Organisational Theories of Change in the Era of Organisational Cosmopolitanism: lessons from ActionAid’s human rights-based approach

This article argues that organisational cosmopolitanism is an increasingly common characteristic of international ngos. Cosmopolitanism goes beyond international staffing, to include multi-sectoral mandates, multiple skill sets and multiple levels of working. It also challenges the orthodoxies of its parent discourses. Change within such international ngos represents a new frontier in organisational change, as its ambit and ambition extends beyond the demands of more conventional intra-sectoral change. Using ActionAid as a case study, the article explores what might be gained by rendering explicit previously implicit theories of change within such a context. It focuses on inward looking, organisational change but also explores connections to outward looking, operational change. The article highlights two change-related concepts that are of relevance to cosmopolitan organisations: organisational archaeologies (implying layered, hybrid, evolutionary change) and cycles of misalignment followed by realignment. Lessons learned for cosmopolitan organisations from the ActionAid case study suggest that cycles of internal reflection and planning are an effective way of managing other aspects of change.