Organizational Structure and Dynamics
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I.
Organizational Culture
A.
II.
Organizational culture: The constellation of values, beliefs, assumptions, and
expectations that underlie and organize the organization’s behavior as a group
1.
Appropriate attire
2.
Agency’s personality
Organizational Structure
A.
Organizational structure: The manner in which an organization divides its labor
into specific tasks and achieves coordination among these tasks
B.
Highlight 6.1: Pros and Cons of Centralized Versus Decentralized Organizations
C.
1.
Centralized organizations: Run according to classical scientific
management theories, with clearly established lines of authority. Workers
have little discretion to make their own decisions
2.
Decentralized organizations: Provide and encourage broad worker
discretion, and likely serve a wide variety of clients with vastly different
problems, issues, and backgrounds
Lines of authority
1.
Authority concerns the specific administrative and
responsibilities of supervisors involving their supervisees
supervisory
2.
Figure 6.1: Idle Ness Center for Diagnosis and Treatment—Example of a
Formal Organizational Chart
D.
Channels of communication
E.
Power in the formal structure
F.
Example of informal structure: The Idle Ness Center
G.
Figure 6.2: Organizational Charts Contrasting Formal and Informal Structures in
Agencies
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III.
Interpersonal Communication in Social Service Organizations
A.
Perception: The process by which individuals attend to, organize, interpret, and
retain information from their environments
1.
2.
B.
Four phases of perceptual filtering process (Williams)
a.
Attention: The process of noticing or becoming aware of particular
stimuli
b.
Organization: The process of incorporating new information into
your existing knowledge
c.
Interpretation: The process of attaching meaning to new
knowledge
d.
Retention: The process of remembering interpreted information
Figure 6.3: The Process of Perception
Interpersonal barriers to communication in agencies
1.
Figure 6.4: Barriers to Effective Interpersonal Communication
2.
Interpersonal barriers to communication in agencies
a.
Noise
b.
Personality factors—five personality factors that can either
enhance or interfere with effective communication (Hellriegel &
Slocum)
1)
Emotional stability: The degree to which a person is
relaxed, secure, and unworried
2)
Agreeableness: A person’s ability to get along with others
3)
Extraversion: A person’s comfort level with relationships
4)
Conscientiousness: The number of goals on which a person
focuses
5)
Openness: A person’s curiosity and range of interests
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3.
Individual errors in perception
a.
4.
5.
Common errors that occur in job interview situations (Hellriegel &
Slocum)
1)
Similarity error: When interviewers place too much
importance on the similarities and differences between
themselves and the interviewees
2)
Contrast error: Placing too much emphasis on how a job
candidate compares with other candidates in the pool of
those who applied
3)
First-impression error: When an interviewer formulates an
initial impression based on the perceptions of some
variables and then refuses to change that impression
Highlight 6.2: Specific Types of Individual Perceptual Errors in Agency
Settings
a.
Stereotyping: Maintaining fixed mental pictures of members of
some specified group based on some attribute or attributes that
reflect an overly simplified view of that group, without
consideration or appreciation of individual differences
b.
Halo effect: Evaluating another person solely on the basis of one
attribute, either favorable or unfavorable
c.
Projection: The tendency for people to see their own traits in other
people
d.
Assumptions about ethnicity and culture
Lying and distortion
a.
Impression management: The process by which a sender
knowingly attempts to influence the perceptions that the receivers
form
1)
Ingratiation: The act of seeking acceptance and support
through deliberate efforts such as using flattery, supporting
others’ opinions, doing favors, or laughing excessively at
others’ jokes
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6.
IV.
2)
Self-promotion: The act of describing oneself in an
unwarranted and overly positive manner
3)
Face-saving: Behavior that attempts to avoid being
accountable for the full consequences of one’s negative
behavior, decisions, and performance
Highlight 6.3: Enhancing Ethical Communication in Agencies: Means to
Empowerment
a.
Honesty
b.
Empathy
c.
Active listening
d.
Trust and openness
Power and Politics in Social Service Organizations
A.
B.
Types of power
1.
Legitimate power: Attained because of one’s position and vested authority
2.
Reward power: Stems from the ability to provide positive reinforcement
and rewards to others
3.
Coercive power: The capability of dispensing punishments in order to
influence others’ behavior
4.
Referent power: Held as a result of other group members’ respect and high
esteem
5.
Expert power: Based on established authority or expertise in a particular
domain
Politics in social service organizations
1.
Dynamics contributing to political behavior in agencies (DuBrin)
a.
Organizations are by nature political
b.
Some people are more power-oriented than others
c.
Decentralized organizations distribute power widely to lower
levels in the organizational hierarchy
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2.
Using agency politics for positive change
a.
b.
Tactics to establish a power base within an agency setting for
greater influence with decision makers
1)
Conduct a political diagnosis (an assessment of the location
of power in an organization and the type of political
behavior that is likely to happen)
2)
Develop contact and relationships with people in power
3)
Form coalitions yourself
4)
Get information about what’s going on
5)
Provide positive feedback where warranted
6)
Use assertive communication
Highlight 6.4: Tactics NOT to Use in Agency Politics: Problematic
Unethical Behavior
1)
Don’t engage in backstabbing
2)
Don’t set up a person for failure
3)
Don’t divide and conquer
4)
Don’t exclude the opposition
5)
Don’t go over your supervisor’s head without first
exhausting all other options
6)
Don’t throw temper tantrums
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