Organizational Innovation: Studies of Program Change in Community Agencies

241 Pages·2003·7.99 MB·English

by  Howard B. Kaplan (auth.)

Organizational Innovation
Organizational Innovation
Studies of Program Change
in Community Agencies
Howard B. Kaplan
Texas A&M University
College Station, Texas
with an introduction by
Marshall Scott Poole
Springer-Science+Business Media, LLC
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Pubtication Data
Kaplan, Howard B.
Organizational innovation: studies of program ehange in community agencieslby
Howard B. Kaplan; with an introduetion by Marshall Seott Poole.
p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-306-47852-9 ISBN 978-1-4615-0151-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4615-0151-0
1. Aged-Services for-Houston-Case studies. 2. Aged-Services
for-Texas-Harris County-Case studies. 3. Organizational ehange-Evaluation. 4.
Organizational behavior-Evaluation. 5. Social service-United States. 6. Human
services-United States. 1. Title: Program ehange in community agencies. II. Title.
HV1471.H8 K37 2003
361.7'068'4-de21
2003051315
ISBN 978-0-306-47852-9
©2oo3 Springer Science+Business Media New York
Originally published by Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York in 2003
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 2003
http://www.wkap.nll
ro 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Preface
In the mid sixties I directed an ambitious research project dedicated to the
understanding of variation in program innovation in voluntary agencies. The
results were reported in a duplicated report that had limited distribution.
Certain of the findings were summarized in a pamphlet published by the Hogg
Foundation for Mental Health and in an article in the Milbank Memorial Fund
Quarterly. However, the full report was never published. Recently a number of
my colleagues had occasion to revisit the report and argued that it should be
published since the findings represented a true contribution to the field and the
issues with which the study dealt remain important unresolved concerns for
both social scientists and practitioners. After satisfying myself that this was
indeed the case, I agreed to publish the original report with a new introduction
by Marshall Scott Poole that placed the study in the context of the
contemporary literature.
This volume, then, reports the results of a three-year research project which
investigates the factors associated with the implementation of program change
in community welfare organizations. The financial support for this project was
provided by a grant from the Ford Foundation. The basic aim of the research
the identification of factors associated with the implementation of program
change--evolved in part from the experiences of the Community Council of
Houston and Harris County with regard to the interest of that body in the needs
of the aged population.
The Community Council had been actively concerned with the problems of the
aged population for many years, and conducted it first community-wide study
on the needs of the aging more than ten years prior to the study reported
herein. An appreciation of the need to consider the total needs of the aging
population resulted, during 1956, in the establishment of a Committee on
Aging directly responsible to the Board of Directors. This committee was
provided with the services of one of the professional Council staff as a
consultant. In January, 1961, the Council Board of Directors received a report
from a special Study Committee on Problems of the Aging and Aged. The
study resulted in 67 specific recommendations concerning the welfare needs of
the aged popUlation in Houston and Harris County. The Board accepted the
report and, in turn, referred it to the Council's Committee on Aging with a
request that the Committee determine the priority of Commcnity Council
action for the many recommendations. The Committee on Aging held several
meetings between March and June, 1961. They submitted a report to the Board
v
vi Preface
in which it listed 52 recommendations by various categories: those calling for
expansion and improvement of current programs; those calling for creation of
new programs, services, and facilities; solutions requiring legislative action;
etc. Within each category, the Committee also: established an order of priority
for Council action; indicated the community action called for; and, suggested
an appropriate role for the Council in facilitating the implementation of the
recommendation.
The Community Council was successful in the implementation of certain of
these suggestions and somewhat less successful in the initiation of other
programs. In general, this experience reinforced the belief of Council
personnel, and those of other community planning bodies, that a greater
understanding of the implementation process must be achieved if the needs of
the aged population were to be adequately met. Apparently, factors other than
the existence of a "need" frequently determine what action is taken to
implement recommendations once they have been formulated. Since the basic
objective of all "priority" statements is to blueprint needed programs, the
effects of these "other factors" upon the variable implementation of these
changes must be understood and the knowledge of these effects utilized, if
planning organizations are to fulfill effectively their responsibilities to the
community. The opportunity to study the implementation process was
provided by a grant from the Ford Foundation to investigate factors associated
with the formulation and implementation of priority recommendations for the
aged.
