NGO activities in changing contexts: a realistic synthesis perspective

IV. NEW PERSPECTIVES ON MANAGEMENT AND ORGANISATIONAL RESILIENCE

Territories in transformation: multi-stakeholder governance strategies and social value creation in community–company relations

The purpose of this study is to analyze three Brazilian territories marked by tense relationships between companies and communities, seeking to understand how these ties are constructed over time. This study adopts an exploratory qualitative approach (Eisenhardt, 1989). From an epistemological standpoint, the study is grounded in an interpretivist perspective (Cunliffe, 2011). The findings indicate that multi-stakeholder governance is a dynamic process, in which organizational arrangements, power distribution and forms of social value creation are continuously reconfigured over time. The study demonstrates how governance models emerge, evolve and are contested throughout the relationship cycle, thereby influencing the generation of social value. Although the study does not measure social impact through public policy indicators, its findings engage with key challenges of the 2030 Agenda, particularly sustainable development goals (SDG) 16 (governance, coordination and legitimacy in contexts of institutional fragility), SDG 10 (power asymmetries and the expansion of community participation) and SDG 11 (territorial dynamics and firm–community relationships). Thus, the article provides an analytical foundation for understanding how multi-stakeholder arrangements may enable or constrain more equitable and sustainable responses in Global South territories. This study makes three contributions to the literature on multi-stakeholder governance (Bridoux & Stoelhorst, 2022) and social value creation (Lazzarini, 2020).

BEYOND DECLARATIONS: THE REALITY OF INCLUSIVE TRAINING IN POST-SOCIALIST EUROPE

In recent years, organizations operating across different sectors have been facing increasing demands for socially responsible business practices, which also implies the development of inclusive work environments. In an effort to adapt to these changes, many organizations are introducing diversity-oriented training programs. In this paper, research was based on empirical data and examines whether there are differences between private and public organizations in post-socialist countries regarding the implementation of diversity-oriented training. In addition, the analysis explores whether organizational size acts as a moderating factor in this relationship. Overall, the results indicate a low level of diversity training implementation in both sectors. However, performed non-parametric analysis indicates greater engagement and proactivity of organizations operating in the private sector, compared to organizations from the public sector, while the applied hierarchical linear regression showed that the size of the organization does not have a statistically significant moderating effect. The findings suggest that, in the context of developing inclusive and socially responsible human resource management practices, institutional logic is more important than organizational capacities. In addition to presenting the results of the empirical analysis, this paper also provides insights into how diversity-oriented training contributes to organizational adaptability and employee development.

Politics and Power in the NGO Sector: Structural Shifts and Governance Challenges

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are broadly recognised as independent civil society actors that contest social injustice and advance community empowerment. Yet their autonomy and governance are increasingly compromised by political interference operating through regulatory mechanisms, funding structures, and informal patronage networks. This study adopts a qualitative research design, drawing on semi-structured interviews with key informants from 120 small and medium-sized Delhi-based NGOs, purposively selected based on organisational size, funding structure, and exposure to political and regulatory constraints. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) reflexive thematic analysis. Primary findings were triangulated with secondary literature, government notifications, and publicly documented cases, including materials related to the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and its 2020 amendment. Political interference operates not only through direct control but via indirect mechanisms that normalise compliance, produce self-censorship, and reconfigure accountability as a disciplinary instrument. Loss of community trust (80%) and loss of organisational autonomy (75%) were the most frequently reported consequences. Findings further reveal governance distortions, including the weakening of internal democratic practices and downward accountability, and the structural production of mission drift and advocacy depoliticisation. The study concludes that preserving NGO autonomy requires stronger internal governance, funding diversification, and transparent self-regulatory mechanisms. State regulatory frameworks should safeguard NGOs’ democratic and moral role rather than constrain their operational capacity. The paper contributes to the growing debate on civil society co-optation, the autonomy–accountability paradox, and the conditions required for NGOs to remain genuine democratic actors.

Toward Making Power More Explicit in the IADF: A Review and Diagnostic Approach to Power Theories

In commons and institutional research, the Institutional Analysis and Development framework (IADF) has proven itself as a useful tool to investigate the complexities of social-environmental systems. It is effective in guiding researchers through the process of understanding complex problem situations. The framework helps to conceptually unravel the institutional scaffoldings structuring human-nature interactions. Yet, a long-standing critique of the IADF and its derivatives is that they fall short of making different workings of ‘power’ explicit, especially those illuminating structural and intersectional aspects. We believe that the IADF holds potential to help operationalise a large variety of perspectives on power and visualise how they may play out in commons governance regimes – a potential that has been underused thus far. In this paper, we draw on discussions about the necessity and advantages of integrating the study of institutions and power and engage with various conceptualisations of these terms. We reflect on existing proposals for such an integrated analysis, highlighting the contribution of our broad approach to understanding power. Further, we lay out the methodology we used for reviewing literature on power theory and identifying related empirical questions, mapping these questions to different IADF elements in a coding matrix, and creating the basis for the development of a diagnostic tool from this initial mapping. In a section dedicated to theoretical framing, we outline the main approaches to power that inform this paper and then continue to introduce the pathway toward our diagnostic tool through a few exemplary applications, including a discussion on limitations and potential next steps.

Civil Society Organizations as Partners in Providing Public Services in Türkiye: Findings from Focus Group Discussions

This study examines the role of civil society organizations (CSOs) in public service delivery through a qualitative research design based on focus group discussions (FGDs) conducted in Eskişehir, İzmir, and Trabzon. The findings indicate a broad willingness among public actors to engage CSOs in service processes, while maintaining a public sector led, complementary model of involvement. The FGDs reveal several structural constraints that undermine the sustainability of public-CSO collaboration, including limited institutional infrastructure, ambiguity in roles and responsibilities, rigid bureaucratic procedures, project-based funding structures, and disparities in organizational capacity. Participants emphasize that sustainable collaboration requires clearer role definitions and accountability frameworks, the establishment of predictable and long-term financing mechanisms, and the development of phased and performance-based participation arrangements. Overall, the findings demonstrate that effective public-CSO collaboration depends not only on normative support for participation but also on the institutionalization of stable governance, financing, and coordination mechanisms that can sustain long-term engagement.