Organisational diagnosis of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and designing a desirable model for solutions

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the organisational factors that constrain the effectiveness of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and proposes a reform-oriented institutional model to strengthen implementation capacity, intergovernmental coordination and overall organisational performance while preserving the sovereignty-sensitive principles that underpin its governance framework. This study adopts a multi-stage qualitative design grounded in an open-systems organisational-diagnosis framework. Data were collected through 36 semi-structured elite interviews conducted across nine SCO member states and a cross-national focus group used for member checking and model refinement. Thematic network analysis supported by abductive coding was used to identify organisational vulnerabilities and reform mechanisms. The findings reveal two broad categories of organisational vulnerability. Internal vulnerabilities include consensus-based decision-making, weak implementation and follow-up mechanisms, membership heterogeneity and limited crisis-response capacity. External vulnerabilities include great-power rivalry, Afghanistan-related instability, competing regional initiatives and extra-regional geopolitical pressures. Together, these factors generate a legitimacy–capacity gap in which the SCO possesses substantial symbolic legitimacy but limited executive capacity. To address these challenges, this study proposes a two-pillar reform model combining public diplomacy and trust-building measures with institutional-capacity, compliance-monitoring and crisis-coordination reforms. This study is based on qualitative evidence from expert interviews and a cross-national focus group. Future research could use longitudinal and mixed-method approaches to evaluate the effectiveness of proposed reforms. The findings suggest that stronger implementation-review procedures, compliance-monitoring mechanisms and structured crisis-coordination arrangements can enhance organisational effectiveness without introducing supranational authority. This study contributes to organisational-analysis literature by examining the SCO as an organisation rather than solely as a geopolitical actor and by proposing an open-systems reform framework linking institutional adaptation, implementation capacity and organisational effectiveness.