Transnational NGOs: A Cross-Sectoral Analysis of Leadership Perspectives

While the activities of transnational NGOs are today regular subject of academic study, our understanding of their basic workings and motives remains limited. Scholarship has often been focused on individual case studies of prominent organizations and successful campaigns within specific sectors, a bias limiting the generalizability of claims. Much of the research also takes place within particular disciplinary traditions and rarely capitalizes on the strength of an interdisciplinary approach. In addressing these limitations, this interview study surveyed a sample of leaders — mostly presidents and CEOs — from 152 TNGOs registered in the United States and selected on the basis of size, sector and fiscal health. Leaders were asked about their views on questions of governance, effectiveness, accountability, networking, and leadership. We find that perceptions captured in this interview study are frequently at considerable variance with the academic literature.