Avalon Care is a large (fictional) not-for-profit non-government provider of services to people with mental health needs, older people and people ex

Avalon Care is a large (fictional) not-for-profit non-government provider of services to people with mental health needs, older people and people experiencing homelessness. The organisation was founded in the1980s as an advocacy group for people with severe mental illness. It retains a social justice arm, but now focuses mainly on the delivery of community-based services. It also runs small community residential homes for people with chronic mental health needs and for older people with dementia.

The philosophy of the organisation has shifted over time. In a review of the history of the organisation for the 2019/20 Annual Report, a long-standing board member identified four key stages in the organisations development.

Grass roots community activism and support (1985 to 1992)

Initially Avalon saw itself as a grass roots organisation, run by and for survivors of the mental health system. Social action was a core activity and was motivated in part by the exposure of abuses in the large psychiatric institutions of the day. As the number of support and advocacy groups grew across the State, the organisation gained greater legitimacy and began to be included in the State and Commonwealth Governments planning and consultation activities.

In 1993 the organisation received funding for two respite centres for people with schizophrenia. These were later expanded to accommodate older people with complex dementias. Given the number of people with mental health needs who were increasingly identified as homeless, the organisation developed homelessness as a major program area in 1995. During the late 1990s, the organisation grew rapidly, set up branches in regional areas and developed a range of services, including day centre respite, in-home respite, meal services, drop-in centres and a friendly visitors scheme.

In 2000 the organisation received funding for a resource centre and they appointed their first State Coordinator in 2001. Up until then, Avalon employed mainly non-qualified staff. For many years the board was ambivalent towards employing university-trained staff, seeing them as part of the problem rather than part of the solution. However, the first State Coordinator was social work educated and she encouraged the organisation to employ more university-educated staff, including registered nurses, social workers and other social welfare professionals. The organisation began to adopt a more professional outlook, developing links with professional associations and university social work, welfare, medicine and nursing schools. During this period the organisation added research as a major area of activity. A highpoint for the organisation was hosting the International Mental Health Association Conference in March 2005.

In the early 2010s Avalon tendered for a number of major government contracts with mixed success. The board found the tendering process to be quite demanding and became demoralised when a couple of State Coordinators resigned in quick succession. Offering a significantly higher salary package in 2012 they recruited a Chief Executive Officer primarily based on his management experience. The new appointee David Buckley has a management background in the health insurance industry. Under the new CEOs direction they have been successful in gaining further government contracts, including the development and evaluation of a series of small community-based residential facilities in different regions throughout the state.

Today Avalon Care is a major non-government provider of community-based services to people with mental health needs and a large supplier of services to older people and homeless people. Its board comprises leading community figures, including a partner in a major law firm, a retired federal politician and a justice of the Supreme Court. Avalon Care employs 400 staff and supports over 3000 consumers across the state.

In addition to its programs on mental health, ageing, homelessness, social justice, and research and development, the organisation has also recently developed a community building initiative that is aimed at involving large and medium-sized corporations in the funding and management of the organisations services at state and local levels. The initiative has been presented as a model for other corporate citizenship programs.

A recent strategic review, conducted by external management consultants, examined the role of social workers in the organisation. Social workers have undertaken a range of roles including case work, support group facilitation, and community development. In both community and residential services, they have provided detailed psychosocial assessments of client circumstances and have assisted in setting up of comprehensive care plans. However, the review reported that the outcomes from professional social work intervention are not always clear or are worth the cost of employing university-qualified staff. As a result, a case manager role has been created, which will be open to a wide range of qualified and non-qualified people including but not limited to social workers.

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Module 1: Social work in organisations: context and theory

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Introduction

A lot can be said for social work practice in organisations. Undoubtedly, many of us have worked, are working, and will work in organisations or human service organisations, and some organisations can be intimidating. Many people experience the feeling of powerless and insignificance within some organisations; for example, as a client, student, or staff. In these circumstances, it is easy to think of organisations as impersonal, inhuman, and machine-like. However, this thought pattern is unhelpful and can blind us to the very real human qualities and deficiencies that comprise organisations.

Organisations are constructed and maintained by people for human purposes. In organisations we experience teamwork, skills development, planning, implementation, management, and evaluation of projects. A factory may seem inhuman because of the nature of the building that houses it or the use of technology within it. Still, it is deemed 'human' because it cannot exist meaningfully outside human endeavour or activities.

In Chapter 1of the textbook, the authors highlight two contrasting conceptions of organisations:

One, the rational, logical, and goal-directed organisation;

Two, the organisation infused with human emotion, conflict, and contradiction.

Throughout this unit, we will explore this tension between the idealised rational organisation and the everyday lived experience of organisations. Similarly, someone can experience tensions in human service organisations (HSOs). These tensions are typically characterised by a public mandate to protect or promote individuals' wellbeing within the context of the welfare state.

We will draw upon your experience of working in HSOs in this unit. If you have not worked in a human services setting, other organisational experiences (e.g., working in a supermarket or as a student at university) can also inform your learning.

Module Purpose

By the end of this module you will be able to:

understand why it is valuable for social workers to have skills in organisational analysis and practicereflect on the challenges and opportunities of becoming a new member of an organisationcritique the role of managerialism in human service organisationsidentify and apply different organisational theories to social work in human service organisationsActivity - This Week's Reading

Text:Hughes, M., & Wearing, M. (2022).Organisations and management in social work: Everyday action for change(4th ed.). Sage.(In all editions - i.e., 3rd, 2nd, 1st eds.).

Reading: Chapters 1 and 2.

If you like you may start from the introduction to this book (pp. 2-9), which highlights the significance of organisational knowledge and skills for social work practice. In particular, the value of organisational theory and analysis for understanding how social work is practised - everyday - in human service organisations (HSOs). The reflection at the end of the Introduction stresses the aim of the book - to "develop a broader and more politically aware approach - which we frame as an active and reflexive approach - to understanding and working in human service organisations" (Hughes & Wearing, 2022, p. 9).

