Organization Practice E-Book

Mary Katherine O'Connor

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

Human service organizations are under increasing pressure to demonstrate that their programs work. Organization Practice, Second Edition helps students and professionals in human services and nonprofit management understand complex behaviors in organizations. This new edition provides a new, practical model for understanding cultural identities within organizations. Also, it is significantly revised to include numerous real-world cases, critical thinking questions, empirical support, and engaging exercises. Social workers, as well as public health and nonprofit administrators will benefit from the insights in this book.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgements

ORIENTATION AND OVERVIEW

CHAPTER 1 - Human Service Practice in a Diverse Organizational Landscape

AN ORGANIZATIONAL WORLD

ORGANIZATIONAL PRACTICE ARENAS

SOME BEGINNING COMMENTS

ORGANIZATIONS AS COLLECTIONS OF PROGRAMS AND SERVICES

TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONS THAT PLAN AND DELIVER HUMAN SERVICES

ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

THE ONGOING SEARCH TO UNDERSTAND COMPLEX ORGANIZATIONS

LEADERSHIP IN COMPLEX HUMAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

CONCLUSION

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

CHAPTER 2 - Frameworks for the Organization Practitioner

CONNECTING ORGANIZATIONAL THEORIES TO HUMAN SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

THE IMPORTANCE OF FRAMEWORKS

A MULTIPARADIGMATIC FRAMEWORK

A COMPETING VALUES FRAMEWORK

THE MYERS-BRIGGS FRAMEWORK

A STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK

AN INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK BUILT ON ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS AND PERSONAL PREFERENCES

CONCLUSION

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

PART I - STRUCTURE AND CONTROL

CHAPTER 3 - Traditional Organizations

FUNCTIONIALIST THEMES

ASSUMPTIONS OF THE FUNCTIONALIST PARADIGM

TRADITIONAL ORGANIZATION THEORIES SUPPORTING STRUCTURE AND CONTROL GOALS

COSTS AND BENEFITS

CONCLUSION

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

CHAPTER 4 - Practice in Traditional Organizations

CULTURAL VALUES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF TRADITIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

ROLES AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH AND WITHIN TRADITIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

STANDARDS OF PRACTICE WITHIN TRADITIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE IN TRADITIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

CONCLUSION

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

PART II - CONSCIOUSNESS RAISING FOR CHANGE

CHAPTER 5 - Social Change Organizations

RADICAL STRUCTURALIST THEMES

ASSUMPTIONS OF THE RADICAL STRUCTURALIST PARADIGM

SOCIAL CHANGE ORGANIZATION THEORIES SUPPORTING CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING GOALS

COSTS AND BENEFITS

CONCLUSION

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

CHAPTER 6 - Practice in Social Change Organizations

CULTURAL VALUES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL CHANGE ORGANIZATIONS

ROLES AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH AND WITHIN SOCIAL CHANGE ORGANIZATIONS

STANDARDS OF PRACTICE WITHIN SOCIAL CHANGE ORGANIZATIONS

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE IN SOCIAL CHANGE ORGANIZATIONS

CONCLUSION

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

PART III - CONNECTION AND COLLABORATION

CHAPTER 7 - Serendipitous Organizations

INTERPRETIVE THEMES

ASSUMPTIONS OF THE INTEPRETIVE PARADIGM

SERENDIPITOUS ORGANIZATION THEORIES SUPPORTING CONNECTION AND COLLABORATION GOALS

COSTS AND BENEFITS

CONCLUSION

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

CHAPTER 8 - Practice in Serendipitous Organizations

CULTURAL VALUES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF SERENDIPITOUS ORGANIZATIONS

ROLES AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH AND WITHIN SERENDIPITOUS ORGANIZATIONS

STANDARDS OF PRACTICE WITHIN SERENDIPITOUS ORGANIZATIONS

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE IN SERENDIPITOUS ORGANIZATIONS

CONCLUSION

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

PART IV - INDIVIDUAL EMPOWERMENT

CHAPTER 9 - Entrepreneurial Organizations

RADICAL HUMANIST THEMES

ASSUMPTIONS OF THE RADICAL HUMANIST PARADIGM

ENREPRENEURIAL ORGANIZATION THEORIES SUPPORTING INDIVIDUAL EMPOWERMENT GOALS

COSTS AND BENEFITS

CONCLUSION

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

CHAPTER 10 - Practice in Entrepreneurial Organizations

CULTURAL VALUES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ENTREPRENEURIAL ORGANIZATIONS

ROLES AND RELATIONSHIPS WITH AND WITHIN ENTREPRENEURIAL ORGANIZATIONS

STANDARDS OF PRACTICE WITHIN ENTREPRENEURIAL ORGANIZATIONS

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE IN ENTREPRENEURIAL ORGANIZATIONS

