Proefschrift--Nijmegen--Katholieke universiteit, 2002. / Bibliogr. p. 301-317.

Texte remanié de: Thèse de doctorat--Sociologie--Paris--EHESS, 2004. Titre de soutenance : Les ONG locales dans l'espace public international : une sociologie de l'engagement non-gouvernemental et de ses critiques au Bénin. / Bibliogr. p. 181-189.

Texte remanié de: Habilitationsschrift--Philosophische Fakultät--Chemnitz, 2002. / Bibliogr. p. 299-327. Index.

Thèse de doctorat--Science politique--Paris--Institut d'études politiques, 2006. Titre de soutenance : L'européanisation de la société civile : les associations d'intérêt général face à l'Europe. / En appendice, choix de documents. Bibliogr. p. 311-341. Index.

Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Pédagogie : Lyon 2 : 2002. Reproduction de : Thèse de doctorat : Pédagogie : Université libanaise : 2002. / Thèse soutenue en co-tutelle. Titre provenant de l'écran-titre. Bibliogr.

Thèse de doctorat : Sociologie : Metz : 2001. / Thèse : 2001METZ002L. Bibliogr. p. 366-371.

The framework within which the thesis is located is the shift from the pre-eminence of the voluntary sector in welfare provision in the nineteenth century to the supremacy of the statutory services by the mid twentieth century; a position which is now changing. There are three sections, prefaced by a literature review of' theories of change in voluntary organisations. The concept of organisational growth, then formalisation, and eventual death is challenged; the thesis is concerned with ways in which a voluntary organisation seeks to ensure its survival. The first section, 1884-1908, defines the problem of child abuse within its social context, analyses the organised response to it, and examines the early NSPCC with reference to policing and early social work. Section two, 1908-1948, explores changing relations between the Society and the State. The early innovatory work had become more formalised. The statutory services were expanding into areas originally pioneered by the Society. Attention is focussed on crisis and change within the Society's work as it attempted to redefine its role. In the final section, the post-war period, strategies for survival are analysed. "New ideas" such as the Women Visitor Scheme and the Battered Child Syndrome are discussed as instrumental in the search for a new ima and a continuing function for the agency.

For the last 30 years, an increasing proportion of development assistance funds has been allocated to non-governmental organisations (NGOs), often in OECD countries. The received wisdom is that NGO programmes make an important contribution to development. However, whilst many funds are given to Northern NGOs, increasingly development projects are implemented by Southern NGOs. Many Southern NGOs secure most of their income from Northern NGOs, often with few alternative sources of funds. This study draws on the literature on relations between Northern and Southern NGOs, theories about inter-organisational relationships and six detailed case studies of such relationships in Nairobi (Kenya) to understand current experiences, to explore the problems that exist and to analyse how agencies are responding to their situation. The research findings suggest that Southern NGOs are generally dependent on a small number of Northern NGOs for most of their income. Despite this situation, Southern NGOs seek to secure their autonomy in establishing their goals and activities through three strategies: donor management, donor diversity and donor independence. A further finding is that Northern NGOs are encouraging the formalization of Southern NGO administration, with potential detrimental effects for their relationship with target groups. Northern NGOs are themselves constrained by their need to identify a Southern NGO that shares their objectives. For this reason, half the Northern NGOs contacted in the study are directly initiating or encouraging the formation of new Southern NGOs. In this way, Northern NGOs are influencing the development of the NGO sector as well as the work of individual agencies. Further analysis suggests the existence of three types of relationships between Northern and Southern NGOs, with Northern NGO's attitudes being a critical determining factor: shared values (close alignment of mission), common agenda (time-bound agreements between agencies with mutual respect) and coincidental interest (temporary alliances to address different but overlapping interests).

This research addresses the issue of how organisations can build capabilities to acquire, deploy, exploit and sustain computer-based information systems. With the application of information technology dramatically altering the strategies, structure, and processes of organisations, capabilities in acquiring and deploying computer-based information systems are considered critical to organisational success. It is often presumed that firms have similar capabilities to derive maximum value from deploying computer- based information systems. However, they have been shown to exhibit disparate capacities to successfully implement and exploit such systems. The concept information systems capability is introduced and refers to an organisation's capacity to effectively orchestrate the processes of acquiring, deploying, exploiting and sustaining computer-based information systems to support its strategic and functional objectives. Emphasising evolutionary and resource-based perspectives of the firm the research stresses the firm-specific, cumulative, and path-dependent nature of organisational IS capability. Three strategic dimensions of IS capability are identified. These are routines, resources, and contexts. Routines refer to the IS-related processes and practices of the organisation. Resources are its endowments. Contexts reflect the environmental factors influencing IS investment opportunities and decisions. Capabilities develop through a prescient understanding of the contexts, the strategic acquisition and deployment of IS resources and the establishment and enaction of effective organisational routines. Researchers are concerned about the persistence of ineffective information technology transfer and diffusion in developing countries. This research seeks to explicate the concept of information systems capability by drawing on examples from a developing country context. Through case studies and surveys done in Zimbabwe it explores organisational efforts to develop IS capability. The findings of the case studies confirm the significant impact of macro-contextual and organisational factors on capability building. A framework for IS capability building is proposed.

This research attempts to answer the question of how humanitarian agencies engage with the combatants in a complex political emergency. The thesis has been designed as a case study of four non-governmental organisations, two Norwegian and two British, which have been working in Sri Lanka in the ongoing war. I focus on the period from 1995-1998 and build mainly of interview data with agency staff. Drawing on research literature on non-governmental organisations, I identify three roles which agencies can play in a complex political emergency: service delivery, advocacy and institution building. Ways in which agencies combine these roles are analysed, both in terms of their strategies in relation to actors in their environments, particularly the government and the LTTE, and in terms of the organisational challenges involved. When agencies move beyond a service delivery role issues relating to neutrality and impartiality often arise. Research literature on humanitarian assistance is applied to analyse how humanitarian agencies operationalise neutrality and impartiality and ways in which the agencies may be drawn into the conflict dynamic. My theoretical framework is organisational theory and, more specifically, research literature on organisations and their environments, and organisational strategy. In particular, I explore aspects of this literature which deal with situations in which organisations are subjected to pressure from their environments. This framework is then applied to identify the sources and types of constraints which agencies operate under and agency responses to these constraints, as well as the ways in which organisations develop strategies for managing their environments. I conclude that it is possible for agencies to combine different roles, but that in doing so, foreign humanitarian agencies have to actively manage their environments in order to ensure that their actions are perceived as legitimate by actors in the country in which they work.