Chapter 1- provides an orientation to some of the critical issues social workers encounter as employees of human service organisations. It examines one of the key challenges for newly qualified practitioners: how to negotiate the gap between the ideals and values of the profession with the lived experience of everyday organisational life. It further explores some of the key contextual pressures on human service organisations, such as manageralism, and considers how knowledge can be mobilised to support an ethical and reflexive approach to organisational practice.

Chapter 2- provides a broad overview of the key socio-political theories of organisations that social workers can make use of in their organisational analysis and in thinking through how to influence and potentially transform organisations.

Activity - First things first

At the beginning of (if not before) any endeavour, which includes studying or learning a unit, there should be goal-setting. For example, this unit has learning outcomes - these are the goals.

As Zastrow and Hessenauer (2022, p2) assert, the goal of social welfare is to fulfill the social, financial, health and recreational requirements of all individuals in a society. What is your goal?

What do you hope and plan to get out of this unit? Setting goals can help your commitment, aid in self and leadership development and support your performance for a desired behaviour or desired end/outcome.

It is often said thatgreat leadership starts with self-leadership. Identify and stateyour goal(s)for your learning in this unit. This will be included in your first assessment, and evaluated in your last assessment in the unit.

Do bear in mind, however, that for a six-week time-framed unit, it is vital that your goals arerealistic and achievable. A SMART method would help you with this - that is, your goals must be ...

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant and

Time-based

The second thing I strongly encourage you to do is a personal SWOT analysis. This will also be in your assessments.

Many of us are aware that organisations use SWOT analysis -SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats- to aid their strategic planning. We can use this idea for goal-setting and other purposes. Undertaking a personal SWOT analysis involves, for example, identifying/describing:

Strengths- what you are good at, think of skills - such as active listening, communication, presentation, problem-solving etc.

Weaknesses- barriers that can stop /hinder you from performing at your best - e.g., procastination, poor time managementOpportunities- positive factors that could help you achieve your goals - e.g., forming a study/learning community, study pals etc.

Threats- potential issues/obstacles that could stop/limit/pose a challenge to your progress or achieving your goals - e.g., unexpected illness, etc.

Begin by asking yourself sincere questions that only you can answer - e.g.,

What are my unique/specific skills?

What are my bad habits?

What network do I have or how can my network help me with my goals?

What necessary skills do my peers have that I do not have?

When these two activities are completed, we are ready to progress to learning about organisations.

1. Orientation to organisational practice

1.1 Why organisational knoweldge and skills?

It's inevitable that some people see organisational work as unnecessary red tape, simple bureaucracy and a barrier between the social worker and effective and meaningful practice. While this may certainly be the case in some circumstances, the reality for most practitioners is that the nature and effectiveness of their work is very much defined by their employing organisations. Gaining skills and knowledge in effectively negotiating our own and other organisations is an ethical responsibility and the mark of a practitioner who is prepared to commit themselves to work for the benefit of their client(s).

Research into client experiences identifies two key aspects of professional practice that are especially valued:

The experience of a professional relationship characterised by commitment, concern and meaningful engagement.

The capacity of the practitioner to provide access to valued resources invariably facilitated by the practitioners role and degree of influence within an organisation.

While social work is shaped by the organisational context, social workers are usually actively involved in mediating, challenging and negotiating within organisations for the benefit of clients. Although organisations often place demands on practitioners, they also provide for workers access to support, supervision, professional development opportunities, and protections.

While the focus of much professional attention might be on those activities which mark social work as being professionally distinct such as a casework intervention or a community development meeting organisational work is necessary behind the scenes activity without which these other activities might fail. The textbook illustrates this by referring to a real case involving a family in crisis (see Practice Example 0.1), and identifying the kinds of organisational work needed for the intervention to be successful.

You might like to do a similar activity for an organisation you currently work for, have worked for previously or your College/Uni if you have not worked.

Activity - Reflection

Social work involves both professional and organisational activities. Indeed, the values, commitments, and purpose of our professional lives can be put into practice through our organisational work. Consider, for example, the practitioner who works in a large government organisation such as a child protection agency or Centrelink. How that practitioner implements their commitment to social justice, for example, can be promoted by the way in which they engage with clients, how they help them access organisations resources, and how they are able to have their voices heard and make complaints.

Crucially, practitioners are often in key positions to influence and change organisational practices where they are negatively impacting people and which run counter to professional values. A key question that many practitioners face in engaging with the organisational aspects of their work is:

How can I be an effective organisational operator, maintain critical awareness of organisational practices and promote organisational change in line with the values of my profession?

1.2 Joining an organisationMuch of our understanding of how an organisation operates begins to form in the first few weeks after we join the organisation for example, as an employee. Regardless of how many jobs we have had, most of us experience some anxiety in those first few weeks in relation to how we fit in, what the official and unofficial rules are, who the different players are and where are the key points of conflict or tension. Its not unlike joining any group in a way, although inevitably there are more formal structures and processes than you might find in other group settings.

Paying attention to how you experience an organisation in those first few weeks can be very useful in helping you understand what other people including clients may experience when they also interact with the organisation. When you next join an organisation (or if you have just started placement) you might like to consider the following questions:

Questions to consider when joining an organisationYou might also like to consider the following tips to help you learn more about the organisation and to promote an active engagement with organisational practice:

Compile facts about the organisation, e.g.

Who are the key players?

Who do people look up to?

Who is needed most?

What functions are they carrying out?

Why are they effective?

Where do they work?

Observe formal and informal operations e.g. formal meetings as well as informal get-togethers.

Why does the organisation employ social workers?

What does social work contribute?

Attend & participate in organisational events (formal and informal).

Get multiple perspectives on the organisation supervisor, colleagues, managers, service users, etc.

Be enthusiastic as an organisational participant.

1.3 Welfare and labour market contexts

HSOs are, of course, embedded in the welfare state, which involves the public, private and not-for-profit sectors in the delivery of resources to people in need or at risk. The welfare state also relies on the so-called informal resources provided by family members, friends, carers and volunteers to people in need. How resources are allocated is influenced not just by the party politics of the government of the day, but also by the wider influence of prevailing ideologies and social discourses.

