SOWO 804: Introduction to Organizational TheoriesNature of Human Service Organizations (HSOs)Human Services as Moral WorkGendered WorkThe Primacy of Institutional EnvironmentMoral Entrepreneurs and Cyclical LegitimacyHuman Service Technologies as Enactment of Practice IdeologiesClient Reactivity and Service TrajectoryClient ComplianceCentrality of Client-Worker RelationsHSO Forms as Moral Practices: The Case of Welfare DepartmentsTheoretical ApproachesHuman Relations Approaches (HRAs)Negotiated Order and Political EconomyMarxist and Institutional TheoryPopulation EcologyOrganizational Theory and BehaviorOrganizational Theory (cont’d)Neoclassical Organizational TheoryNeoclassical Organizational Theory (cont’d)Contingency TheorySystems Theory Ludwig von Bertalanffy (1928)Organizational StructureOrganizational Birth and Growth (cont’d)Slide 25Organizational DeclineOrganizational TurnaroundFinal Theory ComponentsSOWO 804: Introduction to Organizational TheoriesTamara H. Norris, InstructorManagement and Community PracticeSchool of Social WorkUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3550Nature of Human Service Organizations (HSOs)HSOs can be contradictory to clients and workersWorkers have a goal to help people HSOs offer intrinsic and extrinsic benefitsHSOs can also cause frustration Clients are the “raw material?”HSOs process, sustain, or attempt to change peopleHuman Services as Moral Work Moral judgments and statements of social work Diagnostic labels----statements of social worthAllocation of resources:RationingThe DeservingGendered Work Women have been historically assigned caretaker rolesPatriarchal ideology---women as nurturersWomen are the majority of frontline workersConflict between women’s contributions to social work and HSO norms and valuesDevaluation of women’s work in human services: in earnings, positions, and social status----LONGITUDINAL SEXISM?Legitimacy issues: lack of resources, poor services often provided to clients who are mostly poor womenThe Primacy of Institutional EnvironmentHSOs conform to dominant cultural, social symbols, and belief systems of “interest groups” in their environmentsHSOs’ access to resources is dependent on their adherence to environmental normsHSOs’ technical proficiency matters less than the ability to accommodate the escalating, often competing “diversity” in their service areas HSO rules and legitimacy are in fluxMoral Entrepreneurs and Cyclical Legitimacy HSOs influence public perceptions of their clients:parents as partners consumers as potential welfare cheatsCycles occur within the communities of HSOs:Support for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)1996 Welfare Reform: Personal Responsibility and Work Reconciliation Act (PRWRA)PRWRA changed the perception of welfare from allowing “dependency” to mandating “work”Human Service Technologies as Enactment of Practice IdeologiesTechnologies are socially approved and sanctionedState Plans are best judgments of “best practices” that are frequently resource-basedMeasures of effectiveness involve moral choices that are part of practice ideologiesEffectiveness is also politically determined How so?Client Reactivity and Service TrajectoryClients can react and participateThe reactions of neither clients nor staff can be completely controlledMany HSO services are compartmentalized and delivered in discrete waysThe diagnosis of a client’s needs may not take into account his/her total ecology. Why is this so often so?Client ComplianceSelection of clients who are amenable to services enhances control and responsibilityLimiting and constraining client options improves trackingSocial control is the resultIs such control the best approach?Centrality of Client-Worker Relations Client-Worker relations are the core of HSOsThe quality of these relations are critical to service delivery and successful outcomesBest cooperation is based on “trust!”But trust is impersonal and difficult to maintain due to the often irregular contact between HSOs and clientsHSO Forms as Moral Practices: The Case of Welfare DepartmentsNeed to understand how HSOs select and implement moral rules that guide their workHSOs and their workers participate in this process (“micro interaction”)HSO rules are also driven by political interests (“macro interactions”)Moral assumptions are a constant in the welfare systemTheoretical ApproachesRational-Legal Model (RLM)HSOs have a clear and specific set of goals and their internal structure and processes represent a rational design to attain themInternal divisions of labor, clear definitions of roles, and levels of authority are formalizedThe RLM cannot handle multiple and changing “environmental influences”Human Relations Approaches (HRAs) HSO effectiveness is a function of its goals and the personal needs of workersThe quality of “leadership” is an important determinant of workers’ job satisfactionBurn-out is an increasing problem in today’s HSOsHRAs, alone, cannot overcome political and economic constraintsNegotiated Order and Political Economy Work structures are a product of “negotiated order” among the participating actors (clients & workers)Services must have legitimacy, power, and resources (money, clients, and personnel) “Political economy” understates values and ideologies that transcend power and money in shaping HSO behaviorMarxist and Institutional Theory Labor in HSOs is controlled through hierarchy, standard operating procedures, and the deskilling of jobsThe market economy impacts HSOs Rules from the institutional environment determine the HSO structureSocietal and HSO values are the driving forcesHSOs uphold rules by coercion and/or imitationPopulation Ecology Groups and organizations that have similar characteristics and structureFocuses on the evolution of HSOs: founding, disbanding, and change in population Population ecology is sometimes inappropriately applied to HSOs and generates inaccurate interpretations of HSO environmentsOrganizational Theory and BehaviorClassical Organization TheoryScientific Management Theory (Taylor 1917)Four Basic Principles Find one “best way” to perform taskMatch each worker to the appropriate
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