ABSTRACT
Social structure is concerned with the social relationships which exist within an organization, while culture refers to the shared ideas and values which people bring to these relationships (Jones 1996). This chapter explores the ways that the study of organization theory, with its perspectives on structure and culture, open up important areas for analysing NGO management. In particular, theoretical perspectives on culture and values in organizations can assist us in understanding distinctive aspects of NGO work. They can further enrich understandings of NGO management if they are combined with insights from the anthropology of organizations, which brings ideas not just about how organizations work as communities, but also the ways in which NGO management involves the recognition of a range of distinctive tensions and ambiguities. This ambiguity is explored in the second half of the chapter.