For example,neoliberalism involving the transfer of the principles of neo-classical laissez-faire economics to social policy is reflected in the policies of all major Australian political parties and has led to increased privatisation of welfare services and the development of strategies (e.g. via mutual obligation) to reduce so-called welfare dependency.You may want to learn more about neolibralism here:https://youtu.be/dzLv3rfnOVwThus the way the social welfare system operates has a significant impact on how HSOs function and how workers can provide resources to clients and community members. A key concern expressed by practitioners is lack of resources to meet client need.

For example, in their regular Community Sector Survey, the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) (2020) determined that in July 2020 (iduring the COVID-19 pandemic),

of 744 community sector workers, 61% reported an increased demand for their services,

76% reported increased complexity of client need, and

47% indicated that there were increases in the number of clients they were unable to support.

How people experience human service organisations both as employees and as clients is thus significantly influenced by the resources (or lack thereof) the organisation has available to offer.

Thinking about social workers experience within HSOs also requires us to consider their experience as employees. Later in the unit we will consider issues such asworkplace stress, which are very much influenced by employment patterns and supports within organisations. So how workers experience organisations is influenced by how they were employed and their ongoing employment conditions.This occurs within the competitive labour market where a social worker might be competing with, for example, a psychologist or an untrained worker for a particular position.

Consider some of the recent trends within the labour market as discussed in the textbook, for example, increased casualisation, more outsourcing to the private and community sectors, and the expansion of semi-professional and non-professional roles. We also highlight the turf wars that can break out between professional groups, especially in the context of certain positions (e.g. in child protection) being made available to people with a wide range of professional backgrounds.

1.4 Managerialism

The textbook highlights a range of key players in HSOs. The authors argue that these are caricatures or archetypes, as they are social constructions that exist within organisations (and their cultures), which people relate to (Hughes & Wearing, 2022). Each is seen as having more or less expertise in professional, organisational and community competence. As this discussion suggests, a possible area of conflict within organisations is between the professionals and the managers. And while many social workers move into management positions, we do see these kinds of tensions arising between social workers and their managers. However, what people are often talking about when discussing the tensions with managers is not so much the issues with having someone act in a management role, but rather the impact of what has come to be termed managerialism.

Managerialism refers to the transfer of corporate (business) management models to human service organisations. This trend has been promoted by neoliberal practices trying to ensure that welfare agencies are acting competitively and efficiently and by the rise of new public management within government agencies. Thus it is seen as an antidote to bloated bureaucracy and inefficiency. Typically it involves stripping the organisation of its layers of middle management, enabling greater control by the senior executive over organisational functioning and by restricting (potentially wasteful) professional activity. The aim is for a lean, efficient organisation that can effectively operate and change within a competitive environment (read marketplace). Check out some of the techniques of managerialism, as discussed by Jones and May (1992), in the flip pictures below.

Managers (and people writing about management) have not been insensitive to these critiques and one of the key concepts to emerge in counterpoint to managerialism is governance. This termrefers to the ways in which organisations are responsive to their stakeholders and how they involve them in the decision making processes of the organisation. The extent to which stakeholders are meaningfully involved in organisational decision making is, of course, variable and probably debatable in different settings. And like the transfer of total quality management from the business world to social welfare in the 1990s, good governance in human service organisations mirrors the development ofcorporate governancein the business world. Have a look at the flip pictures below to identify some qualities of 'good governance'.

Also check out below the short video by Susanne MacGregor (Professor of Social Policy) reflecting on professionalisation and managerialism (referred to as new public management) in the UK in the 2000s. Similar forces have been experienced in Australia - driven by the major political parties and the public service.

Managerialism and good governance

Susanne MacGregor on Managerialism

Activity - Practice scenario and reflection

Activity - Introductory Quiz

2. Organisational theory for social work

Organisational theory provides a resource for social workers to analyse and potentially transform human serivce organisations. This kind of analysis is necessary to support the development of social workers as competent, strategic and ethical organisational operators. So, a social workers organisational knowledge base begins with a critical understanding of the major perspectives in organisational and management theory.

The textbook synthesised the different perspectives and group them together under metaphors. We needed to group the theories in this way because of the enormous array of literature theorising organisations indeed we could have devoted a chapter to each of the different perspectives and then not even do them justice. Metaphors are a useful device for encapsulating some key messages relating to each of the perspectives (Hughes & Wearing, 2022).

Further, the textbook chapter also highlights some perspectives (metaphors) as beingupstreamand some asdownstream(see Figure). The application of this construction from Chia (1996) denotes the upstream perspectives as those that challenge, question and agitate the existing order of organisations, whereas the downstream perspectives are the ones that simply describe how they are and how they can be best maintained.

INCLUDEPICTURE "https://learn.scu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-5905546-dt-content-rid-71101757_2/xid-71101757_2" * MERGEFORMATINET In this module, these metaphors are grouped around five key perspectives:

Rational approaches (including scientific management and bureaucracy)

'Machines' metaphor

Systems and ecological perspectives

'Organism' metaphor

Cultural and social constructionist perspectives

'Lenses' metaphor

'Construction' metaphor

Postmodern perspectives

'Unpacking and collaging' metaphorCritical perspectives

'Flux and domination' metaphor

'Fluid and hyper-real' metaphor

'Constructed other' metaphorAs reflected in the Figure, we considered the 'Constructions' metaphor as mainly downstream but with an element of challening the status quo, and the 'Unpacking and collaging' metaphor as mainly upstream but with dimensions that can lead to inertia (discussed later).

2.1 Rational approaches ('machine' metaphor)

Throughout the 20th century a particular representation of the organisation tended to dominate. This was the rational, planned organisation controlled by rules, regulations and codes of conduct. So powerful was this construction that the terms organisation and organising seemed solely to relate to logical and rational activities. These have been referred to as classical organisational theories and they emerged from an analysis of the effects of industrialisation on society (via European sociology) and from an analysis of how managers could make organisations more efficient and effective (via American management studies). As discussed in the textbook, typically these approaches conceptualise the organisation as a machine that is designed by management to achieve certain pre-determined goals. Common rational/classical approaches include Webers analysis of bureaucracy and Taylors scientific management approach.

