Peer Reviewed Research

How Does NGO Partnering Change Over Time? A Longitudinal Examination of Factors That Influence NGO Partner Selection

View the Resource By Nina F. O’Brien, Andrew Pilny, Yannick Atouba, Michelle Shumate, Janet L. Fulk, Peter R. Monge Scholars suggest three partnering strategies that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) can use to pursue strategic relationships in civil society networks: (a) the development of overlapping ties associated with network closure, (b) adopting an intermediary role between two disconnected organizations associated with brokerage, and (c) complying with the match-making demands of third-party organizations.

Use and Affordances of ICTs in Interorganizational Collaboration: An Exploratory Study of ICTs in Nonprofit Partnerships

View the Resource By Sophia Fu, Katherine R. Cooper, Michelle Shumate Interorganizational collaboration relies on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). However, previous ICT research often takes place within a single organization, lacking insight into how ICTs sustain interorganizational structures. This study examined both the product categories and functional uses of ICTs for interorganizational collaboration, drawing from surveys among a random sample of 181 human services nonprofit organizations in

Is Collective Impact the Destination? A Typology of Interorganizational Collaboration

View the Resource By Rong Wang, Katherine R. Cooper, Anne-Marie Boyer, Shaun M. Dougherty, Michelle Shumate “Collective impact” has gained prominence as a particular means for organizations to respond to social problems in their community, though there is some concern that the term is over-used or improperly applied. In this study, we draw from research on collective impact, collaborative initiatives and network governance to suggest that what constitutes “collective impact”

How Does a Board of Directors Influence Within- and Cross-Sector Nonprofit Collaboration?

View the Resource By Jennifer Ihm, Michelle Shumate Board members play a significant, yet largely unexamined, role in nonprofit collaboration. Processes, such as finding prospective partners, creating common ground with a partner, and establishing appropriate collaborative governance implicate nonprofit board members. In contrast to the scholarship of the role of interlocking directorates as potential networks for nonprofit collaboration, this paper examines the role of board members’ social and human capital

A Multidimensional Network Approach to Strategic Communication

View the Resource By Amy O’Connor, Michelle Shumate In this article, we introduce a multidimensional network perspective as a theoretical and methodological touchstone for the study of strategic communication. The perspective embraces the various disciplinary traditions that are found under the strategic communication umbrella (e.g., advertising, corporate communication, organizational communication, and public relations) and gives primacy to communication as the constitutive element through which organizations make strategic decisions about network

Does Cross-Sector Collaboration Lead to Higher Nonprofit Capacity?

View the Resource By Michelle Shumate, Sophia Fu, Katherine R. Cooper Cross-sector social partnership (CSSP) case-based theory and research have long argued that nonprofits that engage in more integrative and enduring cross-sector partnerships should increase their organizational capacity. By increasing their capacity, nonprofits increase their ability to contribute to systemic change. The current research investigates this claim in a large-scale empirical research study. In particular, this study examines whether nonprofits