Who's Managing Whom? Attempting to Tame the Beast of Globalization through the Management of International Organizations

• Author: Salvatore P. Alaimo
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/puar.12615
• Published date: 01 September 2016
• Date: 01 September 2016

Book Reviews 827

Salvatore P. Alaimo is associate

professor in the School of Public, Nonprofit

and Health Administration at Grand

Valley State University, in Grand Rapids,

Michigan. He has published chapters in

The Jossey-Bass Reader on Nonprofit and

Public Leadership

,

Volunteer Administration:

Professional Practice, 2nd edition

,

Leadership in Nonprofit Organizations:

A Reference Handbook

, and

Handbook

of Research on Nonprofit Economics and

Management

. He recently produced his

first film, educational documentary entitled

What Is Philanthropy?

E-mail: alaimos@gvsu.edu

T he International and Foreign Affairs subsector

of the U.S. nonprofit sector comprises

approximately 2.2 percent of all publicly

reporting U.S. public charities while their revenue

share is about 2 percent. Despite these small

numbers, this subsector saw the largest growth in

the number of organizations from 2003 to 2013 at

19.3 percent, outpacing health, human services, and

others (McKeever 2015 ). Reasons for this growth

include the global economy, increased and enhanced

communication and awareness through technology,

a continuing diversification of the U.S. population

and those who work in the nonprofit sector, and

increasing interest in foreign affairs from U.S.-based

institutional funders and individual philanthropists.

Another significant factor driving international

nongovernmental organizations’ (INGOs) activity

is the globalization of countries and their emerging

nonprofit sectors, largely driven by industrialization

(Casey 2016 ). The mounting use of global

communications and networking through United

Nations’ conferences has also contributed to the

growth in INGOs (Koenig 2004 ).

These trends present the challenges as how to

effectively manage international organizations (IOs).

The complexity of globalization and its impact on the

growth of new and evolving sectors and organizations

brings the natural transition from administration to

management. Missoni and Alesani use a management

framework and lens to analyze the issues most relevant

to the IOs’ context while bridging theory to practice.

IOs consist of a large tent of various categories of

organizations, including international institutions (IIs),

Danny L. Balfour and Stephanie P. Newbold , Editors

Salvatore P. Alaimo

Grand Valley State University

Who ’ s Managing Whom?

Attempting to Tame the Beast of Globalization through

the Management of International Organizations

Eduardo Missoni and Daniele Alesani , Management

of International Institutions and NGOs:

Frameworks, Practices and Challenges (New

York: Routledge, 2014). 442 pp. $59.95 (paper),

ISBN: 9780415706650; $160.00 (hardback),

ISBN: 9780415706643; $47.36 (eBook), ISBN:

9781315887364 .

such as the World Food Programme, World Bank,

and programs of the U.N. system; INGOs, such as

Doctors without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres

and World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO); and

transnational hybrid organizations (THOs), such as

the International Organization for Standardization

(ISO) and International Union for Conservation of

Nature. The authors use the first section of the book

to effectively help us navigate these various types and

subtypes (which collectively can be challenging to

decipher and parcel out) by providing definitions,

descriptions, and specific examples segmented by

criteria and characteristics. Six pages of abbreviations,

beginning with Accra Agenda for Action (AAA)

and ending with World Wildlife Fund ( WWF), not

only attest to this vast diversity and complexity but

also serve as a helpful guide for readers. Missoni

and Alesani firmly establish the context in the first

section for which their management framework and

lens is later applied. One might conclude this section

wondering how any framework can be effectively

applied to such a diverse world of organizations

differing in laws, governance, language, culture,

political frames, sector and country participation, and

other factors.

“Management of International Cooperation” is the

second section of the book, and it serves to help us

connect the macro, global context to how it impacts

the micro context at the IO level. The authors provide

a recent history of significant decisions and doctrines

established in the realm of international aid. We

see how these landmark events impact the world of

IOs who are doing the work on the ground in terms

of what is expected of them, changes in goals and

objectives, and developments in new relationships

between countries, some of whom are new entrants

to join these global agreements. One example can be

found within the eight Millennium Development

Goals, which include eradicating extreme poverty

and hunger, improving maternal health, and reducing

child mortality. These goals certainly impact the

governance, focus, resources, and overall operations