2.2 Systems and ecological approaches ('organisms' metaphor)

Systems approaches to organisations emerged in the 1950s under the influence of general systems theories and driven by scientific and positivist approaches to research. They mirrored and drew upon biological understandings of natural systems and were incorporated into Bouldings (1956) hierarchy of systems. Organisations are conceptualised as highly complex systems within this hierarchy.

Like systems approaches within social work, systems approaches in organisational theory see the organisation as a dynamic and organic collection of internal systems operating within a wider environment or ecology. They are consequently identified as open systems because they are affected by forces outside the organisations boundaries. Like an animal or plant organism, organisations are seen as being fundamentally concerned with their survival and thus they are involved in an ongoing state of adaptation to their environment. They are striving towards balance between themselves (and their internal systems) and their wider environment (external systems).

The internal systems of the organisation include management systems, human resources systems, professional teams, unskilled workers, administrative systems, training systems etc. These systems operate interdependently they are mutually reliant on each other to form a whole functioning organisation. A change in one internal system is likely to influence other systems. For example, a change in the IT system of an agency (e.g. introduction of a centralised client record database) will have flow-on effects for the other systems within the organisation (e.g. the intake team).

Its worth noting that the vast majority of the organisational analysis literature draws at least partly on systems theory ideas this is particularly the case in the business and management literature. It is especially influential in perspectives on organisational change (which we examine later in the unit), which highlight the need for organisations to change internally (adapt) in order to continue to respond to a changing environment.

2.3 Cultural and social constructionist approaches ('lenses' and 'construction' metaphors)

These approaches are reflected in the lenses and constructions metaphors discussed in the textbook. They help us understand how organisations are constructed through personal and social interactions and the unique culture that emerges from these interactions. A focus for analysis is how order is negotiated between different actors within the organisation and how this order comes to exist as organisational culture.

This culture includes a dominant organisational culture, as well as any number of micro sub-cultures that may or may not support the dominant culture. For example, the dominant culture of social justice (e.g. as expressed by the managers and professionals and as reinforced by the formal symbols of the organisation, such as its logo) might be challenged by a sub-culture among a group of low-paid workers who see the leaders of the organisation as being elitist despite the claims to social justice.

This subjective and experiential understanding of organisations which emerges in part from social anthropology stands in marked contrast to the modern systems perspectives, which rely on a positivist epistemology and scientific methodologies. A key concern is to understand the unique cultures within the organisation and what the written and unwritten rules of these cultures are. Thus, the analysis should examine the organisations shared meanings and symbols that represent the culture.

2.4 Postmodern perspectives ('unpacking and collaging' metaphor)

Postmodern perspectives are largely oppositional and stand against existing arrangements within organisations. As discussed in the textbook (in relation to the unpacking and collaging metaphor), these can be seen as broadly operating upstream in that they challenge the existing ways in which organisations operate. What they dont do and that is why we didnt see them as completely running upstream is provide a viable alternative to how organisations could be. To this it is necessary to turn to some of the critical perspectives.

As Hatch (2019) identifies, invariably the jumping off point for postmodern analyses of organisations is the identification of the shift towards the post-industrial organisation, which is characterised by uncertainty and contradiction and a movement towards smaller more flexible organisational forms. Postmodern perspectives are often concerned about the silencing of marginalised voices in organisational life and organisational theory. Those writing from a postmodern position are therefore interested in breaking down boundaries and promoting diversity.

Postmodern perspectives critique the development of unifying theories and conceptualise knowledge as fragmented and complex. Thus, postmodern approaches to organisations have challenged the basis of modern organisational theory, in particular the classical approach of planned rationalism and the modern systems theories. In contrast, they highlight the irrationality of many organisations, particular with respect to the differences between what they espouse and what they actually do.

Using the collage metaphor, it is possible to see postmodern organisational theorists acting like artists cutting, pasting and rearranging old organisational ideas alongside new experiences to illuminate a particular aspect of organisational life. Often the focus is on exploring a contradiction or paradox and shaking people out of their accustomed way of seeing the world.

2.5 Critical perspectives ('flux and domination, 'fluid and hyper-real, 'constructed other' metaphors)

Critical perspectives on understanding organisations are clearly upstream in that they actively challenge the typical functioning of modern organisations and seek to replace them with more democratic and equitable structures. Here, we're bringing together three metaphors discussed in the textbook.

Critical social theory draws heavily on Marxist and post-Marxist theorising and also incorporates aspects of feminism (such as structural feminism) and has its origins in theFrankfurt Schooland was extended through the work ofJrgen Habermas.

Such approaches challenge classical and systems approaches to organisational theory and critique them as maintaining and at times exacerbating wider social inequality. Thus, the challenge to managerialism and its adoption of the practices of the scientific management and modern systems approaches comes mainly from a critical perspective. The following approaches or theories may be broadly considered to offer critical perspectives of organisations.

Broadly then the concern of critical perspectives on organisations is the ways in which mainstream organisations and their management can damage individuals, both as employees and as service users or clients, and further alienate and disadvantage groups of people on the basis of distinctions made according to ethnicity, gender, disability, class, age and sexuality.

Activity - Organisational Theory Quiz

Summary

The textbook introduced and discussed what organisational theory and analysis can offer social work. The authors highlight the value of seeing organisational analysis as politics from below in the sense that whatever position we occupy within an organisation we can all be involved in theorising and analysing it (and potentially changing it) (Hughes & Wearing, 2022). Organisational theorising and analysis is not the sole domain of those in charge. Another issue raised relates to the trend within the business and management literature towards the depoliticisation of organisations and that is why they emphasise sociological and political perspectives on understanding organisations and management. These upstream approaches can help us imagine how organisations can change so that they become more democratic and more equitable.

While it is important to understand how historical developments impact on the emergence and development of particular organisational theories, today many of these theories and perspectives that we have considered can be seen to coexist, albeit with differing degrees of influence. It has been common within the organisational and management theory literature to present each new perspective that emerges as representing some form of paradigmatic change. That is, the new perspective sweeps aside the old and becomes the predominant way of conceptualising organisations. However, in human service organisations we see features that reflect a range of theoretical positions. And each of these theories and ways of conceptualising organisations and management offer different things in guiding our organisational analysis.

