Predictors of the International HIV–AIDS INGO Network Over Time

The HIV–AIDS epidemic is one of the most challenging and significant health crises facing the world today. In order to cope with its complexities, the United Nations and World Health Organization have increasingly relied upon the resources offered by networks of HIV–AIDS nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). The research reported here uses evolutionary theory to predict the patterns of alliances and collaborations within the HIV–AIDS International Nongovernmental Organizations (INGO) network. The hypotheses are tested using 8 years of data from the Yearbook of International Organizations. The results showed that geographic proximity and common ties with intergovernmental organizations (IGOs) predict the pattern of alliances among HIV–AIDS INGOs. The best predictor of such alliances, however, is past relationships among these organizations. I nterorganizational communication and change are of increasing interest in communication studies (Jones, Watson, Gardner, & Gallois, 2004). Interorganizational communication research examines the formal and informal communication structures that emerge and dissolve among organizations (Monge et al., 1998; Stohl, 1993). This research draws benefi cially on the substantial body of research on alliances and alliance networks in the organization theory literature (see Adams,. In this tradition, transaction cost-economics and the resource-based view of the fi rm have been employed most frequently as explanatory theories, positing that fi rms pursue collaborative arrangements to gain easier and more effi cient access to scarce resources and to build countervailing power.