CONCLUSION

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

CONCLUSION

CHAPTER 11 - Multiparadigmatic Practice

ORGANIZATIONAL THEMES

ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY REVISITED

COMPARING AND CONTRASTING ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS AND CHARACTERISTICS

COMPARING AND CONTRASTING ROLES AND RELATIONSHIPS

STRENGTHS AND CHALLENGES

OUR HUMAN SERVICE ORGANIZATION RESEARCH

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

CONCLUSION

APPENDIX A - Organization Assessment

Glossary

References

AUTHOR INDEX

SUBJECT INDEX

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eISBN : 978-0-470-49553-7

1. Human services. I. Netting, F. Ellen. II. Netting, F. Ellen. Organization practice. III. Title. HV40.033 2009 361-dc22 2008033285

This is for Lisa Gebo, a great intellect and an even greater woman.

Preface

THERE HAVE BEEN some very interesting developments in organization practice since we wrote the first edition to this text. There is more empirical evidence to support the existence and viability of alternative ways of organizing and practicing within human service agencies. Therefore, we have included more material related to the empirical research undertaken by us and others regarding a multiparadigmatic approach to understanding human service organizations. The various frameworks have been included as a way to corral the chatter that gets created when one comes to understand the complexity of the issues involved in dealing with multiple, respectable ways of organizing practice within organizational structures.

We have become a bit more savvy about our perspective and the accompanying challenges therein, as well as understanding better the clarity needed to allow space for alternative practices. In this edition, more attention is given to the paradoxes practitioners encounter when units or programs within an organization do not match the predominant identity, cultural assumptions, or goals of the larger organization. More attention is given to the role of advocacy and change objectives within each organizational perspective. We also examine personal challenges with lack of fit between preferences (comfort zones) and reality encountered in everyday survival within complex human service organizations.

This second edition of Organization Practice truly represents the culmination of multiple layers of collaborative thinking and work. The ideas remain essentially the same; however, the presentation has been substantially modified in order to make the information much more practical and user friendly. Former readers will notice expanded practice examples, including four extensive case studies to illustrate concepts and ideas intended to enrich the reading and learning experience. End-of-chapter discussion questions have also been developed. New readers will encounter an attempt on our part to recognize and manage the complexity of organization practice that, while relying on philosophy and theory, is very much tethered to the lived experience of professionals practicing in organizations guided by the values of the helping professions. Although much of our thinking is based in postmodern thought, we have been particularly attentive to our language usage and have provided an extended glossary to help. In addition, we hope we have been transparent and avoided vagueness as much as possible. Sometimes, however, it is impossible to keep it simple, so we encourage those using the text to “keep on keeping on.” Our students tell us that this approach to organizations becomes understandable over time. Once it is understandable, it serves as an invaluable tool for practice.

Much more about organization practice, beyond merely understanding culture and structure, has been developed for this edition. It continues to be built on multiple perspectives, with the four major parts of the text outlining types of organizations derived from different assumptions about what constitutes reality and guided by very different organizational goals. The idea is that with an understanding of the undergirding assumptions, one can understand the logic of the decisions that go into creating the organization and the expectations for practice within these different types of organizations. It is not our intention to determine what is best overall, but for readers to develop the capacity to use a variety of approaches to organization practice, depending on the need.

The major content of the text is divided into parts covering four types of organizations (Traditional, Social Change, Serendipitous, and Entrepreneurial) with additional introductory and concluding chapters. Each of the four content parts details the theories that can be used to guide each type of organization in a chapter that focuses on understanding that organization’s primary identity and goals. This more theoretical chapter is followed by a chapter on practice and standards within that type of organization. The four major parts of the book are designed to clarify the fundamental differences among organizations when worldview, organizational culture, and goals are joined. The multiple perspectives as detailed in the works of Burrell and Morgan (1979) and Cameron and Quinn (1999; 2006) guide the entire text.

