ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the issue of organizational 'failure', an aspect of development non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that seems to have received surprisingly little attention in the literature. While there has been considerable debate about the role of NGOs in Bangladesh, the focus has generally tended to be on externalities rather than on organization and management issues. The chapter discusses the problematic concept of 'failure', and then briefly reviews some NGO cases that have been documented in Bangladesh. A short original case study of Comilla Proshika, a large NGO that failed spectacularly during the early 1990s, is then presented. The chapter provides a new perspective that may helps better understand the role of hybrid forms of management that can allow an organization to build management systems. It also provides the possible value of an ecological perspective on NGOs that recognizes the importance of some level of organizational 'failure' in ensuring the wellbeing of the sector as a whole.
