Diagnosing the Performance of Your Organization

February 7th, 2009  Tagged ,

Identifying the main issues helps to define the focus of the self-assessment process. The following sections will help you develop deeper, more detailed strategic questions. We have provided a brief section on each component of the model; these have been adapted and refined from our earlier work, Institutional Assessment. Use the following sections in any order to focus on areas you wish to explore.

A FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSING ORGANIZATIONAL

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Universalia Management Group have constructed a framework to help organizations assess themselves. Our approach can help you clarify important issues and guide the collection of data to help you make decisions to improve your ’s and capacity.

In brief, the framework encompasses four areas:

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ORGANIZATIONAL

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Your ’s is made visible through the activities it conducts to achieve its mission. Outputs and their effects are the most observable aspects of an ’s .

Ideas about the concept of vary considerably. Each interest group or stakeholder may have an entirely different idea of what counts. For instance, administrators might define your ’s in terms of the amount of money brought into the through grants, whereas a donor might define in terms of your ’s beneficial impact on a target group.

In our experience, very few organizations have data readily available. However, it is usually not difficult to generate this information from existing data or to develop mechanisms for gathering data.

Data gathering tends to be mechanical and technical. It is far more difficult to obtain consensus on the merits of particular data and indicators. It is even more difficult to arrive at value judgments regarding acceptable levels of quantity and quality for each indicator. The real questions are these: How does your define good ? Does good help your attain its mission? The second of these questions is particularly important for organizations that have very diverse stakeholders.

When you are diagnosing your and its , the number and choice of indicators are critical. “Wise” organizations try to identify 10–15 key indicators that they can regularly monitor to assess their own . It is also wise to have a set of other variables to monitor as a barometer to help understand . These other variables may include employee morale, timeliness of financial information, economic indicators, absenteeism, and number of new funders.

YOU MAY ALREADY HAVE INDICATORS

Although we have often worked with organizations that never went through the process of thinking about their indicators, we have found that every has a unique set of organizationally appropriate indicators. Your needs to create its own indicator-monitoring list. Not all the indicators you develop will have the same importance, and you may also find that the appropriate indicators change as your organizational- issues do or as the evolves.

Effectiveness

The effectiveness of your is the degree to which it moves toward the attainment of its mission and realizes its goals. Effectiveness, however, is not a simple concept. The basic difficulty in analyzing effectiveness lies in the fact that many organizations make multiple statements about their missions and goals. Sometimes these statements are in the ’s charter; other times, in their strategic documents. Regardless of where you find these statements, you need a clearly defined guide to the raison d’être of the .

A BALANCING ACT

One research institution was caught in a dilemma that many funded institutions can relate to. External donors offered to fund it to carry out environmental-impact projects. Although fascinating and lucrative, these projects would lie outside the mission of the institute, which was primarily to promote economic and social-science research. In addition, the research institute would have to hire an expert in environmental issues to carry out the projects. If the institute accepted this funding, the results of the research would not be fully used by the national government, but the institute would gain revenues from external donors.

The dilemma for this was to understand the trade-off between ensuring its own financial sustainability and working toward its mission.

EFFECTIVENESS ISSUES

How effective is your in working toward its mission?

  • The charter, mission statement, and other documents provide the raison d’être for the .
  • The mission is known and agreed to by staff.
  • The mission is operationalized through program goals, objectives, and activities.
  • Quantitative and qualitative indicators are used to capture the essence of the mission.
  • A system is in place to assess effectiveness.
  • The monitors organizational effectiveness.
  • The uses feedback to improve itself.

SOME INDICATORS OF EFFECTIVENESS

  • Number of clients served
  • Quality of services or products
  • Changes with respect to equality
  • Environmental changes
  • Quality-of-life changes
  • Service access and usage
  • Knowledge generation and use
  • Collaborative arrangements
  • Demand for policy or technical advice from stakeholders
  • Replication of the ’s programs by stakeholders
  • Growth indicators in terms of coverage of programs, services, clients, and funding

Efficiency

An must be able not only to provide exceptional services but also to provide them within an appropriate cost structure. is increasingly judged by the efficiency of the (for example, the cost per service, the number of outputs per employee, the number of outputs per person per year, the average value of grants per person). Whatever the overall size of the unit, performing organizations are viewed as those that provide good value for the money in both quantitative and qualitative terms.

EFFICIENCY ISSUES

How efficient is your in the use of its human, financial, and physical resources?

  • Staff members are used by the to the best of their abilities.
  • Maximal use is made of physical facilities (buildings, equipment, etc.).
  • Optimal use is made of financial resources.
  • The administrative system provides good value for cost.
  • High-quality administrative systems are in place (financial, human resources, program, strategy, etc.) to support the efficiency of the .
  • Benchmark comparisons are made of the progress achieved in the .

SOME INDICATORS OF EFFICIENCY

  • Cost per program
  • Cost per client served
  • Cost–benefit of programs
  • Output per staff
  • Employee absenteeism and turnover rates
  • Program-completion rates
  • Overhead – total program cost
  • Frequency of system breakdowns
  • Timeliness of service delivery

Relevance

Organizations in any society take time to evolve and develop, but they must develop in ways that consolidate their strengths. Organizations face internal and external crises, and no is protected from becoming out of date, irrelevant, or subject to closure. To survive, your must adapt to changing contexts and capacities and keep its mission, goals, programs, and activities agreeable to its key stakeholders and constituents.

RELEVANCE ISSUES

Has your remained relevant?

  • Regular program revisions reflect changing environment and capacities.
  • The mission is undergoing review.
  • Stakeholder-needs assessments are conducted regularly.
  • The regularly reviews the environment to adapt its strategy.
  • The monitors its reputation.
  • The creates or adapts to new technologies.
  • Innovation is encouraged.
  • The regularly undertakes role analyses.

SOME INDICATORS OF RELEVANCE

  • Stakeholder satisfaction (clients, donors, etc.)
  • Number of new programs and services
  • Changes in partner attitudes
  • Changes in role
  • Changes in funders (quality and quantity)
  • Changes in reputation among peer organizations
  • Changes in reputation among key stakeholders
  • Stakeholders’ acceptance of programs and services
  • Support earmarked for professional development
  • Number of old and new financial contributors (risk of discontinuance, leverage of funding)
  • Changes in organizational innovation and adaptiveness (changes appropriate to needs, methods)
  • Changes in services and programs related to changing client systems

ARE WE ADEQUATELY BALANCING STAKEHOLDERS DEMANDS?

A social-service agency had to balance its ways of being relevant to its beneficiaries and funders:

  • Beneficiaries – Because of increasing demands from the community to provide more home care for the elderly, the agency was tempted to put more of its resources into this type of service.
  • Funders – One of its funders wanted the agency to increase its promotion and advocacy for voluntary work in and beyond the immediate community.

