The goal of this study is to identify the perspectives that development NGOs attribute to organisational social media, and furthermore elaborate on an appropriate categorisation of these perspectives for social media use by development NGOs. How social media is used in the area of development, where the use goes far beyond the private sector purpose of publicity and converting a sale, is a key issue for NGOs. Fourteen development NGOs from the Netherlands that are actively using social media were selected for this study. Interviews were conducted to collect data from the decision makers and practitioners in these organisations. The grounded theory method combined with a multiple case study was applied for data analysis. The resulting preliminary framework presents us with four emerging perspectives, namely Technological, Individual, Collective and Contextual perspectives attributed to organisational social media use. We theorise that there are relationships between these four perspectives. This paper suggests that the understanding of (organisational) social media use among development NGOs can be better understood by identifying these perspectives and their inter-relationships. The implications of these findings for the literature on affordances and organisational social media use in the context of development and NGOs are discussed. Recommended Citation Sheombar, Anand; Urquhart, Cathy; Kayas, Oliver; and Ndhlovu, Tidings, "Social Media and Development: Understanding NGO practices and perceptions" (2018). GlobDev 2018. 3. https://aisel.aisnet.org/globdev2018/3
This PhD research project is about how Dutch development NGOs use social media for their development projects. For this, the following research question has been investigated: how do Dutch development NGOs use social media to further the development activities of their organisations? The purpose of this study is to understand how development NGOs are trying to get to grips with social media. Given the exploratory nature of this research, a qualitative research approach was adopted. Both case studies and the grounded theory method were used for this study. This combination is ideal because with a case study one tries to understand, or explore a phenomenon, whereas, in grounded theory studies, one tries to build theory. Given that this study is concerned with how Dutch development NGOs perceive social media for their development projects, an interpretive paradigm seems appropriate. The grounded theory methodology for this research is consistent with the epistemology of interpretivism. The combination of case study research and grounded theory works well for theory building and has been applied in Information Systems and ICT for Development studies before. As the use of theory before data collection is in opposition to the principle idea of the grounded theory methodology, in which theory emerges from the data, this needs to be addressed when combining case studies and grounded theory. This issue was resolved by using an initial highlevel conceptual framework as a guiding instrument for both the noncommittal literature research and for the conceptualisation of the research problem, whilst not distorting the emergence of theory from the data. This study focuses on formally organised development NGOs who receive funding from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their development projects. From the approximately 100 organisations, fourteen NGOs were selected for this study. The choice of fourteen NGOs was driven by a theoretical sampling strategy. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews with 18 respondents and field-notes of meetings or events of 14 development NGOs. The data was analysed using the Glaserian coding procedure of grounded theory, starting with open coding, followed by selective coding, and ending with theoretical coding. Three major themes (or core categories as they are called in the grounded theory method), were identified. This study's first contribution is captured in the theme ‘NGO Enacting Values in Development’. This is about how an organisation’s values are enacted in the context of international development. The organisational mixture of development mind-sets influences organisational activities in development. The ideological trends that are stimulated by societal and technological changes have an impact on the organisation’s development strategy and the strategic collaboration network of development NGOs. The second contribution of this study is captured in the theme ‘NGO’s Views on Social Media Use’. This core category discusses the organisation’s view on the meaning of social media and includes the four following categories: technological, individual, collective and contextual views attributed to organisational social media. The four categories empirically demonstrate the concept of affordance clusters and the connections between them. The study’s third contribution is captured in the theme ‘NGO’s Use of Social Media in Development’, encompassing the social media activities of the studied development NGOs in their development projects. This has led to an assessment framework of organisational social media use by development NGOs, constructed by cross-referencing the organisational goals of development NGOs to the social media activity areas in the context of development. These themes represented by three core categories are inter-related. Feedback loops between NGO’s values in development, views on social media, and the actual uses of social media for development purposes have been discerned. This grounded theory study aims to build an initial theory of how NGOs might approach the use of social media in a development context. This qualitative study has produced some new concepts. This study has led to a substantive theory in the context of international development. Furthermore, this substantive theory is compared with three theory lenses, when applied on the data collected for this PhD research, in their ability to identify similar concepts as reached with the substantive theory following the grounded theory method. Finally, the thesis presents some avenues for future research that may help expand the substantive theory that has been developed under this research to formal theory
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This paper presents an exploration into how Northern-based development NGOs might change into digital social entrepreneurs while using the Internet or social media for their ICT for Development (ICT4D) related projects. The research explores the role of the Internet and social media in Northern-based development NGOs transitioning toward digital social entrepreneurship. This digital transformation observation is based on the findings of a grounded theory analysis of interviews, social media communications and reports of Dutch development NGOs. We observed a trend of service delivery by development NGOs -some young and small NGOs- transitioning to digital social enter-prises, being less dependent on government funding. The implications are that Northern-based development NGOs could be competing with local Southern NGOs or other local actors working on development. Furthermore, we suggest more research on the organisa-tional transformations ICT induces in the field of development activities.
