Humanitarian Organizations in International Disaster Relief: Understanding the Linkage Between Donors and Recipient Countries

This study explores how humanitarian organizations (HOs) link donors and recipients in a disaster relief coordination mechanism. Based on an analysis of real data collected from the financial tracking service, our results show that disaster assistance through the HO channel greatly exceeds the funding delivered by the non-HO channel. The severity of the disaster is positively correlated with the involvement of HOs. Disaster-stricken countries that belong to the Non-Aligned Movement receive more assistance through the HO channel. The recipients with less international trade may attract more HO-channel funding, but higher international tourism expenditures also may result in more HO-channel funding. We also found that the determinants of the disaster relief coordination path vary greatly in terms of trade openness, political regime, and geographic factors. Based on the analysis of the primary humanitarian relief supply chain, the results show that some countries prefer to donate through large international HOs (e.g., Japan and Canada), and other countries favor national level organizations (e.g., the UK and the USA). Finally, to improve the efficiency of international disaster relief, the paper suggests a coordination platform that involves the main donors, frequent recipients, HOs, and a Global Information Network that can assist in coordinating disaster relief activities.

     

Islamic Migrant Organizations: Little‐Studied Actors in Humanitarian Action

Since 9/11, attention to Islamic migrant organizations within Western countries has grown. However, the humanitarian activities of these organizations have received only limited attention. Hence, it is not yet clear why these organizations engage in humanitarian crises, which specific role Islam plays in their humanitarian engagement and which factors influence the scope of their activities in humanitarian crises. This paper aims to address these research questions by using approaches from sociology of organizations and presenting three empirical case studies from Germany. Particularly, it argues that although all three case studies are active in humanitarian crises the scope of their activities differs due to their differing organizational characteristics, member interests and external expectations.     

城市化过程中过渡型社区的长效治理:"三社联动"的视角

过渡型社区是指在法定城市社区中,由土地被征占的农民构成的演替式边缘社区和含有土地被征占的农民的混合式综合社区.因其居民主体自身的异质性和作为过渡型社区发展阶段呈现出特殊的生存性、适应性、发展性问题,使得普通城市社区治理模式的借鉴意义有限,有必要探索有针对性的长效治理方案以优化治理效能."三社联动"这一协同治理理念下的基层治理的具体实践模式,因其提供资源整合和多元化服务的特点而展现出其适用性.推动"三社联动"在过渡型社区中的实践模式发展,对过渡型社区治理以及普通城市社区治理具有良好借鉴意义."三社联动"模式可通过多重主体入场提供完整的就业支持系统;利用教育—服务双承载模式提供多样化培训服务;加强三大主体联动共建社区公共文化空间,培育家园理念建设,推动过渡型社区居民的社区归属感提升和城市融入进程.     

On the Nexus of Organizations and Professions: Networking through Trust*

This paper examines new dimensions of professional-organizational relations through the concept of trust. It develops the argument that trust exists among similar professionals because of many common denominators that lubricate their intra- and in-terorganizational collaborations. Therefore, professionals have the ability to conduct efficient transactions that reduce the need for formal monitoring systems and costly contractual agreements. These efficiencies in turn contribute to organizational goals of efficiency, flexibility, and legitimacy because they reduce organizational costs, increase organizational learning, allow for faster organizational adjustment to environmental changes, and accommodate professionals’desire for sovereignty. Concomitantly, professionals impose their own needs for autonomy on organizations. Consequently, professionals both impel the creation of new organizational forms, and contribute to the efficiency of these forms. In particular, three such forms–flat structures, hypertext organizations, and network forms–are facilitated and engendered by professionals.     

Ineffectiveness,Poor Coordination,and Corruption in Humanitarian Aid: The Syrian Refugee Crisis in Lebanon

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Corruption attracts scholar attention due to its harsh impact on people and institutions, especially in nonprofit...     

Defining and Estimating the Scope of U.S. Faith-Based International Humanitarian Aid Organizations

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - This study illuminates the size, scope, and impact of U.S. faith-based nonprofits in the international affairs sector....     

Crisis on the Border: Specialized Capacity Building in Nonprofit Immigration Organizations

Traditional views of the nonprofit–government relationships suggest that while government may depend on nonprofit organizations to provide human services, nonprofits must also conform to government standards, monitoring, and regulation. In this paper, we argue that through specialized investments in capacity building, nonprofit providers can become irreplaceable to government funders. By developing a comparison case study of two organizations serving unaccompanied minor children who cross the U.S.–Mexico Border, we provide evidence of specialized capacity investments in a complex policy environment and discuss the implications of capacity building for both government and nonprofits.     

Social Capital in Emerging Collaboration Between NPOs and Volunteers: Performance Effects and Sustainability Prospects in Disaster Relief

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Disaster management research increasingly focuses on how to collaborate with emergent volunteers in order to support...     

Building the Unsettling Force: Social Workers and the Struggle for Human Rights

Community organizing for human rights provides a platform for social workers to be actively engaged in dismantling systems of oppression. Using a case study of Women In Transition, this article emphasizes strategies for organizing for economic human rights, including opportunities and challenges in using the human rights framework. Recommendations and implications for the social work profession are discussed.     