Chapters 1 and 2 set the stage for the material that follows. Chapter 1 is rather definitional in nature, establishing various dimensions of the organizational world, its practice arenas, and programs and services, as well as human service organizational types and relationships. Here the reader will get a quick overview of the current organizational landscape, including a historical accounting of the major theories involved in organizational structure and practice. Discussion will include how the various theoretical approaches have developed over time, outlining the resultant assumptions about organizations, employees, managers, and leaders. It is our belief that a good historical grounding is necessary to understand the logic of the contemporary decisions. We also follow the adage that those who do not understand their history will be forced to repeat it. Because this is such an analytical text aimed at managing complexity, information regarding critical thinking, self-awareness, and leadership will be surfaced in the context of multiculturalism and diversity.

Chapter 2 introduces the frameworks that will be used throughout the text to connect theory to practice in human services. Discussed separately and then integrated into the scaffolding of the remainder of the text, paradigms (Burrell & Morgan, 1979), competing values and cultures (Cameron & Quinn, 2006), Myers-Briggs (Myers, 1998), and strategic management (Mintzberg, Ahlstrand & Lampel, 1998) will be described briefly and then brought together by introducing the four types of organizations that will be the focus of the remainder of the text.

We believe this integration is a useful vehicle for the sort of organizational and practice responsiveness necessary in the complex, multicultural world of the 21st century. Discussion questions at the end of these chapters will deepen students’ basic conceptual understandings prior to embarking on the more theoretical and practical considerations in the next four parts of the text.

Parts I, II, III, and IV are written in a parallel format, with two chapters each. Each part contains an introduction that covers the major goals of the type of organization that is the focus of that part. Also included is an extensive case intended to provide an exemplar of the lived experience in the type of organization that will be further interrogated in the rest of that part of the text. The case example should begin the thinking about organizational perspectives. These cases are also intended to provide a basis for comparison of how different sets of assumptions drive organizational structure and influence the development of different cultures and practices within human service organizations.

In the first chapter of each part, we will examine important structural characteristics of a human service organization with goals that fit within the specified perspective on organizing. Theories and assumptions about structure and behavior will also be introduced that fit with the particular perspective. In the second chapter of each part, we will focus on standards for practice in an organization congruent with the goals and perspectives outlined in the earlier chapter. The derived characteristics covering values, mission/philosophy, organizational structure, and programs and services will set the stage for the expectations related to roles and relationships, leadership, and practice. Between the two chapters, a full picture of a specific type of organization will be offered in order to surface the differences that accrue within organizations that reflect differing assumptions. Particular attention will be given to the social justice implications of the values, preferences, and decision-making strategies relevant to the organization’s goals, so that eventually the reader will come to understand the paradoxes that are naturally part of human service organizations, regardless of type. The four parts of the text capturing differing organizational goals are: (1) Structure and Control, (2) Consciousness Raising for Change, (3) Connection and Collaboration, and (4) Individual Empowerment.

Part I: Structure and Control covers the organizational perspective most traditional and familiar to readers. Chapter 3 details the Traditional Organization and its commonly accepted ways of organizing. Both the theories and the cultural identities supporting this approach are detailed, along with real-life examples showing how concepts actually operate in practice. In Chapter 4, we examine the practice expectations derived from this approach to organizing. The strengths and challenges of planned change will be detailed with examples. End-of-chapter discussion questions have been designed to enhance the reader’s critical thinking about understanding and practicing in traditional, bureaucratic human service organizations with established and legitimized identities and reputation. The idea is to begin to challenge the thinking about Traditional Organizations so that a space is created for alternative, new, or emergent organizational arrangements.

Part II: Consciousness Raising for Change begins the construction of that space for the development of new roles and relationships between management, practitioners, and clients. In Chapter 5, we focus on Social Change Organizations that have social reform and large-scale advocacy at their core. Theories guiding structure and practice calling for transformative, perhaps revolutionary, change, including power and politics and postmodern traditions, are investigated. The consequences of clear declaration of radical change goals at the class level are detailed as a transition to Chapter 6. In this chapter, the dialectical nature of practice, the ways in which power and politics are operationalized, along with the risks that may be involved are covered with examples drawn from more progressive current practices. In this chapter we also introduce the themes of paradoxes that will be seen throughout the rest of the text. Here, the paradoxes of radical units within more traditional types of organizations or those of internally ordered organizations with radical social goals will be explored, through both the case narrative at the beginning of Part II and the end-of-chapter discussion questions. The idea here is to help the reader consider how to bring empowerment and more radical change into society, also demonstrating how to risk transformation from within traditional organizational structures.

