Administration Flashcards
Overview: Formal Organization
social grouping deliberately constructed and reconstructed to realize specific goals
Formal Organization: Contrast with Other Social Units
organizations have greater control over their activities, purposes, culture, nature, and destiny than other social groupings
What should all organizations have?
organizational manual showing its structures and procedures
What do successful organizations do?
discover new needs, create and refine new objectives, and adapt to changes in its internal and external environment
What do social welfare organizations seek?
achieve vague, often unquantifiable goals
Why do staffing changes frequently change within organizations?
low salaries and “burnout”
What influence does the environment have on an organization?
social and political changes influence the priorities of funding sources, on government agencies, and on the general public
Major Perspectives on Administration: Classical Management/Scientific Management
the employee is an appendage of the company
when a worker is well-disciplined and closely supervised, management achieves high levels or productivity
the employee determines work output
major motivation for work is all economic
productivity is limited to remuneration
the formal, hierarchical organizational structure stresses production, compliance, and efficiency
for the system to work efficiently, production workers must engage in specialized, repetitive tasks that do not require individual judgement
Major Perspectives on Administration: Elton Mayo
suggested that formal organizational arrangements are not the only factors that determine productivity
studies implied that social and psychological factors as well as group norms beyond the reach of formal authority were influential in determining production levels
eventually school argued that workplace organization should be based on more complex and layered views of human behavior
worker morale is important
Major Perspectives on Administration: Structuralists
synthesize classical and human relations school
organizational and individual needs can conflict
stress among various levels within organizations
economic and non-economic social motivations are present
formal and informal organizational structures
Major Perspectives on Administration: Decision-Making School
concerned with decision making process and forces that influence them
satisfying rather than maximizing objectives in decision-making
Major Perspectives on Administration: Systems
viewed as systems consisting of interacting, interdependent parts
organizations are related to other surrounding systems
Systems: Major Organizational Processes
Input: energy or resources that must be acquired
Throughput: the work done
Output: the results of the organization’s effort
Systems: Other Features of Systems
open or closed: how open is the organization to changes in its environment
feedback: degree or organization’s openness to new information about changes in the environment or workings of various internal subsystems
feedback requires constant absorption and processing of information, and the capacity to makes changes that increase organizational effectiveness and efficiency
systemic or empirical feedback is mediated by observation, participation, and intuition
Who was the major contributor to the theory of formal organizations and the introduction of the term “bureaucracy?”
Max Weber
Bureaucratic Structure: Highly Rational
written rules and regulations that usually circumscribe bureaucratic functions
specific spheres of competence
principal of hierarchy
specialized training
exclusion of personal considerations; staff chosen on basis of competence
impersonal relationships insure random or interpersonal factors are minimized or controlled
Bureaucratic Structure: Advantages
specialized skills are easier to coordinate
written rules assure greater uniformity and consistency
promotion based on competence rather than political criteria or family relations
assures organizational stability and predictability; specialized work units prevent disruptions caused by a single inefficient work unit
more effective and efficient
Bureaucratic Structure: Disadvantages
limits employee imagination and scope
rules or means can displace purposes and goals
neglects human need and discretion
rigid: slow to respond to changing conditions
Executive Administration Functions: Planning
Establishing the mission or purpose of an organization and the reason for an organization’s existence
organization tools include: management by objectives, total quality management, and various forms of self-evaluation or participatory strategic planning
Planning: Mission
a broad statements of agency purpose
Planning: PBS (Planning, Programming, and Budgeting Procedures)
a rational model for organizing the planning and program development function
Planning: MBO (Management by Objectives)
staff is involved in setting organizational objectives and administration in program evaluation
increases staff competence and investment in the organization’s work
What problems can arise with MBO?
possibly costly in staff time and energy; may focus on internal conditions and neglect external environment
What does planning include?
determining end goals or objectives
determining resources and methods to be used
allocating responsibility for reaching goals
selecting methods of evaluation
considering future anticipated conditions
Executive Administrative Functions: Organizing
establishing a formal structure through which work is arranged, coordinated, and carried out
Organizing: Formal Organization Structure
specify various tasks allocated to each position
chain of command
unity of command
division of labor acknowledges specialized work
matrix organization
Organization Concepts: Chain of Command
a vertical hierarchy that details level of responsibility and authority
Organization Concepts: Unity of Command
all workers in a unit report to a single supervisor to insure organizational control
Organization: Matrix Organization
forms teams and departments
Organization: Organizational Chart
graphical illustration of the organizational structure that depicts who is responsible to whom
Organizational Chart: Board of Directors
volunteers who are hired by the organizational director
they establish the legal existence of the agency
set broad agency policy and direction
assumes responsibility for securing finances
accounts for funds and approves the agency budget
approves conditions of work and personnel policies
interprets the agency’s work to the community
Organization: Determine the Span of Control
number of workers assigned to a supervisor
Staffing: Personnel Functions (Human Resource Management)
recruit and select personnel
create a rational, easily understood, and fair salary structure
work force utilization
staff development and training
provide ancillary support to staff
evaluate staff
form committees
standing committees
ad hoc committees
What are ad hoc committees?
