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SOWO 804 Lecture

SOWO 804 Lecture . Organizational Assessment Walter C. Farrell, Jr. Professor. Organizational Assessment. Human service organizations are born, grow, mature, decline, and even die Unlike biological organisms, human service organizations can prevent decline and death through renewal

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SOWO 804 Lecture

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  1. SOWO 804 Lecture Organizational Assessment Walter C. Farrell, Jr. Professor

  2. Organizational Assessment • Human service organizations are born, grow, mature, decline, and even die • Unlike biological organisms, human service organizations can prevent decline and death through renewal • A life cycle perspective can provide social work administrators with important diagnostic tools about the organization’s performance and point to strategies which may enhance the effectiveness of the service delivery system

  3. Organizational Assessment • Most Theoretical Frameworks Only Describe the Survival and Growth Organizations: • Creation—simple entrepreneurial structure • Limited growth • Bureaucratic structure • More extensive growth • Further diversification…growth…and so on

  4. Organizational Assessment • Weaknesses in the Various Life Cycle Models: • The utility of the biological life cycle metaphor • Sequential stages of development in hierarchical progression • Ignoring the impact of government • Lack of integration of the various models

  5. Organizational Assessment • Organizational Attributes at Each Stage of the Life Cycle: • Perceived environment • Leadership patterns • Structure and processes • Service delivery

  6. Organizational Assessment • Organizational Decline and Renewal • Organizational decline is precipitated by a “decline in ethical behavior,” i.e., decline in resources or a shift in the mission of the organization • The main reason organizations fail to anticipate changes is “intelligence failure” • What does this mean?

  7. Organizational Assessment • Keys to Organizational Renewal • Executive succession toward change-oriented leadership • Revamping the organization’s intelligence system • Investing in boundary spanning roles • Increasing the organization’s responsiveness to its clients (community)

  8. Organizational Assessment Conclusion “ One of the key purposes of administrative leadership is to harness the forces of growth and arrest the forces of decline. To do so requires concomitant changes in the organizational leadership, the internal structure, and the service delivery system.”

  9. Organizational Assessment • Alignment Within the Organization • The many parts and layers are interrelated • The fit between the parts of the organization must be monitored and maintained • Alignment must be adjusted for each organizational life cycle • To maintain alignment, the board of directors and staff: • Must have similar values and priorities while maintaining differences in their “roles” and “responsibilities” and • Maintaining an ongoing relationship among and between parts

  10. Organizational Assessment • Dynamics of Change • Unfreezing--Creating a motivation to change • Disconfirming Data • Anxiety and/or Guilt • Psychological Safety • Cognitive Restructuring • New Learning • Imitation of Role Models • Refreezing—Confirming Change

  11. Organizational Assessment • Interlocking Themes • Board and management alignment is crucial to organizational success • Internal and external factors determine the life cycle stage and the next steps to take • Assessment is necessary at all organizational stages of development • Organizations do move through cycles, but not “one size fits all’

  12. Organizational Decline Example • Opportunities Industrialization Centers-Greater Milwaukee (OIC-GM) • Start-up and Stability, job training ($100,000 -$1,000,000 in funding), 1965-1986 • Corporate and Community Partnership to expand OIC-GM mission in response to National Welfare Reform Policies from 1988-1996 in order to: • Facilitate diversity among community-based agencies involved in welfare reform • Circulate$$$in communities of color • Connect welfare reform to the community context

  13. Organizational Decline Example (cont’d) • Opportunities Industrialization Centers-Greater Milwaukee (OIC-GM) • Rapid Increase in Funding and expansion of programs, welfare, weatherization ($1,000,000-$4,000,000) 1987-1995 • Establishment of for-profit businesses ($4,000,000-$100, 000,000) 1996-2004 • Purchase of a cell telephone company • Purchase of a corn roast business • Involvement in political campaigns, etc. • Fraud and decline, August 2004 going forward • OIC was liquidated as a nonprofit on 2005

  14. Organizational Assessment • Organizational Assessment • Constituencies Served • Administrative/Legal Requirements • Technology • Attitudes of Stakeholders • Fit to other Organizations in the Service Arena • History, Mission, Culture - - Any Need for Change?

  15. Organizational Assessment • Effectiveness • Financial Management • Efficiency • Performance – How Measured • Capacity • Leadership and Ethics • Human Resources • Infrastructure • Linkages with Other Institutions/Organizations

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