An interesting post on Edelman blog on whether US NGO's are maturing or returning militant roots. Of course, the background is an survey carried out by the Edelman agency, but still very intersting... as you can read...:
"In Edelman/Harvard/IBLF survey of Fortune 500 companies, global NGOs, global media and institutional investors, all agreed that MNC should view less-developed markets as an opportunity to grow market and increase shareholder value.There are a few issues for business to consider in this environment:
1) Is a company ready to make a long-term commitment? There is no easy exit strategy once you are committed.
2) Can the company outline a plan to self sufficiency for the social actors? For example, Rajiv Gupta of McKinsey eloquently described a plan to increase the supply of health workers in India, which began with a think tank on public health to affect public policy, creating institutes for public health and making health a respected and desireable profession.
3) Can the company identify its areas of core competence (logistics, marketing, management) and how it can work along side NGOs who do the actual service delivery (note that companies are not credible actors in public interaction and are too vulnerable to political pressures). "