The Board of Directors and management were thus faced with two not necessarily convergent sets of demands from two important stakeholders.

Financial viability

To survive, your ’s inflow of financial resources must be greater than the outflow. Our experience has shown that the conditions needed to make an financially viable include multiple sources of funding, positive cash flow, and financial surplus.

FINANCIAL-VIABILITY ISSUES

Is your financially sustainable?

  • Existing funding sources offer sustained support.
  • The consistently obtains new funding sources.
  • The consistently has more revenue than expenses.
  • Assets are greater than liabilities.
  • The keeps a reasonable surplus of money to use during difficult times.
  • The monitors finances on a regular basis.
  • Capital assets and depreciation are monitored.
  • The does not depend on a single source of funding.

SOME INDICATORS OF FINANCIAL VIABILITY

  • Changes to net operating capital over 3 years
  • Ratio of largest funder to overall revenues
  • Ratio of cash to deferred revenues
  • Ratio of current assets to current liabilities
  • Ratio of total assets to total liabilities
  • Growth in terms of number of funders, amount of resources mobilized, assets, capital, and revenues
  • Levels of diversification of funding sources
  • Partners hired to provide services on a regular basis
EXERCISE 9. Analyzing organizational [image]

Instructions: This is a good time to go back and review the issues you identified in Exercise 5 (Chapter 2, p. 20). Afterward, fill in the table below to show

  • The problematic aspects of your ’s (effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, financial viability);
  • Some of the signs (indicative issues) that tell you these are problems; and
  • Some questions you could ask to allow you to assess the extent of each problem.

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EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

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Your does not exist in a vacuum. It is located in a country and region to which it is inextricably linked. It operates within a legal and cultural context. These and other external-environment variables influence how your operates and what it produces. Such variables can shape the ways your defines itself and the ways it defines good . You undertake an analysis of the external environment to understand the external forces that help to shape your .

The key dimensions of the external environment that influence your are the administrative, legal, political, sociocultural, economic, technological, and stakeholder contexts. Each of these components of the external environment is discussed individually in this section.

We have not provided types of indicators for the external environment because these are specific to each and its context.

WHY BOTHER?

Some organizations’ staff members were a bit perplexed by our suggesting they assess the external environment: “There is very little we can do to change the external environment, so what is the purpose of assessing these external factors?” This statement is only partially true.

Generally, your will have a limited ability to change its environment, but the better you understand it, the better you can adapt to it and develop appropriate strategies. Most organizations are influenced by, and can influence, their environment.

Administrative and legal environment

Your initial task in mapping out the external environment will be to take a closer look at the current situation in terms of the organizations involved and their roles, influence, and effectiveness. You will need to understand the wider influences, such as laws and policies, that affect your .

ADMINISTRATIVE- AND LEGAL-ENVIRONMENT ISSUES

How is your affected by the administrative and legal environment?

Administrative

To what extent

  • Is your influenced by the rules of other organizations, institutions, and groups to which it relates or might be expected to relate?
  • Is your influenced by expectations of consumers, policymakers, suppliers, competitors, and other organizations in its external environment?
  • Are your ’s objectives and activities influenced by governments, donors, and other organizations?
  • Is your influenced by important sector rules and regulations?
  • Do administrative norms and values in your country support or hinder the work that the intends to carry out?

Legal

To what extent

  • Do the laws of the country support the role played by your ?
  • Does the legal framework support the ’s autonomy?
  • Is the legal framework clear?
  • Is the legal framework consistent with current practice?
  • Is the legal regulatory context conducive to your ’s work?
  • Does your monitor changes in the legal context which could affect the position of the ?

Political environment

The quality of government in your external environment is a key determinant of your ’s and its prospects for change. The legitimacy, accountability, and transparency of this government will be centrally important to your .

POLITICAL-ENVIRONMENT ISSUES

How is your affected by the political environment?

To what extent

  • Do the political and ideological trends of the government support the kind of work the does?
  • Does the government system facilitate collaborative arrangements?
  • Does the play a role in national or sector development?
  • Does the have access to government funding?
  • Does the have access to international funding?
  • Does the have access to the government’s knowledge and publications?
  • Do government policies and programs support the ?

Sociocultural environment

Every is to some degree affected by its sociocultural environment. It is important to develop an understanding of the wider public service and society in which your operates. This may include a better understanding of the inherent values of cultural and ethnic groups present in external communities.

SOCIOCULTURAL-ENVIRONMENT ISSUES

How is your affected by the sociocultural environment?

To what extent

  • Is equity in the workplace a social value?
  • Does the account for the effect of on program complexity?
  • Do values found in the sociocultural environment support the work of the ?
  • Does the have access to a pool of capable human resources to recruit staff?
  • Does the analyze and link demographic trends to its work?

Economic environment

The economic environment comprises the forces and trends affecting the availability and worth of an ’s resources. Is government spending more or less? If government is spending more, do its expenditures pertain to your ? Is inflation under control or is it running rampant? Inflation decreases available resources. Similarly, it is important for you to know whether donors or other foreign investors are making more or fewer resources available. Government policy will affect all these conditions in the economic environment.

ECONOMIC-ENVIRONMENT ISSUES

How is your affected by the economic environment?

To what extent

  • Does the government’s economic policy support the ’s ability to acquire technologies and financial resources?
  • Is money available to do the ’s work?
  • Is the supported by donors?

Technological environment

Understanding the types and levels of technology in a society gives insight into the nature of the organizations that operate in that society. For instance, if your generally deals with Western models and concepts, you will depend on different technologies than organizations carrying out indigenous research. It is important to understand the level of relevant technology in the ’s context and to consider the processes for introducing new technology.

TECHNOLOGICAL-ENVIRONMENT ISSUES

Do systems in the wider environment support the technology needed for your ’s work?

To what extent

  • Is adequate physical infrastructure (power, telecommunication, transport) in place to support the ’s work?
  • Is the technology needed for your ’s work supported by the overall level of national-technology development?
  • Does the government system facilitate the ’s process for acquiring needed technology?
  • Is the level of human-resource development in your adequate to support new technology?

Stakeholder environment

Stakeholders commonly include individuals, groups, or organizations with an interest or a stake in your . They typically include the Board of Directors, beneficiaries, suppliers, governments, staff members, unions, competitors, local communities, and the general public. Each of these groups can justifiably expect (or in some cases, require) your to responsibly satisfy its expectations.

Therefore, stakeholder analysis is an important source of information for a self-assessment. It is important to identify your stakeholders and understand their roles and their expectations vis-à-vis your . It is also important to assess their perceptions of the issues and challenges facing your , the resources (political, legal, human, and financial) they may contribute to help your address those challenges, their own mandates with respect to your , their possible reactions to some of your ’s strategies, and the existing or potential conflicts between stakeholders.