created to accomplish a specific task and then dissolved
Concepts: Instrumental Directing
actions aimed at achieving organizational goals
Concepts: Expressive Directing
actions concerned about staff’s feelings and maintaining high employee morale
Concepts: Autocratic, authoritarian behavior
administrator uses power to direct in a bossy and arbitrary manner
does not solicit or use input from other staff
Controlling: Reporting (Management Information Systems)
technical tools used to collect and disseminated data
Reporting: Produce Written Reports (Financial, Personnel, Production)
- State Problem
- Define Scope of the Problem
- Plan Research
- Collect Data
- Analyze Data
- Form Conclusions
- Organize Report
- Prepare Draft
- Edit Draft
- Publish Report
Controlling: Budgeting
detailed financial blueprint of an organization’s expenditures for a specific time or program
policy document that asserts agency priorities
Budgeting: Line Item Budget
shows expenditures for specific items
budgets tend to increase automatically as staff salaries and other expenses rise, and as program responsibilities expand
Budgeting: Program, or Functional Budgeting
clusters items by programs or activities
permits cost evaluation of each program
Budgeting: Zero-Based Budgeting
constructing a new budget without basing it on prior years’ programs
organization must re-justify its mission, purposes, and spending
Budgeting: Japanese C Systems or Quality Circles
assembly line system in which study groups led by supervisors problem-solve and innovate new methods (Deming Method)
Budgeting: Flow Charts
show processes used from beginning to end in carrying out organization’s work
Budgeting: Personnel
budget shows available positions, assigned work, and cost of salaries and fringe benefits
What supplies need to be included in budgeting?
advertising, rent, heat, telephone, printing, travel, insurance, miscellaneous
Budget Analysis Shows: Ratio of Administrative Costs
answers questions about the proportion of budget spent on client services, fund-raising, and management
Budget Analysis Shows: Comparison of Other Agencies
costs of services, individual salaries, quality of services
Budget Analysis Shows: Trends Across Several Years
cost growth and where are they growing
Budget Analysis Shows: Projections
what budget increases can be anticipated?
Budgeting: Sunset Provisions
a program, statute, policy, or law with a predetermined expiration date
agencies may fund programs for a specific period without a commitment to continue beyond that time
Budgeting: Cost-Benefit Analysis
compares benefits against the cost of the program service
organizations can maximize benefits and minimize costs
Executive Administration Functions: Evaluation and Accountability
evaluation processes requires establishing organizational objectives, measuring the extent to which they were achieved, and modifying service to increase effectiveness and/or efficiency
What is efficiency versus effectiveness?
efficiency is the maximum performance that can be obtained using the least resources
effectiveness is achieving organizational goals
What’re the steps in program evaluation?
- Determine what is to be evaluated
- Identify the appropriate consumers of the research
- Solicit cooperation of the staff
- Specify program objectives
- Delineate evaluation objectives
- Select variables
- Devise evaluation design
- Implement the evaluation design
- Analyze and interpret findings
- Report and implement results
What is the primary goal of supportive supervision?
improve the worker’s skills and to improve service to clients
- Assessment of sources of job-related stress
- Evaluation of the way the worker has engaged this stress in the past
- Development of strategies to deal with the stress
- Focusing on the best way to manage stress and improve job functioning
What’re the advantages of group supervision?
uses supervisor’s time effectively and efficiently
draws on resources of group members
provides opportunity for members to share common problems
some workers are more comfortable in a group
generates additional types of information for supervisor
What’re the disadvantages of group supervision?
easier for the individual worker to “hide” or lay back
many supervisors have inadequate group skills
groups may become rebellious and refocus energies on complaints or negative forces
loyalty issues may develop
many individual supervisory problems may not be addressed
When is group supervision used?
to supplement for individual supervision
What is authoritarian leadership?
leaser tends to decide unilaterally and then instruct subordinates
What is democratic leadership?
seek the participation of others
What is laisses faire?
tends to allow others to make decisions with little central direction
What type of leadership tends to lead towards higher work satisfaction and a better working environment?
democratic leadership
Leadership Theories: Trait Theories
leadership involves clusters of personal qualities
these are categorized as personality traits, abilities, and social skills
Leadership Theories: Managerial Grid
good leadership involves equal concern for getting the agency’s work done and relationships with staff
Leadership Theories: Situational Leadership
situation determines whether leaders should be more task- or people-oriented
Leadership Theories: Contingency Leadership
good leaders can assess each situation and act accordingly
Organizational Goals and Related Issues: Goal Displacement
organizational processes that subvert manifest or stated agency goals
gradual and represents a replacement of ideological goals with bureaucratic procedures
Organizational Goals and Related Issues: Goal Succession
occurs when an organization’s goals have been met or are superannuated
Organizational Goals and Related Issues: Host Agency
organization with broad purposes, which also serves a social work function and hires social workers
Organizational Goals and Related Issues: Consultation
brings knowledge and a different, independent perspective to agency problems or case situations
consultants may help in diagnosing, designing a treatment plan, or in assessing outcomes