Binnen dit project wordt gekeken hoe ontwikkelingsorganisaties ondersteund kunnen worden om beter om te gaan met digitale transformatie.Doel In afstemming met mantelorganisaties actief in ontwikkelingssamenwerking wil dit project een antwoord te geven op de vraag hoe maatschappelijke organisaties digitale transformatie kunnen organiseren in de context van ontwikkelingssamenwerking met als doel om diverse Sustainable Development Goals te behalen. Resultaten Het project resulteert in ontwikkelde instrumenten en trainingsmateriaal voor de ontwikkelingssamenwerkingsorganisaties voor het omgaan met digital transformatie. Binnen het project is een eerste paper geschreven: Digital Transformation of Development NGOs: the Case of Transitioning Northern-based Development NGOs Impact van het project Dit project versterkt de volgende opleidingen: master Data Driven Business, master of Informatics, master of Project Management en bachelor minor Business Information Management. Looptijd 01 september 2021 - 30 september 2023 Aanpak Dit onderzoek bouwt verder op de kennis van het lectoraat Procesinnovatie & Informatiesystemen en het project social media gebruik in ontwikkelingssamenwerking. Daarbij breidt de kennis uit op het vlak van maatschappelijke organisaties actief in ontwikkelingssamenwerking, waar de dynamiek van geografisch wijd verspreide stakeholders en verschillende niveaus van digitale ontwikkelingen van organisaties zowel vanuit de praktijk als vanuit een academisch perspectief een interessante onderzoekdimensie opleveren. De kernvraag van het onderzoek is: hoe managen maatschappelijke organisaties digitale transformatie door socio-technische systemen in de context van meervoudige waardecreatie in ontwikkelingssamenwerking?
Binnen dit project wordt gekeken hoe ontwikkelingsorganisaties ondersteund kunnen worden om beter om te gaan met digitale transformatie.Doel In afstemming met mantelorganisaties actief in ontwikkelingssamenwerking wil dit project een antwoord te geven op de vraag hoe maatschappelijke organisaties digitale transformatie kunnen organiseren in de context van ontwikkelingssamenwerking met als doel om diverse Sustainable Development Goals te behalen. Resultaten Het project resulteert in ontwikkelde instrumenten en trainingsmateriaal voor de ontwikkelingssamenwerkingsorganisaties voor het omgaan met digital transformatie. Binnen het project is een eerste paper geschreven: Digital Transformation of Development NGOs: the Case of Transitioning Northern-based Development NGOs Impact van het project Dit project versterkt de volgende opleidingen: master Data Driven Business, master of Informatics, master of Project Management en bachelor minor Business Information Management. Looptijd 01 september 2021 - 30 september 2023 Aanpak Dit onderzoek bouwt verder op de kennis van het lectoraat Procesinnovatie & Informatiesystemen en het project social media gebruik in ontwikkelingssamenwerking. Daarbij breidt de kennis uit op het vlak van maatschappelijke organisaties actief in ontwikkelingssamenwerking, waar de dynamiek van geografisch wijd verspreide stakeholders en verschillende niveaus van digitale ontwikkelingen van organisaties zowel vanuit de praktijk als vanuit een academisch perspectief een interessante onderzoekdimensie opleveren. De kernvraag van het onderzoek is: hoe managen maatschappelijke organisaties digitale transformatie door socio-technische systemen in de context van meervoudige waardecreatie in ontwikkelingssamenwerking?
The growing awareness of consumers of the increasing problem with livestock and meat production due to the high nitrogen emissions and the related impact on climate change drives consumption of plant based vegetarian alternatives. Similarly there is also an increasing demand for animal-free, eco-friendly alternative vegan leather. Consequently there has been significant interest in developing leather-like vegan materials from multiple plant sources, such as mango, pineapple and mushroom based materials. However, the commercialization and the growth of sustainable vegan leather production is hampered significantly by the difficulty of achieving the needed quality for the various consumer products as well as the high prices of the vegan alternatives. In the Growing Leather project two SMEs, BioscienZ and B4Plastics, will combine forces with Avans University of Applied Sciences to develop vegan leather from the mushroom based material called mycelium. BioScienZ is a biotech company with strong expertise and capacity to produce low-cost and consistent quality mycelium. B4Plastics is a material development company, with strengths in designing and distributing eco-plastic products. In this project Avans University will use several mycelium types (produced by BioscienZ), and with the guidance of B4Plastics, it will test various additives under many different conditions, to ultimately develop an environmentally friendly, vegan material that will have comparable material characteristics to animal leather and is competitive in price.