STAKEHOLDER-ENVIRONMENT ISSUES

Does the stakeholder environment support your ?

To what extent

[image] SEE EXERCISE 3, TOOL 2 & EXERCISE A2

See Exercise 3 (mapping the stakeholders) in Chapter 1 (p. 9), Tool 2 (stakeholder assessment) in Appendix 1 (p. 86), and Exercise A2 (our external context) in Appendix 4 (p. 124).

EXERCISE 10. Understanding the ’s external environment [image]

Instructions: This exercise can help the self-assessment team understand how the relates to its environment. One interesting way to do this exercise is to have a brainstorming session.

How would you characterize the external environment of your in relation to the issues you have identified? Is it hostile to or supportive of your ?

What specific aspects of the external environment do you think you should monitor?

Administrative and legal

Political

Sociocultural

Technological

Economic

Stakeholder

ORGANIZATIONAL MOTIVATION

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Organizations, like people, have different rhythms and personalities. Each has a different purpose, or mission. Some are highly motivated by the opportunity “to do good,” whereas others are driven to perform by other forces, including the personal ambitions of key players. Each also has a unique working ambiance, or climate – a combination of purpose, history, and personality. The organizational concepts that drive your include its history, its mission, its internal , its incentives or rewards, and the widespread values and beliefs about the role your plays in society. We consider the first four of these – history, mission, , and incentives or rewards – as being the elements of organizational motivation.

Assessing the motivation of your can be a very sensitive task, as you are in fact digging into what the is. In our experiences with different organizations, we found that strategies to address changes in this area took a long time to implement. The older the , the more past history it carried and the more carefully it needed to approach changes in this area. Often, factors related to organizational motivation cause a change to fail.

History

Your ’s history is charted in its important milestones – the story of its beginnings, rate of growth, awards of achievement, and notable changes in structure or leadership. Although the ’s evolution or history is often expressed through formal documents – such as the charter, stated goals, objectives, and plans (strategic or otherwise) – it is also told in unwritten stories that can be highly motivating.

HISTORY ISSUES

What are the memorable events in your ’s history?

  • The milestones
  • The successes
  • The crises

Mission: stated and perceived

Your ’s mission is its raison d’être. It answers certain questions: Why does this exist? Whom does it serve? By what means does it serve them? We often find, however, that these questions have two types of answer: the ’s written mission statement (stated) and the mission that we hear about from members of the (perceived).

The mission statement is the written expression of the basic goals, characteristics, values, and philosophy that shape your and give it purpose. This statement is an attempt to distinguish the from others by clearly defining its scope of activities; its products, services, and market; and the significant technologies and approaches it uses to meet its goals. The strength of your ’s mission is the degree to which the stated mission and the perceived mission are the same.

MISSION ISSUES

To what extent does the have a clear mission that drives members’ behaviour?

  • A clear mission drives the behaviour of the ’s members.
  • The ’s mission is related to its goals.
  • The ’s members have accepted its mission and feel they can ascribe to it.
  • The mission is updated and linked to a set of goals.
  • The key values and beliefs driving members’ behaviour are linked to the mission.
  • New staff embrace the mission.

The of your is the sum of the values, beliefs, customs, traditions, and meanings related to mission fulfilment. These have developed over the history of the , and they make it unique, govern its character, and drive the .

The characteristics that distinguish your are part of its . The incorporates all of your ’s symbols, myths, visions, pride, and the accomplishments of its past and present heroes. Stories about past successes and failures may illustrate values important to your (such as team work, gender equity, participation, transparency). These stories form a living history that guides the managers.

[image] SEE TOOL 4 – Audit

See Tool 4 ( audit) in Appendix 1 (p. 89).

ISSUES

What aspects of your ’s help it to fulfil its mission?

THE “REAL” ISSUE

In one , poor was attributed to the lack of training and appropriate materials and technology. Although these factors affected the ’s , the main issue turned out to be conflicting cultures inside the research centre:

  • Some of the staff members had their own incentive systems and rewards, as they were paid by the university with which the centre was associated.
  • Other staff members depended solely on the ’s ability to generate research projects, and these members were more entrepreneurial.

Incentives

Organizational incentives are the ways your ’s system of rewards and punishments either encourages or discourages certain behaviours. Incentives are important to individual careers and to the overall success of the . It is important to assess how employees at all levels of the view the effectiveness of the incentive system.

INCENTIVE ISSUES

Does the incentive system in your encourage or discourage members’ ?

  • People feel they are rewarded for their work.
  • People are adequately compensated.
  • Nonmonetary rewards support good behaviour.
  • The incentive system is adequately managed.
  • The incentive system is under ongoing review.
  • People are equitably treated in the .
  • The is consistent between what it rewards people for and what it says it will reward people for.

[image] SEE TOOL 4 & APPENDIX 3

See Tool 4 ( audit) in Appendix 1 (p. 89) and Sample 1 (staff questionnaire) in Appendix 3 (p.113).

EXERCISE 11. Determining organizational motivation [image]

Instructions: This exercise can help you identify how your ’s history and past and present affect its and are related to its environment.

To make this more specific to your context and to help your team generate more useful data, we suggest you consider Tool 4 ( audit) in Appendix 1 (p. 89) and Sample 1 (staff questionnaire) in Appendix 3 (p. 113). You could adapt and distribute these instruments and use the data to respond to the question below.

Based on your audit and staff survey, how do you think the mission, history, , and values of your affect its ?

ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY

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In our framework, the capacity of an is considered in terms of seven main, interrelated areas that we believe are the foundation of the ’s : strategic leadership, human resources, financial management, infrastructure, program management, process management, and interinstitutional linkages. Each of these areas contains various components, which range in importance among organizations.

In our experience, organizations often find capacity issues easier to identify and to address. This may be because it is easier to do something about them, whereas it may be impossible to change the external environment and difficult to change organizational motivation.

Similarly, donors may focus more on capacity-building because (1) organizations often request this type of support; (2) tangible changes can be seen in a relatively short time; and (3) an external body can make a contribution in this area (interventions to change the motivation or external environment may be unfeasible or inappropriate).

SEVEN AREAS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY AND THEIR VARIOUS COMPONENTS

AREA

COMPONENTS

Strategic leadership

Leadership, strategic planning, governance, structure, and niche management

Human resources

Planning, staffing, developing, appraising and rewarding, and maintaining effective human-resource relations

Financial management

Financial planning, financial accountability, and financial statements and systems

Infrastructure

Facilities management and technology management

Program management

Planning, implementing, and monitoring programs and projects

Process management

Problem-solving, decision-making, communications, and monitoring and evaluation

Interinstitutional linkages

Planning, implementing, and monitoring networks and partnerships

Strategic leadership

Today, organizations need to be able to change quickly. They require leadership to link their internal and external realities so as to improve their own . We have used the term strategic leadership to convey these ideas.

