Organisation size, innovativeness, self-organisation and inter-organisational coordination

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine how humanitarian organisation size affects inter-organisational coordination and further tested the mediating role of organisational innovativeness, self-organisation in the relationship between humanitarian organisation size and inter-organisational coordination among humanitarian organisations in Uganda.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on cross-sectional survey; data was collected from 101 humanitarian organisations. The analysis of the proposed hypotheses was done with the help of PLS-SEM using SmartPLS version 3.3.0 for professionals.FindingsThe results show that humanitarian organisation size significantly relates with inter-organisational coordination. In addition, self-organisation and organisational innovativeness play a complementary role between humanitarian organisation size and inter-organisational coordination.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings of this research provide useful insights into the role of humanitarian organisation size in boosting inter-organisational coordination in humanitarian relief delivery. High levels of self-organisation and organisational innovativeness not only improve inter-organisational coordination in humanitarian relief delivery but also enhance the transformation of humanitarian organisation size benefits into inter-organisational coordination.Originality/valueThis research is one of the few studies that investigated the effect of humanitarian organisation size and inter-organisational coordination. It also brings into the limelight the mediating role of self-organisation and organisational innovativeness between humanitarian organisation size and inter-organisational ordination in humanitarian relief delivery.

Organisational networks, organisational learning, organisational adaptability and role clarity among humanitarian organisations during relief delivery

“…Those that have studied role clarity have not expressly applied CAS theory, yet they acknowledge the complexity and volatility of humanitarian emergencies and corresponding responses (e.g. Cachia and Ramos, 2020; Safarpour et al , 2020; Mutebi et al , 2020a, b; Jabbour et al , 2019; Jensen and Hertz, 2016; Curnin et al , 2015).…”

Self-organisation, adaptability, organisational networks and inter-organisational coordination: empirical evidence from humanitarian organisations in Uganda

“…However, Uganda's experience with regard to coordination continues to pose a challenge. A case in point is the influx of South Sudanese refugees into the West Nile region of Uganda, of Congolese refugees into Western Uganda, where the refugees barely receive aid, and even when they receive such aid, many times it arrives late and often from dominant agencies at the expense of others, which evidently have the will but are hampered by limited authorisation to act (Mutebi et al, 2020). Previous scholars have conducted extensive research on coordination and its benefits amongst humanitarian organisations (Kabra and Ramesh, 2015;Moshtari, 2016;Pazirandeh and Maghsoudi, 2018).…”

Complementarity of Communication and Coordination in Ensuring Effectiveness of Emergency Management Networks

“…Pursuant to this approach, formal authority, division of tasks and responsibilities, and linking the functions performed are the base of the coordination effectiveness. In turn, the network approach to coordination concerns informal relations, level of tasks decentralization, and dispersion of these tasks [8,[61][62][63]. This approach stems from the current conditions of implementation of activities, according to which no organization operates individually but in networks, and the coordination of joint activities goes beyond traditional, intra-organizational, hierarchical mechanisms.…”

“…Hence, the ability to combine individual organization goals and the ability to focus not only on one's own tasks but also on the tasks of the entire network is the starting point for common task design. To achieve the shared goals in emergency management networks, a division of roles, and the resulting tasks between cooperating organizations is needed [8,37,61,62,65]. These two mechanisms constitute the basis for dealing with chaos, doubling, or discontinuity of activities.…”

“…Properly conducted communication processes increase the stability of relationships, commitment, and trust of individual organizations in the implementation of joint ventures, and also contribute to building common standards [4,7]. In turn, the importance of coordination results from the growing complexity in the implementation of public tasks, as well as the need to cooperate in networks created by units from various sectors [8][9][10]. The need for these units to adapt to each other in both organizational and social matters, and the constant changes taking place in the operating conditions, pose difficult tasks for public administration decision-makers [9,[11][12][13].…”