A healthy scepticism of theory is one way social workers can defend themselves against becoming dependent on one theory for understanding organisations. As a largely humanistic, reflective and action-oriented profession, social work can distance itself from overly technical and apolitical approaches to organisational analysis. This can be achieved by staying attuned to theoretical diversity and the power of competing social explanations.

Preparation for Tutorial

Have you set your three goals for the unit?

Have your prepared your personal SWOT analysis?

INCLUDEPICTURE "https://learn.scu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-5905561-dt-content-rid-71354521_2/xid-71354521_2" * MERGEFORMATINET Source:https://helpfulprofessor.com/personal-swot-analysis-examples-for-students/References

Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) (2020).Australias community sector and COVID-19 supporting communities through the crisis: An Australian community sector survey special report.ACOSS.https://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Australias-community-sector-and-Covid-19_FINAL.pdfChia, R. (1996).Organizational analysis and deconstructive practice.Walter de Gruyter.

Hatch, M. J. (2019). Organization theory: Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives.South Asian Journal of Management,26(4), 215-218.

Hughes, M., & Wearing, M. (2022).Organisations and management in social work: Everyday action for change(4thed.). Sage.

Jones, A., & May, J. (1992).Working in human service organisations: A critical introduction. Longman Cheshire.

Zastrow, C., & Hessenauer, S. L. (2022).Empowerment series: Introduction to social work and social welfare: Empowering people. Cengage Learning.

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PortalLibrarySWRK6004-2023-T4Social Work Organisations, Leadership and Management

Unit Content

Module 1: Social work in organisations: context and theory

SWRK6004-2023-T4 (Social Work Organisations, Leadership and Management)AnnouncementsGetting StartedContacts

STUDY RESOURCES

Unit OutlineUnit ContentWorkshop and Tutorial ResourcesMyReadings

CONNECTING

Discussion BoardCollaborate UltraCreate/Join a Study Group

ASSESSMENT

Assessment Tasks and SubmissionGrades and FeedbackAcademic IntegrityAssessment Policy and Procedures

LEARNING HELP

Learning SupportLibraryBlackboard ToolsOther Help

Module 1Social work in organisations INCLUDEPICTURE "https://learn.scu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-5905528-dt-content-rid-71763783_2/xid-71763783_2" * MERGEFORMATINET

Introduction

A lot can be said for social work practice in organisations. Undoubtedly, many of us have worked, are working, and will work in organisations or human service organisations, and some organisations can be intimidating. Many people experience the feeling of powerless and insignificance within some organisations; for example, as a client, student, or staff. In these circumstances, it is easy to think of organisations as impersonal, inhuman, and machine-like. However, this thought pattern is unhelpful and can blind us to the very real human qualities and deficiencies that comprise organisations.

Organisations are constructed and maintained by people for human purposes. In organisations we experience teamwork, skills development, planning, implementation, management, and evaluation of projects. A factory may seem inhuman because of the nature of the building that houses it or the use of technology within it. Still, it is deemed 'human' because it cannot exist meaningfully outside human endeavour or activities.

In Chapter 1of the textbook, the authors highlight two contrasting conceptions of organisations:

One, the rational, logical, and goal-directed organisation;

Two, the organisation infused with human emotion, conflict, and contradiction.

Throughout this unit, we will explore this tension between the idealised rational organisation and the everyday lived experience of organisations. Similarly, someone can experience tensions in human service organisations (HSOs). These tensions are typically characterised by a public mandate to protect or promote individuals' wellbeing within the context of the welfare state.

We will draw upon your experience of working in HSOs in this unit. If you have not worked in a human services setting, other organisational experiences (e.g., working in a supermarket or as a student at university) can also inform your learning.

Module Purpose

By the end of this module you will be able to:

understand why it is valuable for social workers to have skills in organisational analysis and practicereflect on the challenges and opportunities of becoming a new member of an organisationcritique the role of managerialism in human service organisationsidentify and apply different organisational theories to social work in human service organisationsActivity - This Week's Reading

Text:Hughes, M., & Wearing, M. (2022).Organisations and management in social work: Everyday action for change(4th ed.). Sage.(In all editions - i.e., 3rd, 2nd, 1st eds.).

Reading: Chapters 1 and 2.

If you like you may start from the introduction to this book (pp. 2-9), which highlights the significance of organisational knowledge and skills for social work practice. In particular, the value of organisational theory and analysis for understanding how social work is practised - everyday - in human service organisations (HSOs). The reflection at the end of the Introduction stresses the aim of the book - to "develop a broader and more politically aware approach - which we frame as an active and reflexive approach - to understanding and working in human service organisations" (Hughes & Wearing, 2022, p. 9).

Chapter 1- provides an orientation to some of the critical issues social workers encounter as employees of human service organisations. It examines one of the key challenges for newly qualified practitioners: how to negotiate the gap between the ideals and values of the profession with the lived experience of everyday organisational life. It further explores some of the key contextual pressures on human service organisations, such as manageralism, and considers how knowledge can be mobilised to support an ethical and reflexive approach to organisational practice.

Chapter 2- provides a broad overview of the key socio-political theories of organisations that social workers can make use of in their organisational analysis and in thinking through how to influence and potentially transform organisations.

Activity - First things first

At the beginning of (if not before) any endeavour, which includes studying or learning a unit, there should be goal-setting. For example, this unit has learning outcomes - these are the goals.

As Zastrow and Hessenauer (2022, p2) assert, the goal of social welfare is to fulfill the social, financial, health and recreational requirements of all individuals in a society. What is your goal?

What do you hope and plan to get out of this unit? Setting goals can help your commitment, aid in self and leadership development and support your performance for a desired behaviour or desired end/outcome.

It is often said thatgreat leadership starts with self-leadership. Identify and stateyour goal(s)for your learning in this unit. This will be included in your first assessment, and evaluated in your last assessment in the unit.

Do bear in mind, however, that for a six-week time-framed unit, it is vital that your goals arerealistic and achievable. A SMART method would help you with this - that is, your goals must be ...

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant and

Time-based

The second thing I strongly encourage you to do is a personal SWOT analysis. This will also be in your assessments.

