Managing NGOs in the Developing World

Insights from HIV/AIDS Crisis Response

Farhad Analoui, Shehnaz Kazi

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781800437845
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management
• Index: Business

NGO managers in the developing world play a crucial role in reaching diverse high-risk groups. Yet to date there has been no empirical study of what makes these managers effective.
Here Farhad Analoui and Shehnaz Kazi present the first qualitative, empirical insights into this key question. Focusing specifically on managers of HIV/AIDS NGOs in India - one of the world's largest developing nations - this book considers how such managers are perceived by outsiders, how their work is or could be influenced by government-level intervention or international-policy-level drivers such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and how such managers perceive issues that influence their ability to manage their organisations effectively.
Through individual, collective, and focus-group interviews with managers and staff at four NGOs, the authors build a startlingly rich picture of aid workers' and managers' fears and hopes. From this data, the authors confirm eight parameters of effectiveness, three interrelated contextual factors, and discover a culturally adjusted new framework for analysis of the NGO managers behaviour at work.
For its wealth of qualitative empirical data with broad-ranging implications for all developing countries, Managing NGOs in the Developing World is a must-read for researchers, students, and practitioners interested in the intersections between human resource management, international development, and sustainable development.

1

MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS

This introductory chapter begins with demonstrating the academic sustained concern for the illusive notion of ‘managerial effectiveness’, discovery of its ‘parameters’ and the succession of exploratory imperial studies, except in the third sector, which led to this present imperial study of human immunodeficiency virus and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and community development–related non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in India. The premise of the present study is set out by exploring the importance of the role of the third sector in India and explaining the guiding concept of ‘parameters of managerial effectiveness’ and its principles for the present study. Finally, the methodological challenges related to the study of NGOs associated with deprived and marginalised groups of people are discussed, and a brief description of the content of the volume is provided.

1.1 MANAGERIAL EFFECTIVENESS AND NGOS: AN OVERVIEW

Arguably, the effectiveness of organisations and how humans are organised across the business, government and voluntary sectors are irrevocably associated with the effectiveness of the management (Drucker, 1973, 1988). As early as the 1970s, management thinkers and writers began to acknowledge the importance of managerial effectiveness (Reddin, 1970; Dunnette, 1976) and the need for research into this least known organisational phenomenon (Mintzberg, 1973). Nevertheless, it remained, by and large, an elusive and difficult concept to define (Brodie and Bennet, 1979; Langford, 1979).

In the 1980s with the work of Drucker (1988), research into the effectiveness of managers at work began in earnest, both in developed countries (Dunnette, 1976; Willcocks, 1992) and least developed economies (Kiggundo, 1989; Analoui, 1995, 1997; Labbaf, 1996). Yet, little was known about the aspects of this complex organisational phenomenon, how it was perceived, what behavioural influences were involved and how it was impacted by contextual factors in the work and wider environment.

In 1999, the result of an exploratory empirical study into managerial work revealed the parameters of ‘managerial effectiveness’. It was shown that there are a number of parameters or behavioural influences at work that do not equally impact the effectiveness of managers, but their degree of influence is contingent upon the contextual background in which managers' operate (Analoui, 1999, 2002). Other empirical studies replicated the framework in other cultural settings and sectors (Ahmed, 2008; Bao, 2010; Al-Hajji, 2011). Whilst the concept of managerial effectiveness has been explored in both developed and developing countries (Srivastava and Sinha, 2007; Bamel et al., 2011; Marouf, 2014), it has never been applied to third sector organisations. In 2018, an empirical study of ‘managerial effectiveness’ was carried out with the aim to explore the effectiveness of NGO managers and their organisations associated with HIV/AIDS sufferers and marginalised groups in India (Kazi, 2018; Kazi and Analoui, 2019).

It is noteworthy to add that in India effectiveness and successful leadership originates from Sanskrit practices and knowledge of the ancient Vedas, which are still heavily present within various organisations and workplaces, and NGOs are not exceptions. The importance of managerial effectiveness in NGOs cannot be ignored (Kazi and Analoui, 2019), particularly for NGO managers who work in challenging conditions and provide support to tabooed HIV/AIDS individuals in a developing country like India (Edwards and Hulme, 1995; Fowler, 1997; Rahman, 2003; Hailey, 2006; Padaki, 2007). The third sector continues to play a balancing role between the state and its people, ensuring that fundamental rights and governmental schemes are easily accessible (Srivastava and Sinha, 2007). Moreover, gender specific issues, marginalisation, stigma and discrimination, backwardness and the need for societal education and development into HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention are among some of the specific issues that NGO managers in India are challenged by (Ganesh and Kulkarni, 2012; NACO, 2017a; Kazi, 2018). Hence, looking at the magnitude of these challenges, investing in improved effectiveness of those in charge of these sensitive and much needed organisations is of paramount importance.

