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The purpose of this paper is to explore how blockchain and triple-entry accounting technologies may improve non-governmental organisation (NGO) accountability by amplifying the social and economic outcomes of aid. It also provides a critique of these technologies from an accountability perspective.

An in-depth case study of a large NGO, relying on semi-structured interviews, document analysis and non-participant observation, provides an understanding of current issues in existing NGO accountability and reporting systems. A novel case-conceptual critical analysis is then used to explore how blockchain and triple-entry accounting systems may potentially address some of the challenges identified with NGO accountability.

An empirical case study outlines the current processes which discharge accountability to a range of stakeholders, emphasising how “upward” accountability is privileged over other forms. This provides a foundation to illustrate how new technology can improve upward accountability to donors by enabling more efficient, accurate and auditable record-keeping and reporting, creating space for an NGO to focus on horizontal accountability to partner organisations and downward accountability to beneficiaries. Greater accountability exposes NGOs to diverse views from partner organisations and beneficiaries, potentially enhancing opportunities for learning and growth, i.e. greater impact. However, blockchain and triple-entry accounting can also create “over-accounting” and further entrench the power of upward stakeholders, such as donors, if not implemented carefully.

A novel case-conceptual critical analysis furnishes new insights into how existing NGO accountability systems can be improved with technology. Despite the growing excitement about the possibilities of blockchain and triple-entry accounting systems, this paper offers a critical reflection on the limitations of these technologies and suggests avenues for future research.

Examples of how blockchain and triple-entry accounting systems can be integrated into NGO systems are presented. This research also raises the importance of creating a strong nexus between humans and technology, which ensures that “socialising” forms of accountability that empower vulnerable stakeholders, are embedded into international aid.

This research provides insight into present challenges with NGO accountability, using empirical evidence, furnishing potential solutions using novel blockchain and triple-entry accounting systems. Greater accountability to partner organisations and beneficiaries is important, as it potentially enables NGOs to learn how to be more impactful. Therefore, this paper introduces rich, contextually embedded perspectives on how NGO managers can exploit such technologies to enhance accountability and impact.

The purpose of this study is to present an in-depth examination of stakeholder engagement processes in non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from the perspective of NGO managers to enhance accountability and the effectiveness with which aid services are delivered. Specifically, demand-side (downward) accountability and the implications of an accountability system that is predominantly supply-side (upward) focused are explored.

This study draws on evidence gathered from 25 in-depth interviews with representatives of leading NGOs in Nigeria to explore and uncover the nature of stakeholder engagement and accountability processes in their respective organisations. This study shows prospects for entrenching organisational reform that balances power and influence that benefits the less economically powerful demand side of the stakeholders. A relevant aspect of stakeholder theory was used to frame the analysis.

The study reveals an overlay of a blanket engagement system and a seeming reluctance of NGOs to disclose critical information to the demand-side stakeholders (DSS), and suggests ways to meet sustainability demands and address the militating concerns. A perceived lack of understanding and prospects or outcomes of demand-side accountability are central to this; however, engagement outcomes that account for impact rather than output are explored and reported. The findings suggest that proper accountability involves adequate stakeholder engagement which is a prerequisite and paramount for sustainability.

This study primarily delineates NGO managers’ views on NGO engagement and accountability dynamics. Future research may explore the perspectives of downward stakeholders themselves. The study highlights the concern for NGOs to maintain a defined stakeholder engagement process that resists external forces that may impact on their operations and derail their mission, resulting in duplication of services.

The study shows the implications of donors’ influence on accountability practices which can be improved by re-structuring supply-side stakeholders to significantly include DSS accountability requirements in the key performance indicators of NGOs in developing countries. The authors present a nuanced perspective to aid delivery and access that ensures improved services and more effective, impactful and sustainable aid which is of practical relevance to NGOs and their accountability mechanism.

This study deepens the understanding of the dynamics of stakeholder engagement and accountability processes and shows that the most effective way to deploy aid funds to meet sustainability goals is to draw on the experiences and local knowledge of the DSS. This would require an effective and results-driven dialogue among all the stakeholders involved. The proposed engagement and management framework contribute to theory and practice by fostering multi-stakeholder cooperation, DSS accountability and the advancement of sustainable development

The purpose of this paper is to study the potential for management development in non‐governmental organization (NGO)‐private sector partnerships.