In this community, as in others, community welfare agencies represent
significant forces for the activation of welfare programs for the aged
population. Of the organizations holding membership in the United Fund of
Houston and Harris County, three welfare agencies are organized to directly
meet the needs of the aged. Several other agencies could also conceivably be
involved in implementing recommendations for the aged. For this reason, we
decided to focus upon community welfare agencies in our investigation of the
processes by which priority recommendations for the aged are implemented.
The final stage in the evolution of our research problem followed from the
explicit recognition that those agencies which serve the aged are very like
those agencies which serve other client populations in many aspects of their
structure and functioning. Furthermore, these agencies all share a common
environment and are subject to similar influences. We assumed, therefore, that
the identification of factors which would affect the implementation of program
change in community agencies, regardless of the target popUlation, would at
the same time serve to increase our understanding of the factors which affect
the implementation of priority recommendations for the aged in particular. To
Preface vii
this end the major goal of the project was formulated as: the identification and
description of the factors associated with the variable implementation of the
program changes a group off orty-two United Fund Agencies in Houston and
Harris County.
The study did not attempt to derive standards for the formulation of priority
recommendations; nor did it attempt to evaluate the quality of program
changes. Rather, the purpose of the study was to delineate the variables that
are associated with the ultimate implementation of program changes
regardless of the nature and quality of the program changes. The criteria for
priority determination are interpreted as but one set of variables which affect
the formulation and implementation of suggestions for program change.
By a statistical criterion, we achieved a good deal of success in fulfilling our
basic aim. The chapters that follow will report the delineation of several
factors which are highly correlated with the variable implementation of
program change in community agencies. The pragmatic value of these findings
can only be judged in the light of any future attempts to implement
suggestions for program changes which take these factors into account.
This undertaking would not have been possible without the support and
cooperation of a great many groups and individuals. The Ford Foundation
provided both moral and financial support without which the Community
Council would not have been able to undertake this special research project.
The School of Applied Social Sciences of Western Reserve University
provided continuing guidance and interest especially during the developmental
period of the research design, and facilitated inter-community exchanges of
ideas regarding priorities-implementation research.
Within our own community I wish to express my gratitude to the staff and
volunteer leaders of the individual United Fund agencies for their participation
in the interviewing process which provided the major portion of the research
data. The staff of the Community Council of the Houston and Harris County at
that time provided basic data as well as constant advice and encouragement
during the course of this undertaking. I especially acknowledge the efforts of:
Joseph L. Zarefsky, Executive Secretary; Myles MacDonald, then Director of
Planning Activities; Miss Helen M. Mason, Miss Alice K. Laine, Raymond A.
Thomson, and David H. Friesen, all dedicated Community Planning
Associates.
I also acknowledge the efforts of A. Russell Lokkeberg, then Director of the
Research Bureau of the Community Council of Houston and Harris County,
viii Preface
and to his very able staff for their untiring efforts in the collection, collation,
and analysis of the research data, and in the preparation of this final report.
I have reserved until last the following acknowledgement for the purpose of
emphasis. I am greatly in debt to Holly Groves and Sandra McLean for their
untiring efforts and unwavering dedication in readying this manuscript for
publication
H.B.K.
