Introduction to Social Work 246

Formal Organizations

Assignments

• Assignment #1: Organizational Assessment using the empowerment model.

• Assignment #2: Analysis of Organization Boards and Decision-making

• Assignment #3: Intervention Plan using the Problem-solving model to address a problem in your agency. The plan must include goals and objectives, a budget, and an evaluation plan

Reading Assignments

• One textbook:

Hardina, D., Middleton, J., Montana S., & Simpson, R. (2006). An empowering approach to managing social service organizations. New York: Springer.

All course material can be found on Dr. Hardina’s webpage

http://zimmer.csufresno.edu/~donnah

Links to Field Practicum

• Assignments 1-3should be completed if possible in your field agency – remember to include them in your amended learning contract.

• You should use what you’ve learned in this class to complete other macro assignments (both management and policy) in practicum.

Methods for Delivery of Course Content

• Lectures• Discussion• Guest Speakers• Practice related exercises – some exercises will be

distributed in class – others are included in your textbook (case vignettes –see for example, Box 2.1 – Using theories to manage social service organizations, p. 37)

• One film – Start-up.dot com

Course policies

• Notify the instructor before absence in order to receive an excused absence.

• Notify the instructor in advance if you need more time on an assignment

• Treat all students and the instructor with respect. Everyone in this class has a right to his or her own opinion.

We study formal organizations because:

• Almost all social workers are employed in organizations – even workers in private practice must establish some type of structure to do their work.

• Often social workers must be knowledgeable about how large (bureaucratic) organizations work. These organizations have complex decision-making and supervisory structures.

• Organizations have policies that can enhance or restrict what a social worker can do.

• Social workers must comply with organizational policies in order to keep their jobs.

• Increasingly social workers have been called upon to work collaboratively with other social workers, members of other professions, or people outside the organization.

• Social workers must be knowledgeable about how service users enter and move through organizations.

Three of the most important reasons we study formal organizations

• We need to understand how to advocate for service users within the organization.

• We need to know how to change organizational policies that may be hurtful to both service users and organizational staff.

• We may be promoted to a management position.

An organization can be defined as;

A regular and ongoing set of structured activities involving a

defined group of individuals (Austin, 2002, p. 15).

An organization can be:

• Formal. According to Scott (1987), a formal organization is “one in which the social positions and the relationships among them have been explicitly specified and are defined independently of the personal characteristics of the participants occupying these positions” (p. 17).

• Informal. An informal organization, on the other hand, is one in which the relationships among people in the system change over time due to their personal characteristics and their interactions with one another.

Often we think of a formal organization is one in that has a clear mission and goals, rules that specify behavior, a plan to recruit new members, and a predetermined decision-making structure.

Informal organizations are those in which people come together out of a common interest or through a process of group interaction that might occur without a specific plan for recruitment of participants or for decision-making. For example, neighborhood networks of friends, relatives, and neighbors or a group of people who come together to clean-up a neighborhood park or collect food for the needy can constitute an informal organization.

Formal organizations that typically deliver

social services include the following types: • Public (government) organizations. These organizations

are usually considered bureaucracies.• Nonprofit organizations. These organizations are

established to enhance the public welfare and receive a special tax status. They usually receive government and foundation funding to provide services.

• For-profit organizations. These organizations are businesses owned by individuals or shareholders. Services usually are sold to individuals. In some instances, a for-profit can receive reimbursement from a government agency for providing services to low income people.

Social Service Organizations have Special Characteristics

• One of the inputs associated with service delivery are clients or consumers/users of services

• Most of the services provided to individuals and families are free or low cost. Unlike for-profit businesses, there are no price constraints on the supply or demand for service.

• Often service users have few options for obtaining the services they need. They must rely on the opinions of others (such organization board members, experts in the field, other service users, or case managers) to determine quality

• The lack of monetary price constraints creates a situation in which the demand for free services by people in need often exceeds the actual supply of service (Lipsky, 1980).

Other characteristics of Social Service Organizations Include:

1) Goals associated with service delivery are often vague.2) Some types of service outcomes are difficult to measure.3) Organizations do not always have appropriate mechanisms

for measuring whether these outcomes have actually been achieved (Ginsberg, 2001; Hasenfeld, 1992)

4) Much of what is produced in social service delivery occurs as a consequence of the interaction between staff members and clientele.

Characteristics of Bureaucracies include:• The organization functions to meet a specific goal.• Organizations are administered using a hierarchial structure- supervisors

report to their immediate superiors and are responsible for the work of subordinates in their work units

• Power is concentrated at the top of the organization hierarchy and often held by one chief administrator alone.

• The organization is divided into a number of work units with a clearly defined division of labor among employees..

• There are clear lines of communication between administrators and staff and among the different work units.

• Formal, written rules are established to guide decision-making• Each employee has a clear role and responsibilities.• Power and authority inherent in the supervisory structure are used to make

people work• Tasks are highly standardized or routine.

Most Social Service Organizations are Hierarchies

• Power is held by one or a few people.• Supervisors are responsible for the work of the

people they supervise.• Supervisors often report to a designated Decision-

maker.• Power is inherent in the decision-making

structure. People at the top can use their positions and authority to make people work.

Organization Hierarchy

Director

Supervisor Supervisor Supervisor

StaffStaffStaff

Clients Clients

Questions for Class Discussion

Who has the least power in social service organizations?

How can organizations be changed so that the power of people with the

least power can be increased?

Empowering Organizations

• Provide opportunities for service users and staff to be involved in organizational decision-making, program development, and evaluation.

• Reduce organization hierarchies and supervisory structure so that workers have more control over their work.

• Encourage staff to advocate for service users and for changes in organizational policies.

• Provide culturally appropriate and competent services.• Encourage professional development and team-building among staff.• Provide resources that facilitate the development of political power

among service users. • Regard service users as partners rather than subordinates.

Peterson & Zimmerman (2004) distinguish between

empowering and empowered organizations: • Empowering Organizations:

“At the organizational level, OE [organizational empowerment] refers to organizational efforts that generate PE [personal empowerment] among members and organizational effectiveness needed for goal achievement” (p. 130)

• Empowered Organizations:“Empowerment at the community level of analysis--community empowerment--includes efforts to deter community threats, improve quality of life, and facilitate citizen participation. This framework is useful because it extends empowerment theory and asserts that there are specific processes and outcomes across levels of analysis, and that these need to be developed in more detail to delineate OE” (p. 130).

Reference

Peterson, N., & Zimmerman, M. (2004). Beyond the individual: Toward a nomological network of organization empowerment. American Journal of Community Psychology, 34 (1-2), 129-145.