The paper is an in‐depth case study of a program run by the British subsidiary of a large European financial services company that had sent 60 middle and senior managers and two external consultants over a ten‐year period (1994‐2004) on capacity building assignments to nine NGO partners in southern India. Questionnaires, interviews and archives of the program were the sources of data.

The study finds that assignees described the effect of the assignments on them as profound, some as transformational. Managers completed the capacity building assignments successfully and returned with greater self‐awareness and enhanced self‐confidence, and with a greater ability to handle ambiguity and uncertainty. Based on the input provided by the NGO partners, they also benefited from the assignments. However, the benefits to the private sector company (financial services organization) are not clear from the study.

This theoretical contribution is situated in the literature on self‐awareness and proposes management development as a viable objective in NGO‐private sector partnerships. Limitations of generalizing from a single case study are acknowledged and future research avenues identified.

The ten‐year experience of a large European multi‐national organization of partnering with nine Indian NGOs highlights rich potential for management development in such partnerships, through the development of self‐awareness and self‐confidence of key managerial talent. The circumstances under which such interventions might be appropriate are suggested.

To the authors' knowledge, the potential for management development in NGO‐private sector partnerships has been under‐studied in the academic literature. The authors believe that the paper offers interesting insights and suggests further avenues for exploration.

This paper aims to empirically investigate competition within the non-governmental organization (NGO) sector, and presents some strategic approaches to managing it. Porter’s five forces (1980) model was used as a theoretical framework to understand and quantify competition in the NGO sector, as well as to explore the differences between NGOs’ budget sizes. Traditional strategic management often fails to meet NGOs’ needs. While economization is prevalent within the NGO sector, little is known about how NGOs address competition.

An online global survey was conducted between November 2010 and May 2011. Data were collected from 1,211 NGOs that either function as consultants or work in association with the United Nations (UN). The key informants were leaders and executive managers of NGOs. The respondents’ fields of work varied from international advocacy and development (38 per cent), education and research (14 per cent), community and neighborhood (8 per cent), health (8 per cent), environment (8 per cent) and social services (7 per cent) to civil liberty (6 per cent), labor (6 per cent), culture (3 per cent), philanthropy (2 per cent) and religion (1 per cent).

The findings suggest that the NGO sector is becoming increasingly competitive. However, the data suggest that the lower and upper budget classes have different priorities and perceptions. Small NGOs (with budgets <USD250,000 and especially <USD10,000) compete more aggressively for funding, as they have less bargaining power over donors and large foundations, and face stronger competition from social entrepreneurship. This results in income reductions. Large NGOs (with budgets >USD250,000 USD and especially >USD1 million) experience increased pressure for accountability.

This research is aimed at a wide range of NGOs. The findings are based on an empirical and open survey that was held among NGOs in association with the UN. Future research should survey NGOs that are not associated with the UN to generalize the results. This may lead to contradictory or more varied results.

The findings can help NGOs adapt their strategy to cope more effectively with increasing competition in the sector. Large NGOs seem to prioritize fundraising measures and their positioning (uniqueness) through specialized knowledge. Small NGOs, on the other hand, seem to consider sharing resources, co-operation with other NGOs and co-operation with the private sector slightly more important. To enhance their competitive position, small NGOs are advised to improve their potential by concentrating on developing specific skills that are hard to imitate and to improve their fundraising measures. Finally, large NGOs could benefit from pooling their resources and collaborating with other NGOs and private organizations.

NGOs have to pursue their missions under increasing competitive pressure. This paper comprehensively assesses competition, analyzes the various facets thereof and tests these aspects’ relevance to NGOs. It furthermore proposes strategies that are more appropriate for NGOs of different sizes to cope with this competition.

The purpose of this paper is to deepen and advance the understanding of the construction of accountability within the relationship between government funders and development non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

The paper presents a case study examining the process through which an influential Dutch development NGO, Oxfam Novib, constructed its own accountability while simultaneously seeking to influence shifts in government funder accountability requirements. It enrols a combination of comprehensive archival data on the Dutch government’s financing scheme for NGOs from 1965 to 2012 and in-depth interviews with Oxfam Novib managers and Dutch government officials. The co-evolution in accountability within Oxfam Novib and the government funding scheme is conceptualised using the notions of imposed, felt and adaptive accountability

The case unveils the dynamics through which accountability within a major government funding scheme for NGOs was co-constructed by Oxfam Novib and the Dutch government’s development aid department. In particular, it reveals how this process was influenced by an internal evolution in Oxfam Novib’s organisational approach to accountability and an institutional context characterised by consensus-based economic and social policy making. The case also unveils the process through which Oxfam Novib’s influence declined as more demanding, narrowly focused government accountability requirements emerged in a setting that was increasingly critical of NGOs.