In today’s context, leadership is no longer seen in terms of the great-man theory; it requires many of the ’s members to take on leadership functions. Your leaders must have the ability to create and re-create long-term strategic plans and develop governance systems to support your ’s survival and development, structures to provide the balance between control and flexibility, and a niche for your to ensure it has unique or value-added roles in the economy. Our experience has shown that strategic leadership is an exceedingly complex undertaking.

To us, strategic leadership includes leadership, strategic planning, governance, organizational structure, and niche management. Each of these components is discussed individually in this section.

Leadership

Both formal and informal leadership can be found in many places inside your . Formal leadership is exercised by those appointed or elected to positions of authority. Formal leaders set the direction, ensure that tasks are done, and support resource development. Informal leadership, on the other hand, is exerted by persons who become influential because they possess special skills or resources valued or needed by others.

LEADERSHIP ISSUES

To what extent does strategic leadership affect your ’s ?

  • People have goals.
  • The responsibilities for leadership and decision-making are known and distributed appropriately.
  • The leaders in the are concerned to get significant tasks done well.
  • The leaders in the are respected.
  • Staff members are willing to take on leadership.
  • People are willing to express new ideas to those in positions of power.
  • The is appropriately linked externally, and its place is seen as important by peer organizations.
  • Leadership is effective in acquiring and protecting resources.
  • Leadership practices participatory management, and the Board of Directors and management work well together.
  • Leadership is flexible, and it welcomes change.
Strategic planning

Strategic planning comprises the ways your thinks ahead and responds to its environment to achieve its goals. Strategic planning involves the development and implementation of activities that will lead to the long-term success of the . The strategic plan is a written document that sets out the specific values, mission, goals, priorities, and tactics that your will use to ensure good . It identifies gaps in the ’s and suggests ways to close these gaps.

With good strategic planning, your can anticipate and capitalize on opportunities in the external environment that might yield needed resources. It also means being able to predict threats to your resources so that you can intervene (typically, politically) to safeguard the ’s and survival.

STRATEGIC-PLANNING ISSUES

To what extent does strategic planning affect your ’s ability to achieve its goals?

  • The has a strategic plan.
  • The strategy is known to the Board of Directors, senior managers, researchers, and other staff.
  • People in the generally accept and support the strategy.
  • The strategy has helped clarify priorities, thus giving the a way to assess its .
  • The strategy is used to help make decisions.
  • The strategy improves .
  • The strategy supports equity.
  • The strategy helps the use resources optimally.
  • The has a process for understanding its clients and users, for clarifying and revising its mission and beliefs, and for working to achieve its goals.
  • The has a process for scanning the environment to consider potential threats and opportunities.
  • The organizational strategy helps the to identify its opportunities and constraints in terms of financial resources and infrastructure.
  • A process for monitoring the application of the strategy is in place.
  • A similar process for understanding client and stakeholder requirements and changes is in place.
  • The has a process for ongoing review and updating of its strategy to reflect internal and external realities.
Governance

The Board of Directors and charter of your provide its legal and policy framework and direction. A good Board of Directors has its finger on the pulse of both the internal and the external environments. The board assesses whether your ’s initiatives are supportable and meet development goals, nationally or regionally; whether your is responding appropriately to important forces and trends in its field and within the wider environment; and whether your is meeting the needs of those it serves.

GOVERNANCE ISSUES

To what extent does your ’s governance affect its ?

  • The governing structure both clarifies and supports the ’s direction.
  • A charter provides an adequate framework for carrying out the mission of the and for dealing with external challenges to the .
  • The governing body scans the external and internal environments to understand forces affecting the .
  • The governing body responds appropriately to important environmental trends and influences, whether social, political, or economic. For instance, both quality and equality issues are reflected in the minutes and discussion. The governing body supports the principle of equity.
  • The governing body operates effectively and efficiently.
Organizational structure

The structure of your is the system of working relationships that divides and coordinates the tasks of people and groups working with a common purpose. Most people imagine an ’s structure in terms of the familiar organigram ( chart). However, structure is far more: it involves the division of labour (including roles, responsibility, and authority), as well the coordination of labour into units and inter- and intra-unit groupings. When you assess the structure of your , you will want to see if it facilitates or hinders the achievement of the mission and goals.

ORGANIZATIONAL-STRUCTURE ISSUES

Does your organizational structure facilitate or hinder your in achieving its mission or goals?

  • The ’s structures support its mission and its goals.
  • The roles within the are clearly defined but flexibly enough to adapt to changing needs.
  • Departmental lines or divisions between groups are crossed easily, particularly when collaboration means an improved product, program, or service.
  • Structural authority is used to further equity.
  • Staff members have linkages with, and access to, other units in the important to their work.
  • Coordinating mechanisms are in place to facilitate access to other units within the .
  • Staff members can easily create important coordinating units.
  • The encourages efficient ways to coordinate staff and units.
  • The offers clear lines of accountability (individual, group, and organizational accountability).
  • People have the authority to set an agenda to support accountability.
  • The has efficiently functioning work groups.
  • Decision-making is sufficiently decentralized to promote productivity and good morale.
  • The structure relating to responsibility for makes organizational sense and facilitates the work.
Niche management

Niche management forces managers to look beyond internal matters to consider the wider environment and the broader issues of the time. It means carving out a particular area in the marketplace to match your ’s particular expertise. Your ’s niche helps to clarify its relations to similar local, regional, national, and international organizations. Your ’s niche helps determine the levels of funding and types of funders that can help build its capacity.

NICHE-MANAGEMENT ISSUES

Does your undertake niche management to help it to achieve its mission and goals?

  • The ’s constituents (stakeholders) understand its role or area of specialization.
  • The role of the is clearly defined in its mission.
  • The areas of specialization are clear.
  • Stakeholders support the areas of specialization.
  • The undertakes research and development that strengthens its unique role.

Human resources

The human resources of your include all staff (professional, managerial, technical, and support) engaged in any of your ’s activities. Your ’s human resources are perhaps its most valuable asset. This is particularly true if the people required to do the core work of your are highly trained individuals.

The human-resource-management function of your is responsible for ensuring that people’s needs are met. This is not merely an altruistic function – staff members who are reasonably comfortable with working conditions and stimulated by the environment are highly likely to be productive. Human-resource management is responsible for planning; staffing; human-resource development; assessments and rewards; and maintaining effective human-resource relations. Each of these components of human-resource management will be reviewed individually in this section.

Planning

Human-resource planning is the first step in effective human-resource management. It involves forecasting the human-resource needs of your and planning the steps the must take to meet those needs. Human-resource planning should be closely linked to your ’s strategic objectives and mission. Even in regions with a plentiful, well-educated workforce, human-resource planning is a challenge because the needs of the are constantly changing and sometimes do not converge. The challenge is even greater if the recruitment pool is limited or if the people in charge of human-resource management have not been trained to forecast the ’s needs.

