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There is still no universal definition of the third sector in Europe, but it can be seen as including all types of non-governmental not-for-profit entities such as non-profit organizations, mutuals, cooperatives, social enterprises and foundations. This article attempts to make sense of the current shifting conceptualization of the third sector in Europe. It is based on short country summaries of the images and concepts of the third sector in 13 European countries by EMES Network’s members, first presented in 2008 (Defourny and Pestoff, 2008; nine of them were recently revised and are found in the appendix to this article.). The perception and development of the third sector in Europe is closely related to the other major social governance institutions/mechanisms, like the market, state and community and through the third sector’s interaction with them. Moreover, many third sector organizations (TSOs) overlap with these other social institutions, resulting in varying degrees of hybridity and internal tensions experienced by them. TSOs can generate resources from their activities on the market, by providing services in partnership with the state and/or by promoting the interests of a given community or group. The country overviews document a growing professionalization of TSOs in most countries and a growing dependency of public funds to provide services. This has important theoretical and practical implications for orienting the articles included in this book. Thus, it can provide a key for better understanding the discussion and analysis in the remainder of this volume.

In India, one in 500 people (Balaji, 2019) are diagnosed with ASD. Around 40 non-governmental organizations cater to Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) children; out of that, a few organizations focus on adults providing them vocational training to make them employable. One such exercise was initiated by SAP Labs India, a leading software company, and Enable India, an Indian NGO where they developed a focused training program for people with ASD and placed them in vital technical jobs in SAP Labs India (Karwa, 2016). First, we peek into the lifestyles of a few successful neurodiverse rock stars in India and their journey from becoming aware of their profile to establishing a career and becoming a role model to other people with ASD. Second, we present the autism landscape in India. Third, we explore the organizations that have hired people with ASD, their policies connected to neurodiversity, and the organizations that give training and support. Fourth, we present the potentials and the challenges people with ASD face. Fifth and final, we cover the role of different stakeholders to foster support and up-skill people with ASD for better community development.

Purpose – This chapter on global civil society provides a definition of global civil society, and also provides a historical and theoretical overview of social movements. This chapter also presents a taxonomy of non-state actors and demonstrates at the theoretical level that actions and initiatives by non-state actors since the 1990s’ globalisation. In this chapter, the concept of civil society is presented as a form of globalisation from below, and its role in the participatory governance of societal processes implies forms of soft regulation and moral authority which transcend the role of states as enforcers.Design/methodology/approach – This chapter is based on an extensive literature review.Findings – Actions and initiatives by non-state actors in the current age of globalisation have been increasing. This increase has become more evident with the more stringent traceability of processes associated with the development of information and communication technologies (ICT), and private forms of organisation networking at the local and transnational level. This has re-defined geographical boundaries, creating proximity between individuals which goes beyond physical constraints, and it has extended definitions of communities to multiple levels of identification and convergence, but also divergence.The concept of civil society and its role in the participatory governance of societal processes implies forms of soft regulation and moral authority which transcend the role of states as enforcers. The idea of civil society opens a space for non-traditional actors to actively participate and engage in the political processes of change in society, for the betterment of marginalised groups, the environment or social justice in general. The diversity of roles that single individuals have in society allows them to participate from different angles.Although the concept of civil society has limitations due to its breadth, manifestations of a global civil society can be understood as forms of globalisation that occur outside traditional institutional settings.Originality/value of chapter – This chapter provides a general overview on civil society, and its relevance for analysing contexts of international business, and MNES's relations with community and non-governmental groups. Within this chapter, it is also conceptually describe how multinationals as non-state actors have increasingly playing a role in providing welfare.

All forms of organization have governance requirements and procedures. Often, these are quite similar despite the form and mission of the organization in question. They only consider governance in the organization environment and rarely look beyond their immediate stakeholders. In many corporations, the immediate stakeholders are even considered to be the investors and only those regardless of the apparency of other close stakeholders such as workers, customers, suppliers, authorities, and interest groups or non-governmental organizations. Even corporations with such narrow views and organizations with a broader stakeholder view are relatively unrealistic and are inappropriate in the modern global world, which we inhabit. Organizations of any form and size need to recognize both the need to consider radical changes in the modern global environment and the opportunities and possibilities presented by the current environment. Therefore, this chapter takes a broad approach and considers governance requirements in the modern world seen from a global perspective for all forms of organization. With global perspective, organizational governance is, here, called New Governance, and it includes the idea, that even the smallest decision can have a dramatic social, economic, or geopolitical impact in other parts of the world. The idea of New Governance is to put on the global lenses when making decisions to consider the potential effect – positive as well as negative – on the local as well as the global perspective, even on the unknown future and on future generations to come. Some may call this sustainable governance, but in this chapter, it is embedded in the New Governance as a concept, which can be nothing else but sustainable in its core idea. The future requirements for New Governance in any kind of organization are discussed, as the relationship between organizations and its global and future stakeholders, and how they form these requirements.

In this chapter we explore gender and regional disparities in leadership positions in major international organizations. To this end, we conducted data mining of the Yearbook of International Organizations 2007–2008, the largest database of profiles of high-ranking officials in international organizations ranging from intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations. Findings indicate that significant gender and regional disparities exist in leadership positions; the vast majority of global leaders in the organizations were males, mostly educated in Western-based universities. Given the increasing influence of international organizations on various global issues, our findings enable us to question whether key international organizations equitably represent all people by developing and implementing the best policies for all people. Our findings also suggest that these organizations’ hiring and promotion practices need to be better understood, given that certain types of human resources (males educated in top Western-based universities) appear to be selectively appreciated, preferred, and accepted as leaders.

