Formal Organizations

Formal Organizations Wendy Whiting Blome, LICSW, PhD National Catholic School of Social Service Fall 2010

What is a formal organization? • …collectivities of people, with a high degree of structure, working together to meet goals (Hutchison, 2008, p. 409) • All organizations must: define objectives, hire staff willing to work towards goals, control the contributions of staff, get resources from environment, dispense products or services, and work with environment

Organizations are Everywhere… • In what organizations do you participate? • Have you ever thought about how the structure of the organization affects the functioning of the organization? • How might the structure of the organization affect client outcomes?

Leavitt’s Diamond Model of Organizations From: Scott, R. (2003). Organizations: Rational, natural, and open systems—Fifth edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall/Pearson Inc, p. 18.

Organizational Theories • Rational system theories • Ideal-type bureaucracy • Scientific management • Natural system theories • Human relations • Open system theories • Contingency

Rational System Theories of Organizations • Max Weber—proposed bureaucracy as the most efficient organizational form • Focused on internal structure of organization—not the environment

Ideal-type Bureaucracy • Formal rationality—there is ‘one’ best way to organize • Clear hierarchy; chain of command—worker to supervisor to manager to administrator • For greatest effectiveness, communication follows hierarchy • Division of labor • Merit based recruitment • Record keeping important to document actions • No organization will meet the ideal-type 100% • Organizations will vary in how they implement components

Scientific Management Theory • Frederick Taylor—established during pre-industrial period; problems of unhealthy work environments; child labor • Question: how can scientific methods be applied to the work place? • “Enlightened capitalism”—how can work be structured so it is more efficient? • Analyze tasks—which produce maximum output for minimum input of resources • Managers use data, not arbitrary decision making; are ‘fact finders’

Scientific Management (cont) • Taylor believed labor and management have compatible interests—work at peak efficiency for top wages • Believed man was rational and would make economic choices based on the degree of monetary reward offered • Rational approach to organizing tasks from the ‘bottom up’ • Change individual tasks to change larger structure of the work • Mass production—simplify work of each person; enforced inspection oriented rather than prevention oriented approach • Ignored human component—boredom, sense of completion, self determination

Scientific Management (cont) • Given credit for developing principles of management including: • Clear delineation of authority and responsibility • Separation of planning from operations • Incentives for workers • Management by exception • Task specialization • Criticism—assumes workers are motivated by money alone • In social services more agencies are tracking ‘billable hours’; have incentive systems for workers—ex: SW gets bonus if exceed billable target for the month • Environmental (remember Leavitt) demands from 3rd party payers—organizations are dependent on the resources, so they will organize the work accordingly

Natural Systems Theories of Organizations • Developed in response to concerns about rational system theories • Recognized the ‘irrational’ aspect of organizations • Difference between ‘stated’ and ‘real’ goals of organizations • Examples?????

Human Relations Model • Hawthorne effect—Rational theories did not explain why effectiveness and efficiency increased • Elton Mayo and others recognized the importance of human interaction in organizational studies • Emphasis on informal structures within organizations

Human Relations (cont) • Assumes organizational effectiveness needs congruence between goals of the organization and the personal needs of the workers • Views people as having an inherent desire to work and can exercise self control and self direction if they are committed to the goals of the organization • Democratic style, confidence of leaders in subordinates • Difficulties with model: social service organizations lack clear service technology

Open System Theories of Organizations • Maintenance of boundaries and cross boundary transactions are important • All systems are part of larger systems

Builds on Systems Concepts Input-conversion-output processes • Input processes—all open systems draw from the environment raw materials needed to achieve goals and maintain existence • Conversion processes—resources are processed in keeping with the system’s purposes; the work the system does to achieve its goals • Output processes—results of the conversion process are returned to the environment, these output resources may in turn become raw material for another system within the environment

Example…. • What is the ‘input’ for a mental health clinic? • What is the ‘conversion process’ for the clinic? • What is the ‘output’ of the clinic? • The ‘output’ of the clinic is the ‘input’ of what other organizations?

Organization—in—Environment • Contingency theory is the organizational version of the person-in-environment approach • Social work builds on the importance of viewing a person within an environmental context • What does that mean when looking at organizations?

Contingency theory • Used in organizational management—‘It depends’ model • No one best way to organize—depends on the nature of the environment • If organization’s internal features best match the demands of the environment the organization will thrive

Contingency Theory (cont) • Design of organization must ‘fit’ organizational strategy and structure • Look at the ‘fit’ between the manager and the organization and the environment • Significant work by Paul Lawrence and Jay Lorsch

Example…..Beacon Center • What was the ‘fit’ between the organization founder, Martha Green, and the environment? • When Helen Blue became director had the organizational environment changed? • The organization had two more CEOs—what type of leader should the Board be looking for now?

Mechanistic—Organic Continuum • Contingency theory looks at the continuum from mechanistic to organic organizations

Mechanistic…. • Job highly specialized; separated into discrete tasks • Supervisor assigns and directs work • Hierarchical structure • Communication top down • Decisions made high in organization • Mechanistic systems manage the process

Organic.... • The more varied the environment the more differentiated the structure • Focus of work is on results • Responsibility is delegated • Teamwork is emphasized • Project teams adapt to needs—fluid structure • Information is shared • Organic systems manage the results

Examples…. • Social service agencies can be found all along the mechanistic—organic continuum • Where does your agency fall?

Applying Contingency Theory • Northouse article—using contingency theory to analyze leader—organization match • Leader—member relations: confidence, loyalty felt for leader • Task structure: level of structure of each task and how it is monitored—from highly to minimally structured • Position power: amount of authority a leader has to reward or punish—pay raises, promotions, fire staff

Contingency model…. • Questionnaire asks people to identify their ‘least preferred coworker’ • High score=relationship motivated • Low score=task motivated • Read chart (p. 111) from top to bottom—good leader-member relations; high structure, strong power—low LPC score would be effective • Not all leaders are effective in all situations

Exercise…. • Look at Northouse page 121, Case 6.2 • What kind of leader-member relations exist? • What level of task structure? • What kind of position power? • Given a LPC of 44 would you anticipate problems or success for this leader?

Summary…. • Social work is conducted in organizations • The structure of organizations influences the success of staff and the outcomes for clients • Social workers are part of organizations and are responsible for assuring organizations function effectively and efficiently

Formal Organizations