PLANNING ISSUES

To what extent does your ’s ability to plan for its human-resource needs affect its ?

  • The right people are in the right jobs in the .
  • The can forecast current and future demands for human resources.
  • The knows how and where to find the people with the skills needed to fill its needs.
  • The can link its mission and goals to its human-resource planning.
  • The has developed a personnel-policy manual.

CHANGING TIMES, CHANGING NEEDS

In changing times, it is not always easy to identify what kinds of people your will need. In one nonprofit , the mission and goals had been quite stable over the last decade. The paid little attention to the analysis of its human-resource demands. It continued to recruit people for the Board of Directors with the same profile as those who first made the a success: individuals with great dedication to the mission who were involved in the delivery of services and very interested in daily contact with direct beneficiaries.

Over the most recent 2 years, however, the had to privatize. It needed new staff members with a greater interest and skill in management, fundraising, and organizational issues. Although this was able to address the forecasting issue, it recognized that the search for a new staff profile was a challenge.

Staffing

Staffing for your means searching for, selecting, and orienting individuals with the appropriate range of knowledge, skills, behaviour, and values to meet your ’s needs.

STAFFING ISSUES

To what extent does your have adequate staffing procedures to ensure its ?

  • The has a staffing system.
  • The has appropriate job descriptions or equivalents to determine the positions it is staffing for.
  • The has an appropriate system for selecting candidates (for example, reviewing CVs, conducting interviews, checking references).
  • Individuals in charge of selection are appropriately trained to carry out this function (interviewing and listening skills, politeness, good judgment).
  • Recruitment and selection materials (advertisements, postings, interview questions) are neutral, free of discriminating elements (gender, religious, etc.).
  • Someone who is familiar with the day-to-day functioning of the is available to orient new staff members.
Development

Developing human resources in your means improving employees’ by increasing or improving their skills, knowledge, and attitudes. This allows your to remove or prevent deficiencies, makes your employees more flexible and adaptable, and can also increase their commitment to your . The development of human resources can take several forms, such as training for a job, training for a role inside the , and training for a career.

DEVELOPMENT ISSUES

To what extent does your have appropriate human-resource development systems and approaches to ensure its ?

  • The has a policy for training and development, as well as a budget for training.
  • The encourages staff members to continue to learn and develop (by providing incentives for learning, by paying training costs, etc.).
  • Someone in the can identify training needs.
  • The supports application and transfer of new learning on the job.
  • Training is demand driven (responds to needs in the ), as opposed to supply driven (responding to whatever is being offered – on the market or by a donor).
  • The can and does assess training and its effects on the ’s .
  • The has plans for mentoring younger staff members to help them advance in their careers.
  • The has a way of dealing with succession.
  • People see career opportunities in the .
Assessments and rewards

The systems and approaches your uses to collect information and provide feedback on individuals or teams is an important aspect of your ’s human-resource management. This means assessing the contributions of each staff member and then distributing rewards (direct, indirect, monetary, and nonmonetary) according to the regulations of your region and to your ’s ability to pay. The assessment and reward system should aim at allowing your to retain good employees, motivate staff, administer pay, facilitate the ’s strategic objectives, and control labour costs.

ASSESSMENT AND REWARD ISSUES

To what extent does your have an appropriate system for assessment and reward that is fair and motivating?

  • The has a compensation policy that complies with the rules and regulations of the country.
  • Staff members see an adequate correlation between compensation and .
  • Staff members are generally satisfied with their compensation.
  • Compensation packages are externally competitive for the sector.
  • The maintains internal equity of salaries and benefits (that is, equal compensation for work of equal value).
  • Compensation differentials are appropriate to motivate staff.
  • The motivates staff with both monetary and nonmonetary rewards.
Maintaining effective human-resource relations

The maintenance of effective human-resource relations applies to all the programs and systems your has put in place to ensure that employees are protected and dealt with in accordance with the appropriate legislation. It involves all the activities your has implemented to address health and safety issues, human-rights issues, and the quality of working life. In unionized settings, it involves collective bargaining. In essence, it represents the ’s , management style, and concrete measures taken to ensure that employees experience feelings of ownership, self-control, responsibility, and self-respect. Exactly what your does to produce these outcomes will vary according to the nature of the , its leadership style, and its cultural setting.

HUMAN-RESOURCE RELATIONS ISSUES

To what extent does your have effective human-resource relations?

  • People in the feel protected from exploitation (through a collective agreement or through an appropriate set of personnel policies).
  • Measures and procedures are established in the for dealing with people in emotional or physical distress.
  • The seeks ways to increase the loyalty and the commitment of the staff. Morale in the is generally good.
  • The has measures in place for dealing with harassment in the workplace.
  • The has, if appropriate, a health and safety policy.
  • Work-related accidents are rare.

Financial management

Your ’s ability to manage its financial resources is critical. Good management of budgeting, financial record-keeping, and financial reporting is essential to the overall functioning of your . Good financial management ensures that your Board of Directors and managers have the information they need to make decisions and allocate the ’s resources. It also inspires confidence in your funders.

The people responsible for your ’s financial management need to be able to plan and budget resources (operating and capital budgets), manage cash, do accounting, and provide financial reporting. The Board of Directors and senior managers should be involved in financial management and be clear about accountability. Your also requires skilled people, at both the Board and the staff levels, to carry out the financial analysis and work.

Financial statements are a barometer of an ’s health. Sound internal financial procedures for administering your ’s operating funds and program grants offer assurance that monies are being directed properly.

Overall, your budget should support the important goals of your . For example, if international exchange of information is one of your ’s priorities, your budget should allocate the funds needed to obtain electronic-data systems, to host international visitors, and to conduct other related activities in support of this goal.

Financial management includes financial planning, financial accountability, and financial statements and systems, which will be discussed individually in this section.

Financial planning

Financial planning enables your to forecast its future operating revenues and expenses and its capital and equipment requirements. The ability to plan revenues provides a framework within which your can make decisions about programs and other expenses. This financial planning should take account of your ’s short- and long-term financial requirements.

FINANCIAL-PLANNING ISSUES

Does your undertake adequate financial planning to support the ’s ?

  • The undertakes adequate budgetary planning.
  • Budget plans are timely.
  • Budget plans are updated as financial information comes in.
  • Members of the governing body are involved in financial planning and monitoring.
  • Human resources are adequate to ensure good financial planning.
  • Grants or loans are properly managed.
  • Decision-making relies on monitoring and analysis of the ratio of actual to planned budgets.
  • Capital and equipment forecasts are made appropriately.
  • Reports are provided to senior managers, the Board of Directors, and funders on a regular basis, at least every quarter.
  • Timely financial information is given to those who need it.
Financial accountability

Proper care of your ’s finances is a prerequisite for external trust. This means that your has appropriate checks and balances and that both internal and external professionals oversee the care of your ’s assets.

