Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), governments, and businesses increasingly aim to form networks to address issues such as hunger, poverty, disease, and environmental degradation. Interorganizational networks enable constituencies to transcend some limitations and work toward common goals.
This research combines social network analysis methods with intensive assessment to (a) produce a reliable and valid measure of NGO capacity, and (b) test the common presumption that an NGO's capacity to address problems of disease and development is dependent on its local network of relationships with other NGOs, businesses, and government organizations.
The results of this study will include an important new outcome measure for NGO research. In addition, this project will identify the types of collaboration associated with increasing an NGO's scope of services, leadership strength, human resource capacity, financial stability, and research and advocacy capacity. This should have practical implications for better management of NGOs in context.