NGO management is a relatively recent debate. The functions and structure of NGOs are far more complex than that of the profit-making organisations (Rahman, 2007; Bhogal, 2014; Brunt, 2016); these organisational challenges relate to internal and external issues (Bromideh, 2011), and evolving structures and models (Ganesh and Kulkarni, 2012). The main difference being that NGOs, by and large, adopt a humanistic approach, while other sector organisations prioritise the level of profit in the operations of their organisations. Edwards and Hulme (1995) and Hudson (1999) aptly argue that the debate to design the management system of NGOs in developing countries like India needs to be distinct from that of the private and public organisations, and both human resource management and human resource development are important functions for the NGOs as the focus is primarily on efficiency, accountability, capacity development and effectiveness that need to be incorporated as a task of the manager. In the West, the works of Drucker (1988), Brown and Koten (1989), Hudson (1999), and Hailey (2006) have contributed towards improving the management crisis in the NGO sector, which has resulted in trial and error practices and adapting strategic management approaches. In the South, despite the Simplified model (Asian NGO Coalition ICVA, 1987) and the complex Chakra model (Asian Institute of Technology AIT NGDO, 1999) which incorporate core elements of ancient Indian Sanskrit ways of life and work, culture and society do co-exist and have profound implications for the Indian NGOs. They are evolving in response to varying challenges as they contend with continuous multi-faceted complexities in their environment. According to Rahman (2003), Southern NGOs encounter the problems of human resources, financial management, information, networking, resource management, development and operations management to name a few. Ankodia (2012) found that NGOs in the northern state of Rajasthan followed inadequate human resource procedures, and Bhogal (2014) emphasises focus on adequate capacity building, training and development and mentoring for the NGOs' workforce as vital. To cope with these concerns, NGOs have been heavily dependent on corporate sector management and methods, which mostly have neglected the values of the third sector especially in a developing country like India.

NGO managers face extraordinary challenges at both personal and organisational levels. They work long hours usually with limited resources in uncertain and volatile political and socio-economic circumstances to help the marginalised and disadvantaged members of society. The complex challenges NGO managers contend with are described by Fowler (1997), Hailey (2006) and Padaki (2007), as demanding and distinct from those experienced by managers of the other sectors. It is paramount for NGO managers to be moulded according to their inner convictions, values, distinct tasks, experiences and contexts. The quality of their managerial leadership is highly personalised and is critically a vital element for effectiveness and viability. Research into NGOs' managerial effectiveness is non-existent; hence, the need for better understanding of the complexity of this phenomenon in order to develop a coherent framework for future development of the sector.

1.2 EFFECTIVENESS OF HIV/AIDS NGOS AND THEIR MANAGERS IN INDIA

In contemporary and modern India, ‘daana’ (giving), ‘seva’ (service) and outreach work carried out by NGOs form literally a lifeline for vulnerable and high-risk group members of society. Primarily dependent on government funding and policies, the restrictions for service users ultimately determine the degree of success or failure of the organisation. Manian (2017) examined the HIV/AIDS epidemic in southern India through the experiences of those marginalised by their sexuality, gender, social and socio-economic circumstances and advocates for the re-examination of government policies, practices and cultural attitudes for enhanced inclusiveness and institutional capacity development and effectiveness.

Despite complex pressures and processes, there is an evolving history of initiatives dealing with NGO management issues, which consequently signifies the potential and importance to invest and encourage research in the area of managerial effectiveness among NGO managers. As interest in civil society and NGOs has rapidly increased in India, seemingly the emphasis is gradually shifting from the notion of NGOs as the ‘magic bullet’ for poverty reduction (Edwards and Hulme, 1995), and instead the emphasis is being placed on the efficiency, accountability and effectiveness (Fowler, 1997). By the same token, there is a need to adopt various aspects of modern management, incorporating performance appraisals for NGO managers, implementing adequate capacity building, training and development and mentoring (Bhogal, 2014).

Managers' own self-development is vital (Analoui, 1995) and inevitably, effectiveness is associated with training and development, as Drucker (1988) confirms that organisational purpose and goals are attained when workforce effectiveness is developed. It will avert the preoccupation of weaknesses with the exploitation of strengths. Thus, the issues of training and development for Indian NGOs have gained interest from multi-agency initiatives such as Building Resources Across Communities (BRAC), and the World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS). Participatory research in India is carried out by the Society for Participatory Research in Asia (PRIA, 2002), which conducts limited NGOs' training and research programs to address critical development aspects of NGOs in India, hoping to ensure managers and the organisations are encouraged towards their increased effectiveness and performance.