The paper presents a rare example of a context where development NGOs have proactively sought and secured influence over the accountability demands of a key donor. It is unique in combining consideration of the internal evolution of accountability within an individual NGO (conceptualised as an evolution from felt to adaptive accountability) with a progression in the form of accountability required by governmental funders. The paper unveils the conditions under which NGO-preferred conceptions of accountability may gain (and lose) influence among key funders.

Despite the increasing awareness on students’ volunteerism globally, and its potential benefit to national development, there is limited research information on the subject in developing countries including Ghana. The purpose of this paper is to assess the willingness of university undergraduate students in Ghana to volunteer for non-governmental organisation (NGO) work.

The research used a quantitative research approach using a descriptive survey design. The data were drawn from a survey of 678 students from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana.

The study shows high willingness of university undergraduate students to volunteer for NGO work. The motives relate more to students’ search for understanding of people and their context, values and career enhancement, than for their social, protection and recognition needs. The students are more likely to engage in NGO activities relating to peer education, counselling and environmental protection, than in administrative duties, relief and advocacy.

The study suggests that there is a great potential for students’ volunteerism in Ghana, and recommends that Ghanaian universities should integrate volunteerism into their curricula to prepare and link students to volunteer opportunities in NGO and the service sectors.

The case study provides new thought and suggestions on students’ volunteerism to developing countries and Ghana in particular. The evidence and context of likelihood to volunteer among tertiary students are lessons for developing countries with similar context to Ghana.

This paper aims to analyse the case of a non-governmental organization (NGO) and the possibilities of implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy and principles in an organizational quality management system (QMS) to reduce the rate of staff turnover and improve the overall excellence of the organization. QMS provides a framework for implementing CSR policy, strategy, activities and culture at all management levels of organization, creating a basis for establishing a sustainable development policy and providing overall employee and management commitment and continuous improvement of the system.

Several research methods, such as literature review, logical and comparative analysis, in-depth interviews, Ishikawa diagram method and organization performance assessment via M. Baldrige excellence criteria, were applied in this research.

The authors came to the conclusion that implementing employee-related CSR activities in an organizational QMS in a long-term period can reduce employee turnover, increase loyalty and commitment and improve the overall process performance in an NGO. The QMS framework allows maintaining, monitoring and evaluating continuous effect and execution of CSR principles, and including CSR strategies in organizational policy.

The research is restricted due to the fact that the authors cannot disclose the name of the analysed NGO because of ethical and confidentiality considerations.

The paper presents an encompassing approach of integration of CSR principles in quality management principles for reducing staff turnover, completing a case study of an NGO.

In the author’s reflection on the special issue, the author will start with a brief discussion of the different theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions of the articles. In addition, the author will argue that the challenge for research on school–non-governmental organization (NGO) interactions is to move beyond the use of a myriad of conceptual models to a more coherent framework to better understand what system and nonsystem actors do, how they do it and how the broader institutional system enables or constrains collective action. The author concludes with some suggestions for future research. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In this paper, the author reflects on the design and findings of articles that focus on the involvement of non-governmental or third sector organizations in education.

By taking up these different themes, the articles reported in this special issue help the author to get a better picture of the growing plurality and power of third sector organizations and their interactions with schools. The work also raises questions about the legitimacy of NGOs in education, the weakening of democratic control over public schooling and the possible role of private interests and the concentration of power in facilitating equal opportunities for all students and promoting educational excellence. Given their methodological designs, the studies make an important contribution to our understanding of what nonsystem actors do and how they interact with schools.

By using a neoinstitutional framework, the research on school–NGO interactions will be informed by a coherent conceptual framework that conceives school systems as open systems and focuses on the intersection of instruction and organization, while simultaneously treating the system as the relevant unit of analysis (see Cohen et al., 2018). The works of Glazer et al. and Peurach et al. reported in this special issue are good examples of the kind of research that is needed. Following this work, future studies into the involvement of third sector organizations in education using a neoinstitutinal lens should give careful attention to historical analysis and also need to examine changes over a longer period of time as new institutionalized patterns do not emerge quickly and “interact with the hand of history in shaping instruction” (Peurach et al., p. 25).

