Networks for Social Impact by Michelle Shumate;Katherine R. Cooper;

Author:Michelle Shumate;Katherine R. Cooper;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: OUP Premium
Published: 2021-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

5

Power and Conflict

In 2014, President Obama launched My Brother’s Keeper, a national initiative designed to close the opportunity gap for boys and men of color. When they heard about the initiative, Delia Farquharson and Francis Wynne thought that the model would be an excellent fit for their community of Mt. Vernon, New York. The two began to rally community members, reaching out to local elected officials, school board representatives, and leaders in children’s mental health to set up a My Brother’s Keeper coalition in their hometown. They received support from other community leaders once Farquharson and Wynne promised to lead it. Farquharson realized that this was because “nobody else wanted to commit” to overseeing the collaborative effort. But she and Wynne threw themselves into network building, recruiting partners, and organizing regular meetings to get the work underway. Their efforts culminated in a photo op on the steps of City Hall. Still, Farquharson suggests, there were signs that not all the organizational actors were committed to working together. Farquharson recalled an early meeting with a city council representative who warned her. “We were not ready as a community,” Farquharson remembered him saying. “We were not ready to accept the big responsibility that is My Brother’s Keeper to make it work.”

Social problems, like closing the opportunity gap for boys and men of color, provide compelling reasons for various actors and organizations to come together. Who would not want to work together if it offered the chance to achieve greater social impact? Leaders are often frustrated by the lack of progress on the social issue. They are excited to realize that others are as motivated to act as they are. The thrill continues when members or funders dedicate new resources to the network. And then, eventually and certainly, there is conflict.

Research suggests that nonprofits idealize the potential benefits of collaboration and overlook some of the costs.1 We suggest that most organizations, regardless of sector, tend to do the same at the beginning. Collaboration inevitably creates conflict. Management scholars Chris Huxham and Siv Vangen suggest that the potential for conflict is so great that organizations should avoid working together unless partnership is the only choice.2 Networks represent a promising strategy, but conflict can disrupt activities before they lead to social impact.

In this chapter, we describe the challenges associated with network conflict. We first focus on power in networks and discuss the implications of power distribution and disparities. Next, we introduce the three types of conflict endemic to networks for social impact. Micro-level conflicts take place at the interface between individuals and organizations. Conflicts that occur between organizations and networks operate at the meso-level. When the broader community or system conflicts with networks, it is a macro-level conflict. Finally, we recommend how networks can recognize the types of conflicts that threaten their ability to achieve social impact and pursue several pathways to overcome them.

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