Many of us are aware that organisations use SWOT analysis -SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats- to aid their strategic planning. We can use this idea for goal-setting and other purposes. Undertaking a personal SWOT analysis involves, for example, identifying/describing:

Strengths- what you are good at, think of skills - such as active listening, communication, presentation, problem-solving etc.

Weaknesses- barriers that can stop /hinder you from performing at your best - e.g., procastination, poor time managementOpportunities- positive factors that could help you achieve your goals - e.g., forming a study/learning community, study pals etc.

Threats- potential issues/obstacles that could stop/limit/pose a challenge to your progress or achieving your goals - e.g., unexpected illness, etc.

Begin by asking yourself sincere questions that only you can answer - e.g.,

What are my unique/specific skills?

What are my bad habits?

What network do I have or how can my network help me with my goals?

What necessary skills do my peers have that I do not have?

When these two activities are completed, we are ready to progress to learning about organisations.

1. Orientation to organisational practice

1.1 Why organisational knoweldge and skills?

It's inevitable that some people see organisational work as unnecessary red tape, simple bureaucracy and a barrier between the social worker and effective and meaningful practice. While this may certainly be the case in some circumstances, the reality for most practitioners is that the nature and effectiveness of their work is very much defined by their employing organisations. Gaining skills and knowledge in effectively negotiating our own and other organisations is an ethical responsibility and the mark of a practitioner who is prepared to commit themselves to work for the benefit of their client(s).

Research into client experiences identifies two key aspects of professional practice that are especially valued:

The experience of a professional relationship characterised by commitment, concern and meaningful engagement.

The capacity of the practitioner to provide access to valued resources invariably facilitated by the practitioners role and degree of influence within an organisation.

While social work is shaped by the organisational context, social workers are usually actively involved in mediating, challenging and negotiating within organisations for the benefit of clients. Although organisations often place demands on practitioners, they also provide for workers access to support, supervision, professional development opportunities, and protections.

While the focus of much professional attention might be on those activities which mark social work as being professionally distinct such as a casework intervention or a community development meeting organisational work is necessary behind the scenes activity without which these other activities might fail. The textbook illustrates this by referring to a real case involving a family in crisis (see Practice Example 0.1), and identifying the kinds of organisational work needed for the intervention to be successful.

You might like to do a similar activity for an organisation you currently work for, have worked for previously or your College/Uni if you have not worked.

Activity - Reflection

Social work involves both professional and organisational activities. Indeed, the values, commitments, and purpose of our professional lives can be put into practice through our organisational work. Consider, for example, the practitioner who works in a large government organisation such as a child protection agency or Centrelink. How that practitioner implements their commitment to social justice, for example, can be promoted by the way in which they engage with clients, how they help them access organisations resources, and how they are able to have their voices heard and make complaints.

Crucially, practitioners are often in key positions to influence and change organisational practices where they are negatively impacting people and which run counter to professional values. A key question that many practitioners face in engaging with the organisational aspects of their work is:

How can I be an effective organisational operator, maintain critical awareness of organisational practices and promote organisational change in line with the values of my profession?

1.2 Joining an organisationMuch of our understanding of how an organisation operates begins to form in the first few weeks after we join the organisation for example, as an employee. Regardless of how many jobs we have had, most of us experience some anxiety in those first few weeks in relation to how we fit in, what the official and unofficial rules are, who the different players are and where are the key points of conflict or tension. Its not unlike joining any group in a way, although inevitably there are more formal structures and processes than you might find in other group settings.

Paying attention to how you experience an organisation in those first few weeks can be very useful in helping you understand what other people including clients may experience when they also interact with the organisation. When you next join an organisation (or if you have just started placement) you might like to consider the following questions:

Questions to consider when joining an organisationYou might also like to consider the following tips to help you learn more about the organisation and to promote an active engagement with organisational practice:

Compile facts about the organisation, e.g.

Who are the key players?

Who do people look up to?

Who is needed most?

What functions are they carrying out?

Why are they effective?

Where do they work?

Observe formal and informal operations e.g. formal meetings as well as informal get-togethers.

Why does the organisation employ social workers?

What does social work contribute?

Attend & participate in organisational events (formal and informal).

Get multiple perspectives on the organisation supervisor, colleagues, managers, service users, etc.

Be enthusiastic as an organisational participant.

1.3 Welfare and labour market contexts

HSOs are, of course, embedded in the welfare state, which involves the public, private and not-for-profit sectors in the delivery of resources to people in need or at risk. The welfare state also relies on the so-called informal resources provided by family members, friends, carers and volunteers to people in need. How resources are allocated is influenced not just by the party politics of the government of the day, but also by the wider influence of prevailing ideologies and social discourses.

For example,neoliberalism involving the transfer of the principles of neo-classical laissez-faire economics to social policy is reflected in the policies of all major Australian political parties and has led to increased privatisation of welfare services and the development of strategies (e.g. via mutual obligation) to reduce so-called welfare dependency.You may want to learn more about neolibralism here:https://youtu.be/dzLv3rfnOVwThus the way the social welfare system operates has a significant impact on how HSOs function and how workers can provide resources to clients and community members. A key concern expressed by practitioners is lack of resources to meet client need.

For example, in their regular Community Sector Survey, the Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) (2020) determined that in July 2020 (iduring the COVID-19 pandemic),

of 744 community sector workers, 61% reported an increased demand for their services,

76% reported increased complexity of client need, and

47% indicated that there were increases in the number of clients they were unable to support.

How people experience human service organisations both as employees and as clients is thus significantly influenced by the resources (or lack thereof) the organisation has available to offer.

Thinking about social workers experience within HSOs also requires us to consider their experience as employees. Later in the unit we will consider issues such asworkplace stress, which are very much influenced by employment patterns and supports within organisations. So how workers experience organisations is influenced by how they were employed and their ongoing employment conditions.This occurs within the competitive labour market where a social worker might be competing with, for example, a psychologist or an untrained worker for a particular position.

Consider some of the recent trends within the labour market as discussed in the textbook, for example, increased casualisation, more outsourcing to the private and community sectors, and the expansion of semi-professional and non-professional roles. We also highlight the turf wars that can break out between professional groups, especially in the context of certain positions (e.g. in child protection) being made available to people with a wide range of professional backgrounds.

