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xploringtheDischargeofAccountabilityinNGOs

Introduction

1.1BackgroundofNGOs

Sincethe1980s,NGOshavebeenmorefrequentlyappearedinthepublicoccasionswithNPO,whichhasbeenwidelyrecognizedtobeincreasinglyimportantorganizationsinthefieldofpublicadministration.AccordingtothedataissuedbytheWorldBank,morethan15%ofthetotaldevelopmentaidsoverseaswascompletedbyNGOs.(Lehman,2007)Generallyspeaking,NGOsareformedbynon-profitorganizationsandnon-governmentorganizations.Theseorganizationsaresupportedbyalotofvolunteers,andtheyhaveextremelyclearanduniquepolicyaims.(Lane&Morrison,2006;Young,2000)Sofar,therearemanydifferenttypesofNGOs.Accordingtotheaimsoftheseoriginations,NGOscanbeclassifiedintocharities,socialmovements,publicinterestresearchgroupsandotherinterestsgroupswhicharedrivenbyspecificpoliticalagendasandaims,neighborhoodorganizations,andsoon.(Carson,2002)WiththecontinuouslygrowingnumberofNGOsandtheexpandedscopeofactivities,NGOsplayanincreasinglyimportantroleintheworld,suchassupervisinggovernmentalbehaviors,providingservices,arbitrationandmediation.ItcanbesaidthatNGOshavebecomeavitalpartofthepowerstructure(McGann&Johnstone,2004),involvingresourcesandgovernance(Gauri&Galef,2003),social,economicandpoliticalmanagementandaids(Naher,2010;Stiles,2002),socialdisclosures(Ahsan,etal.,2009;Jamil,1998;Momin,2013),aswellashelpingthepoortohavetheirownhouses(Rahman,2002).Inshort,therapiddevelopmentofNGOshasbroughthugebenefitstohumanbeings.

1.2DefinitionofNGOs

Asaconceptofcivilsocietyorganizations,theconceptofNGOisveryvague.Asearlyas1920s,theitemofNGOhadbeenusedinthediscussionbySophy?Sanger.(Pierre-YvesSaunier,2007)Fromabroadandbasicaspect,NGOisneitherofficialorganizations,suchaslocalgovernment,publichospitals,schoolsanduniversities,norisprivatebusinessorganizationsforprofits,suchaslocalandmultinationalcompanies.InaccordancewiththedefinitiongivenbytheUnitedNationsRuleofLaw,NGOsshouldbereferredtoas"civilsocietyorganization"or‘not-for-profitgroups,principallyindependentfromgovernment,whichisorganizedonalocal,nationalorinternationalleveltoaddressissuesinsupportofthepublicgood”.Tosumup,NGOsshouldbeautonomous,privateandnon-profit,aswellashaveclearsocialmissions.(Tuijl,2006;Jordan&Tuijl,2006)

1.3AimsandObjectivesofThisStudy

However,UnermanandO'Dwyer(2006)pointedoutthatNGOshouldbedefinedinabroadercontentofthecivilsociety.Ontheonehand,NGOsinvolvemanyfieldsthatwereoccupiedbythegovernmentpreviously.Althoughthegovernmentwithdrewfromthesefields,itstillhascloselyrelatedwiththeNGOsthathaveoccupiedthesefields.Thus,NGOscannotavoidcooperatingwiththegovernment.Ontheotherhand,moreandmoreNGOsbegantoprovideservicesoradvocacyactivities,whichleadstotheblurredboundariesbetweennon-governmentalorganizationsandcommercialorganizations.Besides,manyNGOswererevealedthescandalstheyhaddoneduetothelackofsupervision.(Gibelman&Gelman,2001)Therefore,itisnecessarytomakethepublicknowtheaccountabilityofNGOsandthensupervisethem.ThisarticleiscommittedtodiscussingtheaccountabilityofNGOsandhowNGOshavedischargedtheirownaccountability.

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Methodology

3.1ThedesignofResearchMethod

InordertocompletebetterunderstandtheaccountabilityofNGOsandhowNGOshavedischargedtheirownaccountability,thispaperdeterminestousecontentanalysisanddatacollectiononthebasisofextensivereading.