FINANCIAL-ACCOUNTABILITY ISSUES

  • The auditors of the are satisfied with the financial managers’ controls of cash and assets.
  • The year-end date is clearly stated.
  • The Board of Directors reviews financial statements on a regular basis.
  • People on staff and the Board of Directors are competent to interpret financial information.
  • Financial information is contextualized in a strategic or business plan.
  • The Board of Directors establishes a committee to oversee financial issues.
Financial statements and systems

The financial managers of your are responsible for preparing financial statements and ensuring their integrity and objectivity. At a minimum, this means having a bookkeeping system that creates a balance sheet and an income statement. Your financial system must be able to track income, assets, and liabilities and explain expenditures. This implies the ability to control assets and liabilities and manage the cash of the .

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SYSTEMS ISSUES

Are financial statements and systems in your appropriate to support its ?

  • The has an adequate bookkeeping system.
  • The has adequate staff to record financial information.
  • Balance sheets and income and expense statements are prepared at least quarterly.
  • A procedure is in place to control and record the assets of the .
  • Cash-flow statements are prepared.
  • Cash is managed to allow the to benefit from a surplus and minimize the costs of cash shortages.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure comprises the basic conditions (facilities and technology) for work to go on in your , such as reasonable space in a building equipped with adequate lighting, clean water, and a dependable supply of electricity. Transportation to and from work is also part of this infrastructure. In developed countries with the wealth and the government structure to support adequate infrastructure, these conditions are often taken for granted. In some developing countries, ensuring adequate infrastructure is a problem organizations need to assess.

Each has its own infrastructural assets and liabilities. If your has its basic infrastructure in place, this topic will represent a small component of your assessment. If your infrastructure is debilitated, however, with water and electricity problems, then infrastructure will become a major concern.

Facilities

To understand your ’s capacity, you will need to consider the extent to which inadequate facilities interfere with the functions or potential functions of your . Although single deficiencies in one or more elements of infrastructure may not interfere with day-to-day work, at some point the work will be affected. Typically, the basis of many infrastructural problems is maintenance, which often suffers because of the lack of a recurrent budget for upkeep.

FACILITIES-INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUES

Is your ’s facilities infrastructure adequate to support the ’s ?

  • The organizational strategy identifies opportunities and constraints stemming from the facilities infrastructure.
  • The buildings and internal services (for example, water, electricity) are adequate to support and facilitate daily work.
  • Employees have an adequate transportation system to and from work.
  • Communications systems (hardware) function at the levels required.
  • An ongoing maintenance budget supports adequate maintenance systems and procedures.
  • The effectively and efficiently manages the infrastructure, including building and equipment maintenance.
  • An individual or a group within the is responsible for adequate planning to address ongoing infrastructure concerns.

INFRASTRUCTURE: THE SYMBOL OF AN

In one , whose mandate was to serve the needs of rural aboriginal communities internationally, the major strategic question was the ’s identity. As an concerned with aboriginal issues, should the majority of its Board of Directors be aboriginal? Should it seek sources of funding specifically for aboriginal projects? These questions were eventually transformed into strategies.

The most significant strategy was the Board of Directors’ decision to relocate the headquarters of the to an aboriginal reservation, despite the fact that the already had an adequate location (moderate cost, adequate rooms, etc.). For symbolic reasons and to reinforce its mission statement, it moved. So, although infrastructure was not in itself an issue, a gap existed between the infrastructure and the image that the wanted to project.

Technology

The technological resources of your comprise the equipment, machinery, and systems (including library systems, information systems, hardware, and software) that enable it to function. It is important to keep in mind that the instruments of technology are merely tools for enhancing services and products: ideas must inspire the technology.

TECHNOLOGY ISSUES

To what extent do technological resources affect your ’s ?

  • Technological planning in the is adequate.
  • Overall, the ’s level of technology is appropriate to carry out the ’s functions.
  • No one unit is seriously lagging behind the others in the level of technology needed to carry out its work.
  • Access to international information is provided to all units through library and infor-mation-management systems.
  • Adequate systems and training are in place to manage the ’s technology.
  • Adequate information technologies are in place to manage the .

LINKING FACILITIES AND TECHNOLOGY

In one educational , one of the strategic questions concerned the ’s inadequate space. Students were dissatisfied with the size of classrooms or facilities, and the management group responsible for the 5-year plan identified the need for additional space and new classrooms.

However, after consulting a technology specialist, the modified its approach. The specialist advised that 5–10 years down the road, approaches to learning could be quite different. With the rise of multimedia, the classroom might not be the primary location for learning in 5 year’s time. Therefore, their strategies had to be creative to ensure adequate space in the short term but without putting substantial funds into building classrooms that might not be required in 5 years.

In this case, to develop a good strategy, the had to analyze both the external environment (how learning technology was evolving) and the ’s capacity.

Program management

Your ’s ongoing programs, services, and products constitute its central endeavour. Indeed, they are the ’s main attempts to operationalize its mission. The function of program management is to develop and administer these programs in ways that support this mission.

Program management is vital to all other areas of organizational capacity. Ultimately, the strength of your ’s strategic leadership, human resources, financial resources, infrastructure, process management, and intra-institutional linkages affects the quality of your programs. Program is highly visible outside the and is often the major focus of organizational assessments.

Good program management requires a cycle of careful planning, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. All programs go through this cycle, either formally or informally. Each of these aspects of good program management is discussed in this section.

Program planning

Program planning requires thinking ahead. It involves the following questions: What are our objectives? What must be done to meet these objectives? Who will do this? How will they do it? How long will it take? How much will it cost? How will we know whether we have met our objectives? And so forth.

Program planning has many levels. However, when conducting a self-assessment, you will need to determine the extent to which your ’s plans are well communicated and used as management tools. This will require written plans.

PLANNING ISSUES

To what extent does your appropriately plan its programs?

  • Each program area and each major project has a written plan.
  • Program and project plans are linked to the ’s mission.
  • The undertakes adequate program-planning and budget-programing activities to ensure that its programs support its mission.
  • The ’s programs and projects are consistent with its mission, needs, strategies, and priorities.
  • Program planning takes into account technological, economic, gender, social, and environmental aspects to ensure the applicability of programs.
  • Programs are given adequate timelines.
  • Programs have adequate budgets.
  • Program planning includes an adequate analysis of roles and responsibilities.
  • A procedure is outlined to monitor results.
Implementation

The real work of managers is in making the ’s program plans work. It is all well and good to have a great plan — making it work is the hard part. Program implementation requires the to have people on staff who can put their skills to work. It requires integration of the management skills needed to allocate resources and the technical skills needed to do what needs to be done (for example, to provide health services and do research). Program implementation is the stage at which your integrates all its resources to concretely achieve its goals.

IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES

To what extent does your appropriately implement its programs?

  • Staff support the ’s efforts to get programs accomplished and to get products and services to clients and beneficiaries.
  • The staff members providing products and services have good relations with each other.
  • Staff members work together to provide good products and services.
  • The program team has good problem-solving skills.
  • Health and safety for staff and clients are always a priority in implementation.
  • Resources are efficiently used to provide the product or service.
  • Schedules are adhered to in a reasonable fashion.
  • Staff members are motivated to work together to get things done.
  • Program meetings are productive.
Monitoring and evaluation

Programs or projects are central to the life of your . Management needs to keep track of programs to ensure that they are meeting their objectives and achieving their intended results. Monitoring and evaluation systems need to be built into programs and projects during their planning stage (see also “Program planning,” p. 75).

MONITORING AND EVALUATION ISSUES

To what extent does your appropriately monitor and evaluate its programs?

  • Monitoring and evaluation systems are in place.
  • Program staff receive feedback on program .
  • The monitoring and evaluation process includes adequate opportunities to clarify roles and responsibilities.
  • The process includes adequate opportunities to review program indicators to measure progress against plans.
  • Timelines are monitored to reduce overruns.
  • Budgets are reviewed in a timely fashion.
  • Programs are reviewed on a regular basis to determine how well they contribute to the ’s overall strategy.
  • Drawing lessons is encouraged.
  • Corrective actions are taken when difficulties arise.
  • Staff members see monitoring and evaluation as ongoing and normal processes.

Organizational processes

Organizational processes are part of your ’s dynamic. These processes are major components of both stability and change. In the context of a self-assessment, it is important to examine four processes: planning; problem-solving and decision-making; communications; and monitoring and evaluation. Each of these processes is discussed in this section. It is important to consider the nature of these processes and their impacts on your ’s .

Planning

Planning helps your predict how its members will behave. Your strategic plan sets the overall direction; operational planning is the process by which that strategy is translated into specific objectives and methodologies to accomplish your goals. This involves making the best use of resources of time and people (for example, developing timelines and schedules).

PLANNING ISSUES

To what extent does the your ’s planning process contribute to its ?

  • Planning, policy, and procedure development occur in the at all levels, from the governing board to departments and individual projects.
  • The process of planning contributes to the strategic direction of the .
  • Plans are clear, and they provide adequate direction for the ’s members.
  • Plans, policies, and procedures are generally followed.
  • Planning is part of the ’s .
  • Staff members feel that they are involved in planning.
  • Planning is linked to monitoring and evaluation.
Problem-solving and decision-making

Problem-solving and decision-making interact and reinforce each other. Both processes must function well at every level of your . These processes include the ability to define important problems, gather the data to understand the issue, create a set of alternatives for dealing with a problem, decide on solutions, create the conditions to carry out decisions, and monitor these decisions and the problem’s resolution. Timeliness is a key element in these processes.

PROBLEM-SOLVING AND DECISION-MAKING ISSUES

Do the problem-solving and decision-making processes support your in carrying out its functions?

  • The implementation of work flows smoothly at every level of the .
  • Decisions are timely.
  • gaps and opportunities are identified quickly enough to resolve them to the benefit of the individuals involved and the productivity of the .
  • Problem-solving and decision-making mechanisms are in place.
  • People on the governing board and within the ranks of senior managers have adequate organizational problem-solving and decision-making skills.
  • Problem-solving and decision-making are adequate in departments and for important projects.
  • The staff members feel empowered by the problem-solving and decision-making processes.
  • The staff members try to solve problems before they become big concerns.
Communication

The function of internal communications in your is to exchange information and achieve a shared understanding among staff members. Internal communications can serve as the glue holding an together or it can break it apart, because both information and misinformation flow constantly in organizations.

Accurate information helps keep your ’s employees informed and motivated: aside from the specific information they need to carry out their work, the ’s members also need information to make them feel that they are part of an important effort and work for a wider purpose. Your needs mechanisms to help staff members obtain both types of information. Coordinating committees, newsletters, and meetings of various sorts all provide vehicles for transmitting correct messages.

Monitoring and evaluation

Organizational monitoring and evaluation complement program evaluation and monitoring. Organizational monitoring can help clarify your program objectives, link activities and inputs to those objectives, set targets, collect routine data, and feed results directly to those responsible. Organizational monitoring is an ongoing, systematic process of self-assessment.

COMMUNICATION ISSUES

Is your ’s effectively supported by its communication system?

  • People in the feel there is adequate, ongoing communication about the ’s activities.
  • Staff members receive information about the ’s mission and its progress in fulfilling the mission.
  • Information circulated in the about activities is rarely distorted.
  • Mechanisms are in place to correct rumours.
  • People have easy access to others they must deal with in the and can easily communicate with them.
  • Written communication is adequate.
  • Meetings are viewed as productive ways of communicating.
  • Adequate use is made of communication technology.
  • Two-way communication is encouraged.
  • Multichannel communication is often used.
  • Listening is valued.
  • Cultural diversity is a consideration in communicating with others.

Organizational evaluation looks at why and how overall results were or were not achieved. It links specific activities to overall results, includes broader outcomes that are not readily quantifiable, explores unintended results, and provides overall lessons that can help your to adjust programs and policies to improve results.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION ISSUES

Is your ’s monitoring and evaluation adequate to improve ?

  • Policies and procedures are in place to guide evaluation and monitoring.
  • Resources are assigned to monitoring and evaluation.
  • Monitoring and evaluation are valued at all levels in the , as ways to improve .
  • The obtains and uses data to monitor and evaluate its units and activities.
  • Use is made of data gathered through the ’s overall monitoring and evaluation activities.
  • The has an evaluation plan or -monitoring framework.
  • Strategy, program, policy, and budgetary documents mention evaluation results.
  • People have the skills to perform monitoring and evaluation.
  • Monitoring and evaluation processes are valued.
  • The learns lessons from monitoring and evaluation and makes changes as a result.

Interinstitutional linkages

Having regular contact with other institutions, organizations, and groups with strategic importance to your can result in a healthy exchange of approaches and resources (including knowledge and expertise). Your may be forming linkages or may already have linkages with potential collaborators and collegial bodies, potential funders, or key constituents.

Linkages help your keep up with advances in pertinent fields and give your access to wide-ranging sources of up-to-date information within each area of your ’s work.

Today, many types of linkages can and need to be made to support your ’s . For example, new information technologies can help your to learn about the most recent approaches to programing and managerial issues. They also bring new ways to communicate with potential allies and collaborators in key program and funding areas. Two aspects of interinstitutional linkages are discussed in this section: relationships such as networks, joint ventures, partnerships, and coalitions and electronic linkages.

Networks, joint ventures, partnerships, and coalitions

At the same time as electronic linkages are opening organizations to new ideas and ways of communicating, a similar revolution is occurring with respect to new organizational patterns that support joint work and collaboration.

