Strategy, local sociology, political philosophy: Analysis of strategy of Non‐Governmental Organizations under radical intellectual leadership

• Published date: 01 June 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/nml.21409
• Date: 01 June 2020
• Author: Yitzhak Dahan

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Strategy, local sociology, political philosophy:

Analysis of strategy of Non-Governmental

Organizations under radical intellectual

leadership

Yitzhak Dahan

1,2

1

Division of Public Administration &

Policy, School of Political Science,

University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel

2

Achva Academic College, M.P.

Shikmim, Israel

Correspondence

Yitzhak Dahan, Division of Public

Administration & Policy, School of

Political Science, University of Haifa,

Haifa, Israel.

Email: itsik.dahan@mail.huji.ac.il

Abstract

The study discusses the relationship between NGO

strategy (both toward government and community),

contextual conditions, and the sociological and

political-philosophic background of the leaders of

the organization. The empirical section focuses on a

specific Israeli NGO (Bimkom) led by a radical-

intellectual leadership whose aim is to promote the

interests of poor communities. The organization

under research activated a dual complex strategy,

one that both criticizes and negotiates with the gov-

ernment, at the same time advocating for and

empowering communities. The study points to a

clear linkage between that strategy and leaders' own

background. In fact, the latter served as a source

from which the leaders carved out guidelines, per-

ceptions, policy tools, and abstract resources (which

in turn also affected outcomes). On a basis of these

findings, the study suggests a model designed to

improve the analysis of strategic management.

KEYWORDS

civil society, organizational leadership, political philosophy, radical

NGOs, strategic management analysis, geography and geographers

Received: 28 August 2018 Revised: 12 February 2020 Accepted: 14 February 2020

DOI: 10.1002/nml.21409

Nonprofit Management and Leadership. 2020;30:613–633. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/nml © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 613

1|INTRODUCTION: STRATEGIES, ORGANIZATIONS,

IDEOLOGY, AND THE CONSTITUTION OF POLITICAL

ORDER

Traditionally, researchers who study non governmental organization's strategies, including

strategies toward government, identified systemic methods that enable the realization of the

mandate of the organization, that is, promoting a certain ideology or creating public value, etc.

These strategies require identifying stakeholders' interests, setting alternatives, building coalitions,

monitoring, and more (Bryson, 2004; Kearns & Scarpino, 1996; La Piana & Harrigton, 2008;

Stone, Bigelow, & Crittenden, 1999).

It is reasonable to assume that applying these methods will improve the achievements of

the NGO. Still, such analysis would not be a simple matter, as it crucially depends on a compre-

hensive understanding the mechanisms standing behind shaping strategy.

Studies focusing on this issue used two general approaches that may be roughly categorized,

for current needs, as contextual-rational and humanistic.

By the term “contextual-rational,”I refer to various schools that emphasize the objective

conditions—policy space, socio-political-economic context, funding and stakeholder's

interests—as the major force that influences or directs the organizations' strategy (Bryson, 2004;

Coston, 1998; Prakash & Gugerty, 2010; Saqib, 2019; Young, 2000). According to this approach,

once an organization faces a given context, the decisions made by its managers or leaders would

more likely follow rational considerations, as a tradeoff between the desired situation and exis-

ting conditions. For example, Prakash and Gugerty (2010) analyze the nature of decisions made

by advocacy NGOs as based on the analogy with shareholders in business firms, that is, follow-

ing natural rational, instrumental considerations, such as cost–benefit analysis and the optimi-

zation of available resources.

A substantially different theoretical approach is suggested by scholars who shift the focus

toward humanistic aspects, such as values, perceptions, culture, life stories and political philos-

ophy of leaders-founders, and leadership succession, as significant input in shaping NGOs strat-

egy and its performance (Asarkaya & Keles Taysir, 2019; Dahan, 2019; Froggett &

Chamberlayne, 2004; Greenspan, 2014; Li, 2019; Ramanath & Ebrahim, 2010; Reese &

Rosenfeld, 2008). These scholars admit that strategy, as well as policy and attitudes, is

influenced by contextual conditions and rational political-realistic considerations. Such consid-

erations, however, intersect and merge with the ideology, perceptions, and value system of the

organization. Ramanath and Ebrahim's (2010) study is a typical example of this approach. The

authors describe different strategies used by various NGOs speaking for poor residents in Mum-

bai during the early 1980s, in reaction to Indian government housing reform. They found that

under the same socio-political conditions, the NGOs differed in the ways in which they inter-

vened on the ground, using drastically different strategies and tactics (radical vs. pragmatic,

antiestablishment vs. pro-establishment). Ramanath and Ebrahim concluded that it is not possi-

ble to explain how certain strategies are being selected, except by synchronizing the objective

context (policy space, interests, etc.) with a given set of perceptions, core values, beliefs, narra-

tives, and the political philosophy of each NGO.

The notion that strategy is influenced by multiple causes, as suggested by the humanistic

view, may seem a trivial claim; despite this apparent agreement, however, there are two differ-

ent approaches to this issue.

Post- and neo-Marxists argue that the values and perceptions of civil society, including its

leaders, are most relevant for understanding NGOs strategy. Such influences, however, are

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