Organizational Decision-making: Consulting vs. Centralized Administration, Slides of Sociology

Download Organizational Decision-making: Consulting vs. Centralized Administration and more Slides Sociology in PDF only on Docsity! Implementing Change in Organizations Consulting with Constituents versus Centralized Decision-making by Administrators docsity.com Two types of Decision-making in Organizations • Intermediate and Long-range Planning • Immediate Decisions that must by made quickly by the person/persons “in charge.” docsity.com Organization Structures to Expand Decision- Making Opportunities • Work Teams that may include: - Only organization staff. - Representatives from a number of organizations working together. - Staff members and clients • Reducing organization hierarchy consisting of levels of supervisors and turning some decisions over to staff docsity.com Structures that permit client/community input in organization decision-making: • Seats on boards of directors • Advisory boards • Membership on task groups that plan programs or evaluate services • Encouragement of self-help advocacy on the part of clients; Self-help advocacy training • Formal grievance procedures • Involvement in quality control or policy review processes • Formation of advocacy groups outside the organization structure. Larger groups of clients have more power to affect change in organizations. docsity.com Benefits of inclusion of clients and community residents • It’s the right thing to do (see NASW Code of Ethics on self- determination) • Services are more effective because they meet client/community needs. • Inclusion in decision-making helps increase client self-esteem, feelings of psychological empowerment, and leadership skills. • People included in decision-making are more likely to volunteer to work for the organization and can be asked to speak for the organization to influence public officials. • People (clients, residents, staff) included in the decision-making “buy in to” or become committed to the success of the plan. docsity.com What types of power do clients have? What types of power do they potentially have? docsity.com Arnstein (1969) identified 8 steps in her “Ladder of Citizen Participation” • (Highest Level) Citizen Control • Delegated Power • Partnership • Placation • Consultation • Informing • Therapy • Manipulation (lowest level) docsity.com Short term decisions • Rewarding or Disciplining Staff • Overseeing Program Implementation and Monitoring Day to Day Operations • Presenting information to Board Members, Superiors, or Public Decision-makers • Identifying Funding Sources and (and preparing proposals or negotiating contracts) • Identifying community partners and engaging in some types of collaboration to offer programs. • Responding to requests for information from program funders, board members, superiors, or the public. • Preparing reports for the board, superiors, funders, or the public. docsity.com Administrators and others may not always make the “best” or rational decisions. Other reasons for decisions: • What funders want. • Best interest of the organization or its staff. • Demands of the suprasystem (government, available funding, immediate needs of clientele) • Funding limitations • Self-interest of participants. People may want things that personally benefit them rather than others. Sometimes what they want is explicit, sometimes they have “hidden” agendas. docsity.com Rational or “best decisions are made by: • Reviewing all available information. • Identifying all the alternatives. • Identifying the benefits of the alternatives • Reviewing ethical implications and values associated with each alternative • Identifying risks or costs associated with each alternative • Using a pre-determined set of criteria with which to make decisions docsity.com Criteria can include: • Cultural Competency • Self-determination/inclusion • Access to Services • Adequacy of Services • Distributional Issues (Do people most in need of service receive them?) • Equality (everyone receives the same amount) • Equity (benefits are related to how much individuals or groups have contributed) • Benefit-Cost Ratio or Efficiency (does the dollar value of benefits outweigh cost) • Cost-Efficiency – the plan that produces the highest volume of benefits or the most services at the least cost docsity.com