1.4 Managerialism

The textbook highlights a range of key players in HSOs. The authors argue that these are caricatures or archetypes, as they are social constructions that exist within organisations (and their cultures), which people relate to (Hughes & Wearing, 2022). Each is seen as having more or less expertise in professional, organisational and community competence. As this discussion suggests, a possible area of conflict within organisations is between the professionals and the managers. And while many social workers move into management positions, we do see these kinds of tensions arising between social workers and their managers. However, what people are often talking about when discussing the tensions with managers is not so much the issues with having someone act in a management role, but rather the impact of what has come to be termed managerialism.

Managerialism refers to the transfer of corporate (business) management models to human service organisations. This trend has been promoted by neoliberal practices trying to ensure that welfare agencies are acting competitively and efficiently and by the rise of new public management within government agencies. Thus it is seen as an antidote to bloated bureaucracy and inefficiency. Typically it involves stripping the organisation of its layers of middle management, enabling greater control by the senior executive over organisational functioning and by restricting (potentially wasteful) professional activity. The aim is for a lean, efficient organisation that can effectively operate and change within a competitive environment (read marketplace). Check out some of the techniques of managerialism, as discussed by Jones and May (1992), in the flip pictures below.

Managers (and people writing about management) have not been insensitive to these critiques and one of the key concepts to emerge in counterpoint to managerialism is governance. This termrefers to the ways in which organisations are responsive to their stakeholders and how they involve them in the decision making processes of the organisation. The extent to which stakeholders are meaningfully involved in organisational decision making is, of course, variable and probably debatable in different settings. And like the transfer of total quality management from the business world to social welfare in the 1990s, good governance in human service organisations mirrors the development ofcorporate governancein the business world. Have a look at the flip pictures below to identify some qualities of 'good governance'.

Also check out below the short video by Susanne MacGregor (Professor of Social Policy) reflecting on professionalisation and managerialism (referred to as new public management) in the UK in the 2000s. Similar forces have been experienced in Australia - driven by the major political parties and the public service.

Managerialism and good governance

Susanne MacGregor on Managerialism

Activity - Practice scenario and reflection

Activity - Introductory Quiz

2. Organisational theory for social work

Organisational theory provides a resource for social workers to analyse and potentially transform human serivce organisations. This kind of analysis is necessary to support the development of social workers as competent, strategic and ethical organisational operators. So, a social workers organisational knowledge base begins with a critical understanding of the major perspectives in organisational and management theory.

The textbook synthesised the different perspectives and group them together under metaphors. We needed to group the theories in this way because of the enormous array of literature theorising organisations indeed we could have devoted a chapter to each of the different perspectives and then not even do them justice. Metaphors are a useful device for encapsulating some key messages relating to each of the perspectives (Hughes & Wearing, 2022).

Further, the textbook chapter also highlights some perspectives (metaphors) as beingupstreamand some asdownstream(see Figure). The application of this construction from Chia (1996) denotes the upstream perspectives as those that challenge, question and agitate the existing order of organisations, whereas the downstream perspectives are the ones that simply describe how they are and how they can be best maintained.

INCLUDEPICTURE "https://learn.scu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-5905546-dt-content-rid-71101757_2/xid-71101757_2" * MERGEFORMATINET In this module, these metaphors are grouped around five key perspectives:

Rational approaches (including scientific management and bureaucracy)

'Machines' metaphor

Systems and ecological perspectives

'Organism' metaphor

Cultural and social constructionist perspectives

'Lenses' metaphor

'Construction' metaphor

Postmodern perspectives

'Unpacking and collaging' metaphorCritical perspectives

'Flux and domination' metaphor

'Fluid and hyper-real' metaphor

'Constructed other' metaphorAs reflected in the Figure, we considered the 'Constructions' metaphor as mainly downstream but with an element of challening the status quo, and the 'Unpacking and collaging' metaphor as mainly upstream but with dimensions that can lead to inertia (discussed later).

2.1 Rational approaches ('machine' metaphor)

Throughout the 20th century a particular representation of the organisation tended to dominate. This was the rational, planned organisation controlled by rules, regulations and codes of conduct. So powerful was this construction that the terms organisation and organising seemed solely to relate to logical and rational activities. These have been referred to as classical organisational theories and they emerged from an analysis of the effects of industrialisation on society (via European sociology) and from an analysis of how managers could make organisations more efficient and effective (via American management studies). As discussed in the textbook, typically these approaches conceptualise the organisation as a machine that is designed by management to achieve certain pre-determined goals. Common rational/classical approaches include Webers analysis of bureaucracy and Taylors scientific management approach.

2.2 Systems and ecological approaches ('organisms' metaphor)

Systems approaches to organisations emerged in the 1950s under the influence of general systems theories and driven by scientific and positivist approaches to research. They mirrored and drew upon biological understandings of natural systems and were incorporated into Bouldings (1956) hierarchy of systems. Organisations are conceptualised as highly complex systems within this hierarchy.

Like systems approaches within social work, systems approaches in organisational theory see the organisation as a dynamic and organic collection of internal systems operating within a wider environment or ecology. They are consequently identified as open systems because they are affected by forces outside the organisations boundaries. Like an animal or plant organism, organisations are seen as being fundamentally concerned with their survival and thus they are involved in an ongoing state of adaptation to their environment. They are striving towards balance between themselves (and their internal systems) and their wider environment (external systems).

The internal systems of the organisation include management systems, human resources systems, professional teams, unskilled workers, administrative systems, training systems etc. These systems operate interdependently they are mutually reliant on each other to form a whole functioning organisation. A change in one internal system is likely to influence other systems. For example, a change in the IT system of an agency (e.g. introduction of a centralised client record database) will have flow-on effects for the other systems within the organisation (e.g. the intake team).

Its worth noting that the vast majority of the organisational analysis literature draws at least partly on systems theory ideas this is particularly the case in the business and management literature. It is especially influential in perspectives on organisational change (which we examine later in the unit), which highlight the need for organisations to change internally (adapt) in order to continue to respond to a changing environment.

