ABSTRACT
The rise in number, scale of operation and importance of NGOs in the development field has been accompanied by increasing interest in their organisation and management (Campbell 1987; Cernea 1988; Fowler 1990; Hodson 1992). This is not surprising since it is precisely their assumed organisational characteristics – flexibility, innovative ability, participatory approach and cost-effectiveness – that are so highly valued (Clark 1991). But there are additional important reasons for this increasing interest in management. First, there has been a growing dissatisfaction with the failures of the large official aid programmes and, in particular, a recognition that capital and technology alone cannot solve the problems of development. The result has been a refocusing of attention on institutional development in the South, and some writers have come to argue that effective institutions are a vital ingredient for sustainable development (Korten 1989; Brown 1990; Kajese 1987). Second, the rise in official and private funds flowing through northern NGOs has increased concern that organisations in receipt of these funds should be appropriately organised to ensure their maximum effectiveness (Chalker 1989; Dichter 1987).