Differences in Work-to-Family and Family-to-Work Spillover Among Professional and Nonprofessional Workers

We examine work-to-family and family-to-work spillover for professional and nonprofessional members of dual-earner couples. Separate analyses (multiple analysis of variance [MANOVA]) are conducted for men and women. We include variables in our model that help us understand differences between workers, including age of respondent, number of children, occupational status, employment status, and an interaction effect between children and work hours. To determine whether particular work benefits are influential, we add work flexibility as a covariate in a second model. Our findings do not support the assertion made in the literature that nonprofessional workers are less likely than professional workers to feel pressures from work to family.     

Warmth and Competence: How Social Stereotypes of Volunteers Versus Paid Workers Affect Client Trust

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Although the differences between volunteers and paid workers have been well studied, whether the perceived differences are...     

The Slaughtered and the Survivors: Collaboration Between Social Economy Organizations as a Key to Success in Times of Financial Crisis

The objective of this study is to analyze the aspects that allowed a critical part of Social Economy Organizations (SEOs) to survive a recession period, especially participation in collaborative networks. The financial stress of an SEO will depend on the resources and capabilities available to the organization. To analyze the financial stress of Spanish SEOs, we defined a sample of 714 SEOs. Approximately half of these organizations suffered from financial stress in the analyzed period (2009–2012). The results obtained in this study reveal the existence of three factors that distinguish organizations under financial stress: (a) a high dependence on government funding; (b) changes in the relationship between staff and volunteers; and (c) a lack of access to markets. The combination of these three elements results in an unsustainable situation for the organization. The development of a collaborative profile increases the SEO’s probability of surviving the adverse manifestations of its environment.     

Perceived Job Insecurity of White and Black Workers: An Expanded Gap in Organizations with Layoff Prevention Commitment

This study investigates the racial disparity in perceived job insecurity between black and white workers in the context of employers’ layoff prevention commitment. Using a unique employer-employee dataset combining the General Social Survey (2002) and the National Organization Survey (2002), we find that human capital indicators, job characteristics, and previous job loss are not sufficient to account for the high job insecurity perceived by black workers. Rather, an organizational commitment to avoid layoffs is a significant factor conditioning the racial disparity in perceived job insecurity. While the presence of an organizational commitment to prevent layoffs expands the racial disparity in perceived job insecurity, the absence of such a commitment to prevent layoffs attenuates such disparity.     

Purpose,Commitment and Coordination Around Small Wins: A Proactive Approach to Governance in Integrated Hybrid Organizations

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Integrated hybrid organizations, for instance social enterprises that pursue both social and economic goals through a...     

Communicating on Behalf of Global Civil Society: Management and Coordination of Public Relations in International Nongovernmental Organizations

In the last few decades, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have become influential actors in creating awareness of international social, political, environmental and economic causes in global society. However, NGOs have not received much attention in research on international public relations. This study contributes to filling that gap by analyzing how NGOs manage public relations according to the generic principles of excellence in global public relations and how they coordinate strategic communication between headquarters and local units. An online survey of 440 practitioners revealed 2 excellence clusters and 4 clusters of organizations with differing degrees of centralization. Excellent NGOs were found to assign more resources to public relations and more frequently considered cultural context in their communication programs. Thus, the study gives significant insights into international public relations practice in the global civil society sector and reveals further need for modifying and extending public relations theory in that respect.     

消除农村土地流转中阻力的有效途径:农民工返乡创业——以安徽为例

工业化和城市化的发展吸纳了大量的农村剩余劳动力,农村的土地出现了相对剩余,规模性的土地流转成为一种必然的趋势,但在流转过程中仍存在着一定的阻力。近年,农民工返乡创业潮流的兴起,为加速土地流转提供了机会。毫无疑问,农民工是促进农村土地流转的重要力量之一,有效的土地流转对农村经济发展起着良好的推动作用。本文以安徽省为例,首先阐明农民工返乡创业对于加快农村土地流转的意义,然后对农村土地流转中的阻力进行分析,最后提出相应的对策,以供有关部门参考。     

Underemployment and the American Dream—"Underemployment-Consciousness" and Radicalism Among Young Workers

This paper explores propositions concerning the work attitudes and political views of educated young workers who are not able to find jobs commensurate with their education and skills. Underemployment theorists have proposed that growing numbers of college graduates are over-educated for the jobs available to them and may develop (1) "underemployment-consciousness" and (2) a new political radicalism growing out of their work-deprivation. In a sample of predominantly college-educated young unemployed workers, I report evidence of pervasive feelings of "over-education" but relatively low "underemployment-consciousness." A significant relationship is reported between underemployment-consciousness and radical political views among college graduates but not among non-graduates, providing preliminary support for the proposition that political dissent is most likely to emerge among the highly educated underemployed. The persistent strength of the American Dream, including assumptions of individual mobility, success and luck, is discussed to interpret the relative optimism of approximately two thirds of these workers about finding interesting work and a challenging career.     

A Heavenly Collaboration: Social Workers and Churches Working to Increase Advance Directive Completion among African American Elderly

The Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) was enacted in 1990 as a guarantee to patients that their wishes surrounding end-of-life care would be honored if they expressed verbally or through advance directives the desired level of care they wished to receive at the end of life. Research shows that African Americans have the lowest percentage of advance directives completed among the major racial groups in the United States despite the PSDA's purpose. African American elderly rely on community supports such as social workers and the church to meet physical and spiritual needs. However, these two entities have yet to collaborate to eradicate the dismal percentages of completed advance directives among African American elderly. This article explores how the religious community and social workers can work toward educating this population on the importance of advance directives and empowering them to take the necessary steps at completion if they choose to do so.