Many organizations are finding that they are unable to make progress in achieving their missions without the support of similar organizations. Many are forming new types of relationship (either formal or informal) with other organizations to support their objectives.

Networks are informal linkages, groups loosely coupled to serve common interests. The new and joint ventures, partnerships, and coalitions are more formal. The most formal of these relationships are based on contractual agreements. All of these new linkages are breaking down the boundaries of organizations and are changing the way they operate.

NETWORK, JOINT-VENTURE, PARTNERSHIP, AND COALITION ISSUES

Has your established or pursued external linkages adequate to support the ’s ?

  • The has adequate formal and informal linkages with like-minded organizations.
  • Institutional linkages are adequately supported.
  • Institutional linkages contribute efficiently to the ’s goals and mission.
  • Fruitful, ongoing partnerships with external organizations through these linkages bring new ideas or resources, or both, to the .
  • The is using these linkages to communicate information about its work to external stakeholders, including the general public.
Electronic linkages

Organizational capacity and can be increased if an makes appropriate use of new electronic technologies. These new technologies can improve your ’s communications and keep people informed about the latest ideas. The ’s members can join Internet discussion groups, listservs, and other electronic mechanisms that link people with like minds and ideas. Electronic systems give your an opportunity to search the entire globe for new ideas and information.

ELECTRONIC-LINKAGE ISSUES

Has your established or pursued electronic linkages adequate to support its ?

  • The is electronically linked to the outside world of colleagues, clients, and markets (users) to make these relationships active and beneficial.
  • Electronic networks are financially and technically supported.
  • Electronic networks effectively respond to the needs, shared interests, and capabilities of the .
  • Electronic networks support new efficient practices.
  • Fruitful, ongoing partnerships with external organizations through electronic linkages bring new ideas or resources, or both, to the .
  • The is using electronic linkages to communicate information about its work to external stakeholders, including the general public.
EXERCISE 12. Examining organizational capacity [image]

Instructions: This exercise can help you begin identifying capacity gaps affecting overall in the . You might want to conduct this exercise with a group of senior managers, members, and the self-assessment team.

Using the chart below as a guide, reflect on the capacities of your . Identify capacity gaps and how they affect your ’s . Discuss the seriousness of these issues with the self-assessment team and see if there is some consensus on the priority issues.

[image]

EXERCISE 13. Summarizing the issues [image]

Instructions: Before you collect and analyze your data, you might find it useful to summarize your issues. Using the matrix below as a guide, summarize the major issues you have already identified and then develop the key questions and subquestions for each issue.

Original Source : For further information please visit idrc

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What is this thing called organisational culture?

March 18th, 2008  Tagged ,

Conversations often refer to different organisations having different cultures. For the average person – “” may mean that they perceive the organisation they are involved with to be
pushy, harsh and authoritarian
very political with traps and pitfalls for people to fall into if they are not nimble and able to wheeler-deal and hold their own in a brawl
rule and ritual bound
cold and separated
brisk, dynamic, opportunitic
exploitative, all take and no give
caring and genuinely interested in people as people
People classify what they see as the characteristics of organisations. We construe and organisation . It is socially defined and experienced. The experience of the things we feel are displayed by the “ and its practices” affect how we behave and respond to the organisations we work in.
Control and EngineeringManagers seek to “change” the of the organisation. What they therefore try to do is shape the way that people behave, feel, contribute, interact, perform as employees of the organisation. This is usually called leadership! They initiate the debates, set the imperatives and priorities. If the managers want to pursue quality improvement then meetings will be held, training will be done, banners will be waved – new imperatives are brought in to the business to be integrated by way of activities, expectations, values and sanctions into the of the business. This is business – the business must succeed in co-ordinated, highly charged ways.
New policies, methods and roles are introduced to shape behaviours, encourage, promote and require – to push certain expectations of in the business and thus to control.
Spoken of in other ways, in organisational terms is broadly the social/behavioural manifestation and experiencing of a whole range of issues such as :
the way work is organised and experienced
how authority exercised and distributed
how people are and feel rewarded, organised and controlled
the values and work orientation of staff
the degree of formalisation, standardisation and control through systems there is/should be
the value placed on planning, analysis, logic, fairness etc
how much initiative, risk-taking, scope for individuality and expression is given
rules and expectations about such things as informality in interpersonal relations, dress, personal eccentricity etc
differential status
emphasiss given to rules, procedures, specifications of and results, team or individual working
Organisational and Working LifeWe are born into a , we take up employment in a . We might therefore argue that the of an organisation affects the type of people employed, their career aspirations, their educational backgrounds, their status in society. The of the organisation may embrace them. It may reject them.
VisibilityOrganisational may be visible
in the type of buildings, offices, shops of the organisation.
in the image projected in publicity and public relations in general. Think for example of the differences between a local authority, a computer manufacturer, and a merchant bank.
An organisation’s may be imperceptable, taken for granted, assumed, a status quo that we live and participate in but do not question. Elements of the may be questioned where individual or group expectations do not correspond to the behaviours associated with the prevailing values of those who uphold “the ”.
An organisation may display elements of several “cultures” which may contradict each other, which may compete. We can even consider the characteristics of an anti-organisational or countervailing .
Classifying/Modelling Organisation CultureTo understand organisation cultures we can begin by describing types of organisation such as democractic, laissez-faire, participative etc. Such descriptions in a sense become representative “models” of organisations (abstrations). The model defines our assessment of elements, relationships, determinants and likely effects. Our model may enable us to predict events so that we act to steer our own behaviour and the behvaiour of others.
Defining “models or frameworks” helps us to understand what the phenomena is, discuss it with others and identify what we might do to translate the model or parts of it into reality.
Various models indicative of organisation have been suggested. Important ones include
Rensis Likert
autocratic, benevolent autocractic, consusltative and participative systems of organsiation
Burns and Stalker
mechanistic and organismic organisations
Henry Mintzberg
Simple Structure, Machine Bureaucracy, Divisionalized, Professional Bureaucracy, the Adhocracy
Roger Harrison
power, role, task and personal cultures of organisations
Pedler et al
the Learning Organisation
A Few References
Handy C, Understanding Organisations, Penguin
Mintzberg H, The Structuring of Organisations, Addision Wesley
Reddin W, Managerial Effectiveness, McGraw Hill
Likert R, The Professional Manager, Wiley
Mintzberg H, Lampel J, Quinn J, Ghoshal S, 2003, The Strategy Process Concepts, Contexts and Cases, Prentice Hall, I988.
Buchanan D and Huczynski A, Organisational Behaviour, Prentice Hall

© 2003 Developed and maintained by Chris Jarvis(© Chris Jarvis) Last updated on: 09/06/2005 18:05:35
This article online at http://www.bola.biz//.html

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