Part III: Connection and Collaboration takes a more consensus- and context-based approach to organizing, following the more interpretive perspectives of the Serendipitous Organization. Chapter 7 emphasizes those organizational theories focusing on meaning making and context. More modern theories such as organizational culture and sense making are highlighted to help the reader understand how in Chapter 8 practice norms in these organizations are often unstated and difficult for outsiders to understand. Practice in Serendipitous Organizations can both complement and compete with other approaches. Treatment of Part III’s case example in both chapters is intended to show both commonalities and differences between this type of organization and expected practices in more traditional and radical organizations. The challenges as well as the paradoxes that emerge with an orientation to process are addressed and further developed in the end-of-chapter discussion questions. The expectation is that the reader will not be naïïve about the difficulties imbedded in appreciating difference while also seeking consensus.

We have left the most challenging alternative perspective until last. Part IV: Individual Empowerment appears at first to be antithetical to organization practice. In fact, it would seem that the Entrepreneurial Organization is antithetical to any sort of structure. In Chapter 9, from a theoretical perspective, comparison will be made with radical change entities in order to highlight how individual empowerment organizations are tied to power and politics theories, critical theory, certain branches of feminist theory, and postmodern theories, as are organizations with larger-scale transformative change goals. The difference will be illustrated through the antiadministration approach to theory. Part IV’s case example will, we trust, provide a provocative backdrop for exploring the nature and consequences of this emerging approach to organizing. Chapter 10 is all about paradox. The issues of organizing without organizational structures and creating organizations that empower individuals and respect differences at all costs are explored. This exploration continues in the end-of-chapter discussion questions on the challenges of transforming individuals within highly flexible organizational boundaries or within organizations having no traditional boundaries whatsoever.

A final effort at helping the reader compare and contrast the material is found in the concluding Chapter 11, Multiparadigmatic Practice. This final chapter is provided to offer extensive details to be used with critical analysis that should allow for evenhanded consideration of the costs and benefits of structuring organizations from the four different perspectives presented. Strengths and challenges of organization practice from each perspective are offered in order to straightforwardly look at the paradoxical consequences in the absence of pure organizational types.

The appendix that follows Chapter 11 is composed of an organization assessment tool that should enable the reader to identify and assess the congruence and paradoxes between and among perceptions of the ideal organization, the work unit in which one spends the most time, and the overall organization in which practice occurs. This is offered as both an assessment and a planning tool for future practice.

From this entire discussion it should be clear that throughout the text a great deal of attention is given to the existence and management of paradoxes that one encounters when units or programs within an organization do not match the predominant identity, cultural assumptions, or goals of the larger organization. Our goal is also to raise readers’ consciousness of the potential personal paradoxes that can accrue when there is lack of fit between organizational preferences and organizational reality. Our intention is not simply to raise the possibilities, but also to help the manager and the practitioner realize when there is a problem requiring some sort of change in organizational structure, practice, or status. In short, we hope that more of your attention will be directed beyond appropriate practice within a given organization to an enhanced vision of the role of advocacy and change objectives within each organizational perspective. In that way, the role of practitioner as advocate can in fact be appropriately activated when necessary, regardless of the organization’s goals, structures, or expectations. We sincerely hope that this book can serve as a launching platform for future human service leaders to engage in thoughtful and competent organization practice that develops in response to changing contexts, needs, and expectations. From our vantage point of multiple perspectives, we have learned more and more every day. As a result of your engaging with the material here, we trust that options and possibilities will open for you, as well.

Acknowledgments

OUR STUDENTS AND community colleagues have been instrumental in bringing us along and we are indebted to them for that. We especially thank a decade of Planning and Administration students (even those who thought theory was “way boring”) for their willingness to play with these ideas even when they were not so well developed. We are also grateful for their insightful and practical feedback to various versions of the first edition. If other students think this edition speaks to them, it is because of the conversations we have had with our own students. Many of our students have become our professional colleagues in the community as they have graduated to become leaders in the field. Others have gone on to become social work educators. Thankfully, they continue to be our helpful critics for these ideas. We are very appreciative of two special social service agencies that allowed us to empirically test the ideas herein. If this edition is particularly useful, we are decidedly indebted to those collaborations.

We are indescribably grateful to the academics who have given us constructive feedback about the challenges and opportunities that our first edition represented for them in the classroom. That feedback and the suggestions by reviewers of this edition have come together to help us create a new and, hopefully, improved version of our original work. We are particularly grateful to our practitioner colleagues, who not only have found our approach useful but have given us insights into its usefulness. The naming of the organizational types is based on a collaboration with Nancy Macduff, who came up with the words to describe each paradigmatic type so that volunteer managers could use our work. “Thank you” is also in order to Paul McWhinney, John Purnell, and Karen Legato, who were open to collaborations for empirical testing of our ideas.