3.1.1.ContentAnalysis

Contentanalysisisaresearchmethodusedtoobjectivelyandquantitativelydescribeinformation,whichissuitableforallrecordedandvaluabledocuments.Atpresent,itiswidelyusedinvariousfields,suchasthenewsmedia,books,intelligence,politicalandmilitary,sociology,psychologyandothersocialsciences.In1952,BernardBerelsondefinedcontentanalysistobe“aresearchtechniquefortheobjectivesystematicandquantitativedescriptionofthemanifestcontentofcommunication”.(Berelson,1952)Andthen,Holsti(1968)referredcontentanalysistobeakindofmethodwhichcouldobjectivelyandsystematicallypointoutthecharacteristicsofinformation.Inaddition,Krippendorff(2012)definedcontentanalysistobeakindofresearchmethodthatcanobjectivelyandquantitativelystudyinformationandevaluatetherelationshipbetweentheinformationandtheenvironment.Fromtheabovedefinition,contentanalysismethodhasthefollowingthreekeyfeatures,thatis,systematicness,objectivityandquantifiability.Therefore,contentanalysisisprettysuitableforbeingusedtoanalyzetheaccountabilityofNGOsandhowNGOshavedischargedtheirownaccountabilitybasedonextensivereading.Theresearchresultcanbeobjective,quantitativeandsystematicintheend.Moreimportantly,thismethodhasbeenprovedbypracticalapplication.Forinstance,Connolly&Dhanani(2009)usedcontentanalysistostudytheannualreportsofSEOsandexaminedtheirwebsitesonthepurposeofevaluatingtheirdischargeofaccountability.Gibelman&Gelman(2001)revealedthewrongdoingofNGOsthroughanalyzingthemediareportsofscandalsrelatedtoNGOs.Thus,itisagoodchoiceforthispapertocontentanalysistocompletethestudy.

Inordertoachievetheobjectiveofthispaper,fiveannualreportsofNGOsareselectedtobematerialsforanalysisaccordingtotherankof2015GlobalJournal,amongwhichthreeofthemarethefirstthreeplacesofEnglandandtheothertwoarethefirsttwoplacesofScotland.Tobespecific,thesefiveannualreportsare“Tacklinghunger,transforminglivesConcernWorldwide(UK)AnnualReport&Accounts2013”,“IslamicReliefWorldwide-2012AnnualReportandFinancialStatements”,“OxfamAnnualReport&Accounts(2013)”,“LeavingNoChildBehindAnnualreport2013”and“2014Trustees’ReportandConsolidatedFinancialStatement”.Allthesefiveannualreportsadopttheglobalreportinginitiativestructure,whichcanreflectthecreditabilityandqualityoftheirreports.(Jepson,2005)Throughresearchingeconomicperformance,environmentalperformance,labormeasuresandworkingefficiency,humanrightsperformance,productliability,etc,thispapercanobjectivelyanalyzetheirbehaviorsofimplementingtheiraccountability.ThispaperwilldesigncorrespondingquestionsrelatedtotheaccountabilityofNGOsandhowNGOshavedischargedtheirownaccountability,andthenitwillfindoutanswersthroughdetailedanalyzingtheseannualreportsobjectively.

3.1.2DataCollection(dataanalysis?)

Datacollectionisakindofquantitativetechniques.(Bogdan&Biklen,1998)InaccordancewiththequestionsdesignedforexploringtheaccountabilityofNGOsandhowNGOshavedischargedtheirownaccountability,thepaperwillcollectdataneededfromtheannualreportsabove,compareandcontrastthedatacollectedwiththesamestandard,andthenshowstheresultthroughtablesanddiagrams.Inthisway,readerscandirectlyseewhatkindsofaccountabilityNGOshavetakenintheworldandwhattypesofactionsandmeasurestheyhaveadoptedinordertoachievethedischargeoftheaccountability.

Accordingtotheanalysis,bothcontentanalysisanddataanalysisareobjectivemethodsusedforanalyzingmaterials.Hence,thispapercanbetterensuretheaccuracyandobjectivityofresearchresult.

3.2ResearchOutline

ThispaperwillfirstlyintroducetheoriginanddevelopmentofNGOs.Asanimportantpartoftheworld,NGOshavedevelopedmanydifferentforms.AccompanyingwiththedevelopmentofNGOs,theboundariesbetweennon-governmentalorganizationsandcommercialorganizationsisgrowingblurredinthereality.Thus,itisnecessaryforthepapertointroducethedefinitionofNGOssoastomakereadersmoreclearlyknowtheessenceofNGOs,thatis,NGOsshouldbeautonomous,privateandnon-profit,aswellashaveclearsocialmissions.Andthen,thispaperwillgivealiteraturereviewfocusingonthedefinitionofaccountabilityandrelevanttheoriesofaccountability,includingPrincipal-agentTheory,LegitimacyTheoryandStakeholderTheory.Asaresult,readerscanknowthespecificmissionsofNGOsandmeansofachievingthemissions,aswellasunderstandwhoNGOsshouldberesponsibleforandwhattheyshouldtomaintaintheinterestsoftheirstockholders.Atthesametime,theLegitimacyTheoryalsorevealsthatNGOsshouldbehaviorwiththerangepermittedbylawsandregulations.Inshort,readerscanhaveamoreclearunderstandingtowardstheaccountabilityofNGOs,soastolayatheoreticalfoundationforlatercontent.Followedbyliteraturereview,methodologywillbegiven,inordertomakereadersknowthedesignthoughtofthepaperandguidereaderstograspthefocuses.Anyhow,thispaperwillinsistontheprincipleofobjectivityandaccuracy.

