遠親或是近鄰？社區組織內外網絡對其服務績效的影響

Networking Within or Beyond Community? Effects of Partnership on Community Organizations’ Performance

為了增強服務能量以回應服務對象多元需求，與其他組織合作是社區組織的一項重要生存策略。本研究探討社區組織之網絡關係與服務績效的關係，依據社會資本理論將組織網絡區分為對內（within-community）及對外（beyond-community）兩種形式，相關服務績效為效能（effectiveness）及才能（competence）兩種類型，控制變項包含領導力（leadership）、社區能力（community capacity）及財源等組織因素。研究問題有二：網絡關係是否對績效有關係？社區內、外網絡對各績效類型分別有何影響？本研究為次級資料分析，使用一個臺灣社區發展協會的調查資料，運用多元迴歸分析來驗證研究假設（N＝570）。分析發現，夥伴關係一般來說有益於社區組織的服務績效，值得政府及民間投入資源加以支持；對外網絡有助於社區組織的效能和才能，超越鄰里範圍的夥伴間相互學習交流，發揮了社會資本的工具性功能；社區內的組織網絡關係未必與效能、才能或二者加總的績效呈現正向關係，其運用宜界定目的並考量社區組織特質。

In response to service users’ multiple needs, and with limited resources, community based organizations (CBOs) are actively involved in organizational networking. However, the theoretical and empirical evidence for the link between networking and performance is scant. This study asks (1) whether networking influences performance of a CBO, and (2) which type of networking, within or beyond the community, is related to performance in terms of effectiveness and competence. This is a secondary data analysis. Multivariate regression models were estimated using data from 570 community development organizations. The results indicated that networking in general is beneficial to performance of a CBO, and that the positive effect is mostly derived from beyond- community partnerships. The effect of within-community partnership remains unclear due to the complex tension among organizations inside a neighborhood of Taiwan. A discussion based on the findings is presented for the best practice of CBOs’ partnership development.