Social work management and leadership : managing complexity with creativity

219 Pages·2010·2.164 MB·English

by  John Lawler, Andy Bilson

Social Work Management and Leadership
Management and leadership are increasingly important within the organi-
zation and delivery of social care services, and they now form part of the
post-qualification framework for social workers. Yet, whilst there is a relatively
broad understanding of management concepts and their application in social
care, their foundations often go unchallenged both by students and managers.
Furthermore, leadership is open to a wide range of interpretations and is often
ill-defined, with the expectation that we share a common understanding of the
term.
This text promotes an appreciation of the development of management
and leadership thinking and the different themes which inform current ideas.
It considers these topics from a range of theoretical standpoints in order to
stimulate readers to consider their own experience and expectations of man-
agement and leadership. It then demonstrates how these standpoints might
promote innovative approaches to management and leadership within social
care organizations and ways in which such organizations might then develop.
The aim of this challenging text is to encourage critical and informed reflection
on current practice.

Social Work Management and Leadership is essential reading for students
of management and leadership in social care as well as being an invaluable
resource for managers who simply wish to consider new approaches to their
practice.
John Lawler is Senior Lecturer in Public Sector Management at the University
of Bradford, UK.
Andy Bilson is Professor of Social Work at the University of Central Lancashire,
UK.

Social Work Management
and Leadership
Managing complexity
with creativity
John Lawler and Andy Bilson
First published 2010
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2009.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
© 2010 John Lawler and Andy Bilson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or uti-
lised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lawler, John.
Social work management and leadership: managing complexity with creativity/John
Lawler and Andy Bilson.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Social work administration. 2. Social case work—Management. 3. Social service.
I. Bilson, Andy. II. Title.
HV41.L335 2010
361.3068'4—dc22
2009018958
ISBN 0-203-86628-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0-415-45905-2 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-415-46703-9 (pbk)
ISBN10: 0-203-86628-2 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-45905-1 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-46703-2 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-86628-3 (ebk)
John dedicates this book to Pam, Anne and Adam and his Mum, Eileen,
for all they give and for who they are, and to the memory of his Dad,
Norman.
This book is for Anna and Emma, who are my future and never require
management, and for Jen: as luck would have it, it just so happens that
you provide all the leadership I need. Andy

Contents
List of figures ix
List of boxes xi
Preface xiii
1 Introduction 1
2 Governance, markets and managerialism; and a framework
for alternative approaches 9
3 The individual manager and leader through a rational-
objectivist lens 29
4 The reflective individual in management and leadership 49
5 Rational planning and control: rational-objectivist approaches
to organizations 75
6 New metaphors for management: reflective-pluralist approaches
to organizations 101

7 Challenges for social work management and leadership 137
8 Towards ethical management and leadership in social work 161
References 181
Index 195

Figures
2.1 The 2 × 2 matrix for categorization of management and
leadership theories 16
2.2 The framework showing selected managerial and leadership
theories and approaches 25
3.1 Continuum of leadership and management 36
3.2 The rational-objectivist and individual quadrant 38
4.1 The reflective-pluralist and individual quadrant 50
5.1 The rational-objectivist and organization quadrant 76
6.1 The reflective-pluralist and organization quadrant 103
6.2 SSM seven step model 105
6.3 Rich pictures of a children’s services referral system that
uses a central call system 107
6.4 Conceptual model for other agency decision making 108
6.5 Thinking about desirable and feasible change 109