3.3ExpectedFindingsandConclusions

TheresearcherisextremelyeagertofindoutwhetherNGOsareloyaltodischargetheiraccountabilityandhowtheycanachievetheirmissions.AsNGOsarenon-profitableorganizations,theyhavetocooperatewiththegovernmentandenterprise.Ingeneral,NGOswillprovidemanagementandhumanresourcesandthegovernmentusuallyofferfundswhenNGOscooperatewiththegovernment,aswhathavementionedabove.Thus,theresearcherhopestoexploretheroleofNGOsplayinginvarietiesofactivities.Takethe“LeavingNoChildBehindAnnualreport2013”forexample.TheresearcherwillbecommittedtofindoutrelevantinformationaboutthemissionofNGOsinthecourseofrescuingAfricanchildren,andinwhatwaysNGOsparticipatedinthehealthandnutritionprogramme,educationprogramme,offerlife-savingtreatment,helpingAfricanchildrentofindwaystohavebetterlifeandprotectingthemfromharmandabuse,andsoonandsoforth.Andthen,theresearchwantstoexplorewhichwaysNGOscouldgetthehighestefficiencyattheleastcostthroughdataanalysisthroughcomparingwithsimilarannualreports,suchasthe“Tacklinghunger,transforminglivesConcernWorldwide(UK)AnnualReport&Accounts2013”and“IslamicReliefWorldwide-2012AnnualReportandFinancialStatements”.Asaresult,theresearchcanfindoutwhichisthebestwaytoachievecertaingoals.Intheendofthepart,thepapershoulddeterminewhichthebetterwaysforNGOstodischargetheiraccountabilityare.Ifpossible,thispapercanputforwardsomeusefulsuggestionsinaccordancewiththefindings.Inthisway,moreNGOscangetinspirations.

Inaddition,theresearcherwantstofindoutwhetherNGOshavedoneanywrongdoings.Thereasonsformakingthisstudyarebecausethegrowingblurredboundariesbetweennon-governmentalorganizationsandcommercialorganizationsandthescandalsofNGOsduetothelackofsupervision.Thus,itisnecessaryfortheresearchtoexplorewhetherthesetworeasonsarecorrectbasedonthematerialscollected.Intheend,thispapershouldconcludewhetherNGOshaveaclearunderstandingtowardstheirownaccountabilityandmissions,andwhethertheyhavetakenactiveandefficientactionstopromotetheimplementationoftheiraccountabilityandmissions.Iftheyhavedonesomewrongdoings,whichpartstheyarewrong,andhowtheycanfurtherimproveinthefuture.

Inshort,theresearcherwillseekformoreinformationinthesetwoaspectstoanswerthequestionsthepaperiscommittedtoexplore,thatis,whattheaccountabilityofNGOsisandhowNGOshavedischargedtheirownaccountability.

3.4Limitations

Firstofall,itisnotenoughtocollectdatathroughannualreportsofafewofNGOs.AlthoughthedataissuedbytheseNGOsisaccuratewhichcanbechecked,theresearchercannotfirmlyensurethatthedatacancomprehensivelyandtrulyreflectthedetailedsituationsofNGOs.ThebestsolutiontogetthetruestdataandlearnthedetailedconditionsofNGOs’dischargeofaccountabilityistomakefieldresearch.However,itisnotpossibleatpresentduetothelimitationsoftimeandfunds.Thus,thispapercanonlyselectannualreportsofNGOstobethematerialsforanalyzing.Secondly,theannualreportsofNGOsIcouldgetarealllimitedtotherangeoftheUK,andmostofthemareaboutinternationalaidsinAsia,African,theMiddleEast,etc.WhetherthesefiveNGOscanrepresenttheentireNGOsandcoverthemainrangeofaccountabilityandmannersofachievingtheaccountabilityisstillaquestion.Thepapercanonlyensureanobjectiveandaccuratecontentanalysisanddataanalysisbasedonthematerialscollected.Secondly,thenumberofsamplesisnottoopersuasive.However,duetothelimitationofmultiplefactors,thispaperchoosestoonlyselectfiveannualreportstoanalyze.Iftheconditionpermittedinthefuture,theresearchcanfurtherimproveinthesethreeaspects.

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