2.3 Cultural and social constructionist approaches ('lenses' and 'construction' metaphors)

These approaches are reflected in the lenses and constructions metaphors discussed in the textbook. They help us understand how organisations are constructed through personal and social interactions and the unique culture that emerges from these interactions. A focus for analysis is how order is negotiated between different actors within the organisation and how this order comes to exist as organisational culture.

This culture includes a dominant organisational culture, as well as any number of micro sub-cultures that may or may not support the dominant culture. For example, the dominant culture of social justice (e.g. as expressed by the managers and professionals and as reinforced by the formal symbols of the organisation, such as its logo) might be challenged by a sub-culture among a group of low-paid workers who see the leaders of the organisation as being elitist despite the claims to social justice.

This subjective and experiential understanding of organisations which emerges in part from social anthropology stands in marked contrast to the modern systems perspectives, which rely on a positivist epistemology and scientific methodologies. A key concern is to understand the unique cultures within the organisation and what the written and unwritten rules of these cultures are. Thus, the analysis should examine the organisations shared meanings and symbols that represent the culture.

2.4 Postmodern perspectives ('unpacking and collaging' metaphor)

Postmodern perspectives are largely oppositional and stand against existing arrangements within organisations. As discussed in the textbook (in relation to the unpacking and collaging metaphor), these can be seen as broadly operating upstream in that they challenge the existing ways in which organisations operate. What they dont do and that is why we didnt see them as completely running upstream is provide a viable alternative to how organisations could be. To this it is necessary to turn to some of the critical perspectives.

As Hatch (2019) identifies, invariably the jumping off point for postmodern analyses of organisations is the identification of the shift towards the post-industrial organisation, which is characterised by uncertainty and contradiction and a movement towards smaller more flexible organisational forms. Postmodern perspectives are often concerned about the silencing of marginalised voices in organisational life and organisational theory. Those writing from a postmodern position are therefore interested in breaking down boundaries and promoting diversity.

Postmodern perspectives critique the development of unifying theories and conceptualise knowledge as fragmented and complex. Thus, postmodern approaches to organisations have challenged the basis of modern organisational theory, in particular the classical approach of planned rationalism and the modern systems theories. In contrast, they highlight the irrationality of many organisations, particular with respect to the differences between what they espouse and what they actually do.

Using the collage metaphor, it is possible to see postmodern organisational theorists acting like artists cutting, pasting and rearranging old organisational ideas alongside new experiences to illuminate a particular aspect of organisational life. Often the focus is on exploring a contradiction or paradox and shaking people out of their accustomed way of seeing the world.

2.5 Critical perspectives ('flux and domination, 'fluid and hyper-real, 'constructed other' metaphors)

Critical perspectives on understanding organisations are clearly upstream in that they actively challenge the typical functioning of modern organisations and seek to replace them with more democratic and equitable structures. Here, we're bringing together three metaphors discussed in the textbook.

Critical social theory draws heavily on Marxist and post-Marxist theorising and also incorporates aspects of feminism (such as structural feminism) and has its origins in theFrankfurt Schooland was extended through the work ofJrgen Habermas.

Such approaches challenge classical and systems approaches to organisational theory and critique them as maintaining and at times exacerbating wider social inequality. Thus, the challenge to managerialism and its adoption of the practices of the scientific management and modern systems approaches comes mainly from a critical perspective. The following approaches or theories may be broadly considered to offer critical perspectives of organisations.

Broadly then the concern of critical perspectives on organisations is the ways in which mainstream organisations and their management can damage individuals, both as employees and as service users or clients, and further alienate and disadvantage groups of people on the basis of distinctions made according to ethnicity, gender, disability, class, age and sexuality.

Activity - Organisational Theory Quiz

Summary

The textbook introduced and discussed what organisational theory and analysis can offer social work. The authors highlight the value of seeing organisational analysis as politics from below in the sense that whatever position we occupy within an organisation we can all be involved in theorising and analysing it (and potentially changing it) (Hughes & Wearing, 2022). Organisational theorising and analysis is not the sole domain of those in charge. Another issue raised relates to the trend within the business and management literature towards the depoliticisation of organisations and that is why they emphasise sociological and political perspectives on understanding organisations and management. These upstream approaches can help us imagine how organisations can change so that they become more democratic and more equitable.

While it is important to understand how historical developments impact on the emergence and development of particular organisational theories, today many of these theories and perspectives that we have considered can be seen to coexist, albeit with differing degrees of influence. It has been common within the organisational and management theory literature to present each new perspective that emerges as representing some form of paradigmatic change. That is, the new perspective sweeps aside the old and becomes the predominant way of conceptualising organisations. However, in human service organisations we see features that reflect a range of theoretical positions. And each of these theories and ways of conceptualising organisations and management offer different things in guiding our organisational analysis.

A healthy scepticism of theory is one way social workers can defend themselves against becoming dependent on one theory for understanding organisations. As a largely humanistic, reflective and action-oriented profession, social work can distance itself from overly technical and apolitical approaches to organisational analysis. This can be achieved by staying attuned to theoretical diversity and the power of competing social explanations.

Preparation for Tutorial

Have you set your three goals for the unit?

Have your prepared your personal SWOT analysis?

INCLUDEPICTURE "https://learn.scu.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-5905561-dt-content-rid-71354521_2/xid-71354521_2" * MERGEFORMATINET Source:https://helpfulprofessor.com/personal-swot-analysis-examples-for-students/References

Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) (2020).Australias community sector and COVID-19 supporting communities through the crisis: An Australian community sector survey special report.ACOSS.https://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Australias-community-sector-and-Covid-19_FINAL.pdfChia, R. (1996).Organizational analysis and deconstructive practice.Walter de Gruyter.

Hatch, M. J. (2019). Organization theory: Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives.South Asian Journal of Management,26(4), 215-218.

Hughes, M., & Wearing, M. (2022).Organisations and management in social work: Everyday action for change(4thed.). Sage.

Jones, A., & May, J. (1992).Working in human service organisations: A critical introduction. Longman Cheshire.

Zastrow, C., & Hessenauer, S. L. (2022).Empowerment series: Introduction to social work and social welfare: Empowering people. Cengage Learning.

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