College Station, Texas
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Statement of the Problem 13
3. Methodology 23
4. Executive Director Role Behavior and the 35
Implementation of Program Change
5. Executive Director Perceptions of the Board 91
and Implementation of Program Change
6. Board Member Perceptions of Executive Director Role 101
Behavior and the Implementation of Program
Change
7. Role Behavior of the Board of Directors 113
and the Implementation of Program Change
8. Mobility Orientation and the Implementation 119
of Program Change
9. Job Satisfaction and the Implementation of 125
Program Change in Community Agencies
10. The Prediction of Program Change in Community 131
Welfare Agencies
Appendices 195
References 227
Index 235
ix
1
Innovation in Nonprofit Organizations:
A Selective Review and Introduction
Marshall Scott Poole
Innovation in the private and public sectors has been the subject of a great deal
of study because it is generally acknowledged to be central to economic
growth and effective governance. However, while innovation in the nonprofit
sector has received less attention, there is reason to think that it may be just as
important. Nonprofit organizations, which include community agencies,
charities, colleges and nonprofit hospitals, constitute a major part of our
economy and help to maintain a vibrant society. As Berger and Neuhaus
(1977) argue in their classic monograph, nonprofit associations mediate
individuals and "mega-organizations," government bureaucracies and large
corporations. They empower us all, especially the poor and disenfranchised.
Despite their importance, nonprofit organizations are perpetually near crisis.
They must stretch thin resources to grapple with some of the most difficult
problems imaginable, and they are often most needed when the resources of
society are at an ebb. Through innovation nonprofit organizations find ways to
use scarce resources more wisely, capture new resources, and enhance the
quality of their services. Effective innovation is one key to the nonprofit
sector's ability to improve our quality of life and the health of the polity.
There is another reason that innovation in nonprofit organizations is important.
If innovation is left to the profit-making sector, new ideas that have
commercial value will be favored. In the public sector those innovations
valued by the bureaucracy and by vested interests are most likely to emerge. If
innovation occurred only in these two sectors, many important and useful
ideas would never see the light of day. In the nonprofit sector innovation is
more likely to be motivated by altruism and a concern with the good of the
community served. Innovation in nonprofit organizations offers an opportunity
for ideas to emerge that serve the good of humanity, not just profit or political
interests.
This introduction will discuss factors that contribute to innovation in
organizations, with particular attention to nonprofit organizations. It begins
1
2 Chapter 1
with a selective summary of findings of organizational innovation research.
Since most studies of organizational innovation have focused on profit and
public sector organizations, it is important to consider the extent to which
previous research applies to nonprofits. We outline several differences
between nonprofit, private, and public sector organizations that might affect
the applicability of findings from general research on innovation, and draw out
specific findings on innovation in nonprofits. Finally, we briefly discuss the
contribution of this volume to our understanding of innovation in nonprofit
organizations.
Organizational Innovation: General Findings
Several broad reviews of organizational innovation research have appeared
over the past several years. They suggest several areas of general agreement
on factors that affect innovation.
There is general consensus on several characteristics of organizations that
stimulate innovation. Organic organizational structures have been shown to
promote innovation in a broad range of studies that include organizations from
all three sectors (Hage, 1999; Kanter, 1983; Rogers, 1995). Organic structures,
first defined by Burns and Stalker (1961), have relatively flat hierarchies,
decentralized control and authority, participative leadership, extensive lateral
communication, empowerment of employees, and use of teams to coordinate
work and other functions. These structures are thought to promote innovation
in part because they are relatively flexible and easy to change. They also
encourage employee involvement, open communication, and team processes
that mobilize employee skills and knowledge, enable effective problem
solving, and gain employee "buy-in" which eases implementation of changes
(Kanter, 1983).
A second factor in innovation is the complexity of the division of labor, a
function of the number of different occupational types, roles, and units in the
organization, the degree of specialization of knowledge of skills required by its
work, and the complexity of organizational work processes. Hage (1999)
elaborates several reasons that the complexity of division of labor promotes
innovation: In complex organizations, people and units are required to adapt to
each other and to changes in the environment to a greater extent than in more
homogenous organizations. This facilitates innovation, which becomes part of
a constant process of adjustment and change. Diversity and high levels of
education and training in complex organizations also mean that more ideas are
floating around and that the organization is monitoring its environment along
multiple dimensions. These, in turn, foster an awareness of the need for