Nothing could have made this second edition a reality without Lisa Gebo, who always believed in us and encouraged our creativity. The editorial staff at Wiley, especially Sweta Gupta, Stevie Belchak, and Rose Sullivan, have always been responsive and helpful to us in every aspect of the writing process.

Finally, we are grateful to Dean Frank R. Baskind and the faculty of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work for supporting our research so that we could further extend our ideas. Special thanks go to our collaborator, Humberto Fabelo, who enthusiastically joined with us in testing the Burrell and Morgan framework. Particular appreciation is due to our friend and colleague, David Fauri. David’s generosity of spirit and respectful, yet critical, feedback have been instrumental in the growth and further development of the ideas contained herein.

ORIENTATION AND OVERVIEW

CHAPTER 1

Human Service Practice in a Diverse Organizational Landscape

IN THIS BOOK, we focus on the knowledge and skills practitioners rely on to professionally work and survive in organizations. All human service practitioners engage in organization practice, regardless of their focus. In this chapter, we want to impress upon the reader the importance of competent organization practice because most practitioners will work within, and with, many different organizations throughout their professional careers. We define organization practiceas working and surviving in organizational arenas by making changes that address the needs of multiple stakeholders and constituencies, strongly grounded in professional values, critical thinking, and self-awareness.

One can find as many definitions of organizations as there are writers on organizations. Shafritz, Ott, and Lang (2005) define organizations as “social unit[s] with some particular purpose” (p. 1). They contend that “the basic elements of organizations have remained relatively constant throughout history: Organizations (or their important constituencies) have purposes (which may be explicit or implicit), attract participants, acquire and allocate resources to accomplish goals, use some form of structure to divide and coordinate activities, and rely on certain members to lead or manage others” (p. 2). These characteristics vary, depending on the environment in which an organization operates. We find Shafritz, Ott, and Lang’s (2005) definition to be to the point and we agree with their assumption that there is something “social” about this unit or arena by the very nature of multiple people being involved. They also assume there is “some particular purpose” for this social unit to come together. Purpose is a broad, inclusive word that could include goals and objectives, but does not have to do so. And there may be multiple purposes, depending on the organization.

In this chapter, we provide a brief overview of the human service organizational landscape, including the arenas in which professional practice occurs. We make explicit our assumptions and biases, followed by a focus on programs and services as well as types of human service organizations and their relationships. A brief historical review of organizational theory development is provided to whet the reader’s appetite for a more specific focus on selected theories in subsequent chapters. Included in this section are theoretical assumptions held about different units of analysis in organizational settings—the organization itself, employees, and persons in formal managerial and leadership roles. The use of critical thinking and self-awareness for leadership in organization practice follows with special attention to the student or employee who is clinically, rather than organizationally, oriented. We end this chapter with attention to the kind of complexity and diversity that is found in multicultural settings, which leads to our second chapter, in which established frameworks for understanding the complexity of organizing human services are introduced.

AN ORGANIZATIONAL WORLD

To understand the role of organizations in professional life, it may be helpful for readers to think about how they view work. Many years ago, a worker in an agency might have aspired to remain in the same organization for years and to “move up” in that agency. Today’s employment expectations are much different. It is more typical for people to change jobs frequently. It is also more typical for agencies and services to go into and out of existence, as well as to perform their functions across political, economic, societal, and ideological boundaries. Examining organizations as practice arenas must be placed within the broader global context of changing expectations of what one looks for in a position and how employees define themselves within the contemporary world of work.

Since the world is often viewed through inter- and intraorganizational contexts, composed of many different organizations that perform various functions within and across international boundaries, few persons are untouched by multiple organizations. Organizations are an integral part of a contemporary lifestyle, and they are arenas in which the exchange of resources occurs on a regular basis. They may be situated in defined geographical communities or they may transcend geography, connected by technological innovation, as with virtual organizations. Their purposes and structures are as varied as their numbers.

In addition, there are organizations that deliver no human services directly but perform support functions such as providing funding, planning for and oversight of human service providers, for special population groups, and/or education and training for those persons who do provide services. These organizations often have staff who review grant applications and determine who will be funded, contract for services with providers, set priorities among competing human service needs, formulate and interpret policy, advocate for change, and influence technologies used in service delivery. They are very much a part of the human service landscape, even though they are not direct providers of human services.