Research Insights

Interorganizational Network Portfolios of Nonprofit Organizations

View the Resource By Michelle Shumate, Sophia Fu, Katherine R. Cooper, Jennifer Ihm Despite a body of scholarship that focuses on the characteristics of both within-sector and cross-sector partnerships for nonprofit organizations at the collaborative dyad or whole network level, we know little about the patterns of relationships that a focal organization maintains with other organizations at the meso-level. This research drew upon surveys from 520 nonprofit organizations and employed

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News Media, Social Media, and Hyperlink Networks: An Examination of Integrated Media Effects

View the Resource By Sophia Fu, Michelle Shumate Research typically focuses on one medium. But in today’s digital media environment, people use and are influenced by their experience with multiple systems. Building on media ecology research, we introduce the notion of integrated media effects. We draw on resource dependence and homophily theories to analyze the mechanisms that connect media systems. To test the integrated media effects, we examine the relationships

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Understanding the Size and Spread of Chinese NGO Networks: Capacity and Board Affiliation

View the Resource By Sophia Fu, Michelle Shumate In recent years, the amount of research on digital inter-organizational networks among Chinese non-governmental organizations (NGOs) has increased greatly. However, few studies have examined the offline networks of Chinese NGOs. To fill this gap, the present study investigates the size and spread of offline Chinese NGO networks. In particular, we examine two competing hypotheses: the influence of organizational capacity and the influence

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NNSI Research Report: Civil Society 2.0? Winners and Losers on the Chinese Internet

By Sophia Fu While some scholars argue that the Internet is transforming China’s civil society landscape, a recent study by NNSI researchers challenges this claim. Sophia Fu and Michelle Shumate studied the websites of 410 Chinese nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and how Chinese NGOs hyperlinked with each other in 2014. Their findings suggest that Chinese NGOs tend to hyperlink to similar NGOs. For example, government-organized NGOs (GONGOs) preferred to link with

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The Impact of Interorganizational Network Evolution on Outcomes for Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs): A Summary of Current Research

View the Resource By Michelle Shumate, Andrew Pilny, Katherine R. Cooper, Yannick Atouba Around the world, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), grassroots movements, governments, cooperatives, and universities are discovering that the fight against issues such as poverty, hunger, disease, pandemics, disasters, and environmental degradation requires new forms of organizing, self-organizing networks (Contractor, 1994; Fukuyama, 1999). The networked form of governance represents an empowerment approach to issues of poverty and development (Melkote, 2002),

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Hyperlinks as Institutionalized Connective Public Goods for Collective Action Online

View the Resource By Sophia Fu, Michelle Shumate Nongovernmental organization (NGO) hyperlink networks are institutionalized connective public goods. They influence which actors and what aspects of social issues are made visible to the public in search engine results. To understand how contextual forces and institutional pressures influence who hyperlinks to whom online, this research examines a hyperlink network of 410 NGOs with various social missions operating across China. It suggests

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