1.3 RESEARCH SCOPE AND CHALLENGES

This volume is based on the findings of the empirical research project carried out to explore parameters of effectiveness, perceptions, behavioural and contextual influencing factors which collectively contribute towards NGO managers' effectiveness at work in India. Since the research topic is linked to ‘daana’ (giving) and ‘seva’ (service) and support of marginalised service users of a taboo nature–HIV/AIDS sufferers, sex workers, truck drivers, migrant workers, injecting drug users and lesbian, gay, transgender, intersex community, the social and culturally specific traditions and deep-rooted challenges for NGOs had to be considered carefully. Thus, the choice of the method, involvement in the research process and the process of collecting data were considered with maximum awareness of the sensitivity and need for understanding when approaching the people and NGOs involved. Whilst methodology offers a gambit of methods for enquiry, the choices of methods for generating and collecting data are, by and large, influenced and even determined by the nature of the cultural setting and the very nature of the topic of enquiry.

1.3.1 Exploratory Conceptual Framework

This research, is guided by the identified parameters of ‘managerial effectiveness’ (See Illustration 1.1). It employed an interpretive stance and holistic approach to gain a better understanding of the ‘how’, ‘why’ and ‘what’ factors and influences that form NGO managers' perception of their own effectiveness at work in India. Sharing our academic interests and awareness of the sensitivities involved with authorities resulted in support from the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and its divisions, which provides leadership support to HIV/AIDS control programmes at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Government of India. This invaluable support and assistance ensured that the scope of the research can be extended to four purposefully selected HIV/AIDS and community development NGO organisations from urban and rural areas within Maharashtra and Goa states on the Western coast of India. To honour the wishes of people involved, pseudonyms–Mahaba, Diva, Veda and Rafaa were used to represent the four NGOs involved respectively and the terms ‘manager’ and ‘non–managerial staff’ were employed to ensure anonymity of the participants involved. In doing so, a sample of 16 varied level NGO managers and two focus group discussions, each consisting of eight non-managerial staff were selected to generate adequate and relevant data and to provide the corroborating evidence for this investigation (See Chapter 3: methodology).

Source: Adapted from Analoui (1999, 2002).

Illustration 1.1. The Generic Model of Parameters of Managerial Effectiveness.

It is therefore believed that, understanding the parameters of effectiveness of NGOs necessitates exploration of external factors to contextualise the relevance of the framework for the NGO managers in India and will add to the extant knowledge of causal behaviours, cognitive abilities and the choices that the NGO managers make on a daily basis when deploying their effectiveness in their operational capacity. Moreover, identifying the major effectiveness dimensions for the improved performance of NGO managers will also have relevance and provide guidance for other NGOs in other states in India, and consequently, reaching as far as the NGOs in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) community and beyond. To achieve this aim, the following questions were posed.

• ‘Do NGO Managerial Staff have different development needs because of their position as middle and senior managers in the organisation?’
• ‘How do the managerial staff of the NGOs in India perceive their own effectiveness?’
• ‘What range of personal attributes, and organisational and environment factors (contextual) are considered as important for their increased effectiveness?’ and
• ‘What are the main obstacles to the development of NGO managers in their organisations?’

It is also believed that any attempt at measuring this concept is rather inappropriate (Machin et al., 1981). Instead we set out to discover;

‘What factors and influences contribute towards the effectiveness of the NGO managers in India?’

1.4 ORGANISATION OF THE BOOK

The present volume is composed of five chapters. The introductory preamble presents an overview of the concept of managerial effectiveness and the need for increased effectiveness among HIV/AIDS NGOs. The scope of the study and methodological concerns for the generation of data and the premise for adoption of the guided framework is explained, and pertinent questions are posed.

Chapter 2 brings the case of India to the forefront, detailing the social construction, development and government intervention for managing HIV/AIDS in the country. A description of the HIV/AIDS and community development NGOs from Maharashtra and Goa states is presented because this is where the fieldwork was carried out.

Chapter 3 focuses on the scope of the study, nature and process of generation of the adequate and relevant data and thematic analysis undertaken. It is demonstrated that research methods should not be employed for their elegance alone rather; the nature of data, participants, subject of the study and context should be carefully considered.

Chapter 4 provides the main findings of the analysis in four separate but interrelated sections; first the characteristics of participants involved will be discussed. Second, the identified parameters of NGOs’ managers' effectiveness will be explored in detail. This will be followed with a discussion of the nature of the contextual factors and how each pose varying influence on the parameters identified. In the fourth section, the emergence and constituent elements of a viable model for analysis and understanding of NGOs' effectiveness in the Indian context will be put forward.

Finally, in Chapter 5, theoretical, policy and practical implementations for management and development of third sector organisations will be discussed, and possible strategies for the government and other associated agencies are presented.

Each chapter is comprehensively summarised and will include useful action-levers for practitioners and relevant questions and links...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• List of Tables
• About the Authors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Managerial Effectiveness
• 2 Managing HIV/AIDS in India
• 3 Methodology of a Taboo Topic
• 4 Identified Parameters and Contextual Influences of Effectiveness for NGO Managers
• 5 Conclusions: Findings and their Implications
• References
• Index