Testing the Strategic Response Model to Show Joint Effect of Resource Dependency and Centrality in Donor Network on NGO Response to Donor Demand

Abstract

The Strategic Response Model (SRM) integrates two constructs, an organization’s resource dependence and network centrality, to predict response to an external demand. This article puts the SRM to test to demonstrate its applicability as a management tool to help with decision-making. Using forty-nine Lebanese nongovernmental environmental organizations’ (NGOs’) responses to bilateral donors who changed funding interests, the results are consistent with the model’s prediction of three types of responses, exit, voice, and adjustment, regardless of which of three resource dependency variables are used. To add context to this test of the SRM model, the dynamics within a larger system of resource pursuit and allocation across sectors, especially for non-Western settings characterized by turbulence and uncertainty, are discussed. Donors and nonprofits need to consider short- and long-term strategic decisions, knowing that relationships created and fostered may be as important as resources provided and consumed.