencies.

Suggested Citation

  • Ebrahim, Alnoor & Brown, L. David & Batliwala, Srilatha, 2022. "Governance for global integration: Designing structure and authority in international advocacy NGOs," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:160:y:2022:i:c:s0305750x22002534
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106063
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X22002534
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2022.106063?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elinor Ostrom, 2010. "Beyond Markets and States: Polycentric Governance of Complex Economic Systems," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(3), pages 641-672, June.
    2. Stephen J. Kobrin, 1991. "An empirical analysis of the determinants of global integration," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(S1), pages 17-31, June.
    3. Foss, Nicolai J, 1997. "On the Rationales of Corporate Headquarters," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 6(2), pages 313-338, March.
    4. Kendall Roth & Allen J Morrison, 1990. "An Empirical Analysis of the Integration-Responsiveness Framework in Global Industries," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 21(4), pages 541-564, December.
    5. Alfred D. Chandler, 1991. "The functions of the HQ unit in the multibusiness firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(S2), pages 31-50, December.
    6. Gil, Nuno & Tether, Bruce S., 2011. "Project risk management and design flexibility: Analysing a case and conditions of complementarity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 415-428, April.
    7. Ruth V. Aguilera & Igor Filatotchev & Howard Gospel & Gregory Jackson, 2008. "An Organizational Approach to Comparative Corporate Governance: Costs, Contingencies, and Complementarities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(3), pages 475-492, June.
    8. Philipp Tuertscher & Raghu Garud & Arun Kumaraswamy, 2014. "Justification and Interlaced Knowledge at ATLAS, CERN," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(6), pages 1579-1608, December.
    9. Srilata Zaheer & Elaine Mosakowski, 1997. "The Dynamics Of The Liability Of Foreignness: A Global Study Of Survival In Financial Services," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(6), pages 439-463, June.
    10. Cynthia Hardy & Nelson Phillips, 1998. "Strategies of Engagement: Lessons from the Critical Examination of Collaboration and Conflict in an Interorganizational Domain," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 9(2), pages 217-230, April.
    11. Ranjay Gulati & Phanish Puranam, 2009. "Renewal Through Reorganization: The Value of Inconsistencies Between Formal and Informal Organization," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 422-440, April.
    12. Shahzad (Shaz) Ansari & Frank Wijen & Barbara Gray, 2013. "Constructing a Climate Change Logic: An Institutional Perspective on the “Tragedy of the Commons”," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 1014-1040, August.
    13. Brown, L. David & Ebrahim, Alnoor & Batliwala, Srilatha, 2012. "Governing International Advocacy NGOs," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 1098-1108.
    14. Ranjay Gulati & Phanish Puranam & Michael Tushman, 2012. "Meta‐organization design: Rethinking design in interorganizational and community contexts," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(6), pages 571-586, June.
    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. Sven Kunisch & Markus Menz & David Collis, 2020. "Corporate headquarters in the twenty-first century: an organization design perspective," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 9(1), pages 1-32, December.
    2. Gil, Nuno & Pinto, Jeffrey K., 2018. "Polycentric organizing and performance: A contingency model and evidence from megaproject planning in the UK," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 717-734.
    3. Meyer, Camille, 2020. "The commons: A model for understanding collective action and entrepreneurship in communities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 35(5).
    4. Johnson, Julius H. & Arya, Bindu & Mirchandani, Dinesh A., 2013. "Global integration strategies of small and medium multinationals: Evidence from Taiwan," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 47-57.
    5. Michael J. Enright & Venkat Subramanian, 2007. "An organizing framework for MNC subsidiary typologies," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 47(6), pages 895-924, December.
    6. Ricciardi, Francesca & De Bernardi, Paola & Cantino, Valter, 2020. "System dynamics modeling as a circular process: The smart commons approach to impact management," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    7. Wang, Chi-Feng & Chen, Li-Yu & Chang, Shao-Chi, 2011. "International diversification and the market value of new product introduction," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 333-347.
    8. Meyer, Klaus E. & Su, Yu-Shan, 2015. "Integration and responsiveness in subsidiaries in emerging economies," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 149-158.
    9. Cha Li & Felipe A. Csaszar, 2019. "Government as Landscape Designer: A Behavioral View of Industrial Policy," Strategy Science, INFORMS, vol. 4(3), pages 175-192, September.
    10. Xiaohua Yang & Yi Jiang & Rongping Kang & Yinbin Ke, 2009. "A comparative analysis of the internationalization of Chinese and Japanese firms," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 141-162, March.
    11. Joseph J. Cabral & Chaoqun Deng & M. V. Shyam Kumar, 2020. "Internal Resource Allocation and External Alliance Activity of Diversified Firms," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(8), pages 1690-1717, December.
    12. Mauri, Alfredo J. & Neiva de Figueiredo, João, 2012. "Strategic Patterns of Internationalization and Performance Variability: Effects of US-Based MNC Cross-Border Dispersion, Integration, and Outsourcing," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 38-51.
    13. Luo, Yadong, 2002. "Organizational dynamics and global integration: A perspective from subsidiary managers," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 189-215.
    14. Chi, Tailan & Nystrom, Paul C. & Kircher, Philipp, 2004. "Knowledge-based resources as determinants of MNC structure: tests of an integrative model," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 219-238.
    15. Ambos, Björn & Kunisch, Sven & Leicht-Deobald, Ulrich & Schulte Steinberg, Adrian, 2019. "Unravelling agency relations inside the MNC: The roles of socialization, goal conflicts and second principals in headquarters-subsidiary relationships," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 67-81.
    16. Wolfgang Sofka & Joerg Zimmermann, 2005. "There is no Place Like Home: A Strategic Framework to Overcome Liability of Foreignness in the German Car Market," Industrial Organization 0512003, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Donal Crilly & Pamela Sloan, 2014. "Autonomy or Control? Organizational Architecture and Corporate Attention to Stakeholders," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 339-355, April.
    18. Maria Joutsenvirta, 2013. "Executive Pay and Legitimacy: Changing Discursive Battles Over the Morality of Excessive Manager Compensation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(3), pages 459-477, September.
    19. Julian Birkinshaw & Tina C. Ambos & Cyril Bouquet, 2017. "Boundary Spanning Activities of Corporate HQ Executives Insights from a Longitudinal Study," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 422-454, June.
    20. Andrew Campbell, 2020. "Reflections on the design of corporate headquarters," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 9(1), pages 1-7, December.

    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:eee:wdevel:v:160:y:2022:i:c:s0305750x22002534. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    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.