The articles in this special issue may prompt more researchers to inquire school–NGO interactions and push future research efforts to understand the complex picture of increasing institutional diversity from a more neoinstitutional perspective. Findings from these cross-national studies, with careful attention to historical analysis of the intersection between organization and instruction, may help the author to develop a theory of design (Rowan and Miskel, 1999) that can provide practitioners with tools to redesign and change the regulative, normative and cognitive mechanisms that constrain and enable collective action.

Different studies have examined how policy decisions emerge and are implemented, and how this affects the “technical core” of schools (Cohen and Hill, 2001; Hiebert et al., 2005). However, most of these studies have predominantly focused on the vertical interactions between formal system actors at the state, district and school levels to analyze how policy decisions are shaped as they move through the multilayered system. Little attention has been paid to the horizontal exchange relations between the public policy system and NGOs and how these connections influence management and instruction (Coburn, 2005; Rowan, 2006). Given the increasing institutional diversity, conflicting trends and dilemmas school systems are faced with, scholars have emphasized the need to develop an understanding of the role the educational infrastructure can play in supporting improvement (Cohen and Moffitt, 2010; Cohen et al., 2018).

The purpose of this paper is to present an in‐depth, context rich, and stakeholder‐focused perspective on the legitimation dynamics surrounding the initiation and evolution of one of the key financial sector environmental and social responsibility initiatives in recent years, the Equator Principles.

The paper draws on a combination of in‐depth interviews with non‐governmental organization (NGO) leaders, extensive documentary analysis and participant observation in order to understand and explain, from an NGO perspective, the use of the Equator Principles as a central element in an attempt to legitimise financial institutions' project finance activities. Key aspects of legitimacy theory are used to theoretically frame the analysis.

The paper reveals and analyses the process through which campaigning NGOs conferred a nominal level of legitimacy on financial institutions' project finance activities. It proceeds to unveil how and why this attained legitimacy unravelled. A perceived lack of accountability at an institutional, organisational and individual project level is identified as a central reason for this reduction in legitimacy.

The paper primarily focuses on one side of the story of the dynamics of the legitimation process underpinning the evolution of the Equator Principles until 2006. Future research could focus on obtaining and theorising financial institution perspectives on the Equator Principles' development, implementation, and progression as well as analysing developments beyond 2006.

The paper advances our understanding of the dynamics of legitimation processes. These dynamics are studied from the perspective of a key “relevant public” thereby prioritising perceptions that are largely absent from corporate social accountability research seeking to empirically inform legitimacy theory.

This study presents an in‐depth investigation of non‐governmental organisations' (NGO) perceptions of CSD (corporate social disclosure) in Ireland. It commences the process of addressing a lacuna in the CSD literature, whereby the perspectives of non‐managerial stakeholders have been largely ignored. In particular, it responds to O'Dwyer call for research to examine the nature and extent of stakeholder demand for CSD in Ireland in order to inform the future development of accountable Irish CSD practices.

Evidence is collected from in‐depth interviews with senior representatives of major Irish NGOs. The paper focuses on the nature of NGO demand for administrative reforms encompassing types of CSD and the prospects for supporting institutional reforms aimed at further empowering less powerful stakeholder groups.

A demand for the development of stand‐alone, mandated, externally verified CSD mechanisms predominates the perspectives. This is motivated by a desire to see stakeholder “rights” to information enforced given Irish companies' apparent resistance to engaging in complete and credible CSD. A number of perceived obstacles to the development of institutional mechanisms designed to support any desired CSD developments are exposed. These encompass: active corporate resistance to discursive dialogue, corporate resistance to voluntary information disclosure, a compliant political elite unwilling to confront the corporate sector on social and environmental issues, and a fragmented NGO community which has difficulty in raising public awareness about corporate social and environmental impacts. Evidence of antagonism between certain NGOs and elements within the Irish corporate sector is also illuminated.

The paper reflects on these perspectives and considers their implications for the development of accountable CSD mechanisms in Ireland.

Adds to the literature on CSD.