ABSTRACT

Humanitarian non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can be expected to be transnational organisations pur sang. They usually operate in various localities – different humanitarian crisis zones – in a decentralised manner through their activities – in particular the provision of food, water, shelter, medicine, clothing, and oftentimes protection – in, above, and between the traditional “container spaces” of national societies. When a state is no longer able or willing to protect the lives of its citizens, these organisations step in. Still, little research has been done on the actual management of these

humanitarian organisations and the degree to which they have become transnational. This is surprising because, in business literature, transnational organisations have often been seen as an ideal-typical organisational form well equipped to deal with the challenges of simultaneous decentralisation for local flexibility, while also supporting knowledge transfer, sharing of limited resources, and organisational capacity building throughout the organisation in all its locations. It will be interesting to see if humanitarian NGOs have in fact consciously used transnational management approaches to enhance their effectiveness. In this respect, it is useful to refer to the question Pries asked in the introductory chapter to this volume: can these organisations square the circle by combining decentralisation with strong coordination of resources and knowledge? Using literature on transnational enterprises to formulate an ideal type of

the transnational organisation as a basis for comparison, this study attempts to establish to what extent Malteser International functions as a transnational organisation. The empirical research focuses mainly on Malteser International’s work in Sud Kivu, a province in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). In particular, it looks whether and how the organisation attempts to combine the benefits of decentralisation with stronger internal coordination. This chapter first assesses the actual state of studies on the management of

humanitarian NGOs; it shows a lack of credible data on the functioning of

these organisations. Next, it explains the grave humanitarian challenges in the eastern DRC and the responses to them. Third, it attempts to operationalise the ideal type of the transnational organisation for a humanitarian organisation. Empirically, the chapter focuses on Malteser International, which has an office in Bukavu – the capital of Sud Kivu – that provides humanitarian assistance. Finally, I will discuss whether Malteser International resembles the transnational ideal type and address issues that need to be taken up for further research.