This chapter examines the rights of those who have their photograph taken for use by non-profit organisations (such as non-governmental organisations, charities, and academic institutions) and the obligations of those producing and using these images to not abuse those rights. The chapter focusses on informed consent as the key intersection of these rights and obligations. It examines the specifics of what is meant by ‘informed consent’ and the importance of the process of it being requested and given. The argument presented suggests, rather than seeing this process as a legal, one-off contract, that it should be seen as a relationship that may evolve over time and, to a degree, attempts to establish a more equitable relationship between those who produce and publish images and those who appear in them. It is suggested that this process can play a role in addressing a number of ethical issues, including the safety of the individual being photographed and how vulnerable populations are represented visually.

Purpose – This chapter contributes to the growing debate on the diffusion of managerialist modes of thinking across third-sector organisations. It offers an analysis into the power dynamics at play in the emergence of hybrid management systems (HMSs) by looking at the management practices in non-profit organisations (NPOs) active in combating HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

Design/methodology/approach – In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with donor organisations and big non-governmental organisations (NGOs) based in the Northern hemisphere, and with managers and team leaders in South African NGOs. Taking a postcolonial perspective, the HMSs resulting from the encounter at the ‘glocal’ interface are investigated.

Findings – The data indicate that the power dynamics shaping the process of hybridisation work through three intertwined circuits of power: the managerialist discourse, the ‘rules of practice’ emanating from that discourse and episodic power relations at the level of interactions.

Research limitations/implications – As is the case with most qualitative research, care must be taken in generalising the findings of this research beyond the organisations participating in this study. At a theoretical level, the implications of this chapter are its contributions to three sets of literature that rarely interact: NPO management, international and cross-cultural management (ICCM) and critical management studies (CMS). At the level of organisational praxis, the findings have potential impact in terms of developing innovative ways of managing NPOs.

Originality/value – The originality and value of this chapter lies in its application of postcolonial theory to understanding hybridisation processes shaping management ideas and practices in South African NPOs.

While Chapter 3 highlights contextual conditions that foster the formation of policy networks, Chapter 5 highlights contextual conditions that impede the formation of policy networks. The overarching question of this chapter is the following: What are the factors that hinder cross-sectoral arrangements from becoming collaborative in complex policy settings such as low- and middle-income countries with a tradition in centralized policy making? In an attempt to address this question, this study provides a detailed assessment of all cross-sectoral arrangements within the Turkish health sector focusing on the post-2003 period. Within this framework, three types of networks will be examined including (a) consultative networks where stakeholders come together primarily to legitimize certain government policies within national level health policy platforms; (b) cluster networks where stakeholder interaction falls short of becoming collaborative due to diverging interests and persistent competition at the regional level; and (c) patronage networks where governmental actors and a selected number of NGOs linked by clientelism serve as a bridge between the ruling party and its constituency at the community level. Unlike policy networks, these actor constellations observed at different levels of governance do not serve the purpose of policy collaboration. On the contrary, they have the potential to trigger politicization, fragmentation, and even polarization at the social level, especially through the distribution of selective benefits. Ultimately, this chapter aims to rise to the challenge of policy collaboration by assessing the impediments to network collaboration based on insights from the Turkish case.

We are living in challenging times when the world is fighting to survive the impact of climate changes, growth of pandemics, an unprecedented flow of migrant population, war and destruction. We are also witnessing the phenomena of globalization, economic and technological growth, which are also leading to various opportunities for growth. The desire for inclusive education, equality in accessibility and sustainability has led to responsible and accountable organizations of higher education. Business houses, along with international agencies and institutions of higher education, are now putting their heads together to find a solution to societal and environmental problems. They are often engaged in debating, drafting policies and involving in active research while investing in implementing and communicating issues pertaining to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability (Vogel, 2005). The concept of CSR has grabbed the attention of media, academia, national governments, intergovernmental organizations and non-governmental organizations. Universities are no longer functioning in isolation but are getting prepared to accommodate and be a part of social change by actively involving students in community life and not confining them to classroom teaching as the only means of teaching–learning method (Sengupta, Blessinger, & Yamin, 2019). This book aims to explore scientific literature pertaining to the subject of social responsibility (SR) and theoretical positions on social ethics and the value orientation of the institutions of higher education. Policies and practices used in various institutions are cited as case studies which give us an insight into the cultural environment of the organization, which is essential to embed SR into the curriculum. Policies and pedagogies that are based on inculcation of SR can lead to the social and economic benefit of students and society at large. While no one approach is prescribed as the benchmark, the chapters help us to understand the practices that academics are implementing in India, Nigeria, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.

The objective of this paper is to compare the advocacy role of civil society organizations in the United States and Brazil. We conducted an exploratory case study of three peak organizations that engage in public policy advocacy as part of their strategies. We analyze how they advocate and the role this form of action plays within different democratic contexts that assume public discussion and deliberation, by citizens, about matters relevant to them, such as the formulation, execution, and monitoring of public policy. The study concludes that the policy advocacy role of civil society organizations strengthens internal and external democratic processes by bringing for the deliberation process in the public sphere organizations that represent different groups in society. However, this process also poses some risks and challenges that shall be taken into consideration.