Organization Analysis Part 2
Organization Analysis Part 2
The American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) is a national nonprofit organization that has multiple programs to assist families from different backgrounds to improve in their lives. The organization is concerned with issues such as child adoption, child care, child support, child welfare, disabilities, food stamps and temporary assistances for poor families. The organization functions with many affiliates that include American Association of Welfare Attorney, American Association of Food Stamp Directors, among others. The study will carry out organization analysis to find out how the APHSA organization functions (APHSA, 2016). To fully incorporate the functioning of the organization in all facets, the study will follow the framework that considers legal conditions, technological conditions, political conditions, economic conditions, ecological conditions and cultural conditions (Rainey, 2003). The analyses will therefore constitute identifying, describing and analyzing prevailing conditions. Nonetheless, the study will also examine the working of any reforms proposed, and propose improvements that APHSA should adopt to improve its working.
Cultural conditions: APHSA’s vision is to have better and healthier lives for adults, children, families and communities. This puts its mission as pursuing excellent health and human services by supporting both state, and local agencies in forming policies and working with partners to derive integrated and efficient solution in policy making. Although the organization is not a direct human service provider, it works with administrators of various human developments. On values, its members strive to provide valued services. There is also continuous communication and dedication from everyone. The other value is respect, and members have to ensure that they respect and encourage equality, teamwork and integrity. APHSA pursues collaboration for the purpose of integrating different ideas from everybody as part of participative problem-solving. The other important aspect is innovation Kumar, S., Kumar, N. & Haleem, 2014): members are encouraged to engage in creative problem solving endeavors. Although not well articulated for helping poor people, the mission and vision indicates that APHSA deals with issues related to child support, child welfare, food stamps, disabilities, adoption and temporary assistances for needy families (APHSA, 2016). Although the values mentioned are encouraged, the organization has to mention different learning opportunities for everybody, and result oriented as other effective cultural values of an organization (Schein, 2004). The organization’s team of staff is well balanced regarding gender and ethnicity. Both men and women, from different ethnic backgrounds, have been employed (Katz & Kahn, 1966). The organization has training and development division in legal issues and specific job issues (Elvira, 2013; Glisson, et al., 2016).
Economic conditions: The formation of this organization was majorly motivated by economic hardships. During times of greater economic hardships, the organization is supposed to have more revenue allocations to help increased people in hardship. The disabled, children, unemployed and those that deserve public health compensations are usually taken care of by this organization (APHSA, 2016). It is therefore evident that economic activities of this organization are inversely related to economic wellbeing of the whole country since it is supposed to play a compensatory role for economically disadvantaged people in the community (Engel, Fischer & Galetovic, 2013). Despite distributing actual aids to the disabled, children, unemployed and older people in the society, the organization has organized various centers for promoting economic wellbeing among people with low incomes. It has a program center for getting job vacancy information reach the poor population, and helping to start and maintain successful careers. The organization has also been in the forefront to ensure that infrastructures in neighborhoods with low incomes are improved. It has been encouraging investments in such areas for individuals to access jobs. Although the organization is not a profit making, it has to be more vigilant in matters that concern costs (Williamson, 1981). This can be established through efficiency maximizing measures, such as comparing between buy and produce decision and selecting the decision that seem more efficient (Lecy, Schimitz & Swedlund, 2011). However, it has been important that the organization has been fulfilling this aim through its own surveys and external auditors.
Political conditions: It is should be noted that American Association of Public Welfare, the forerunner of the APHSA, was formed in 1930 by state officials. In 1950, it became nationwide when the amendments were made in the Social Security Act to make it countrywide, so that it could reach many people around the country. In 1998, the American Association of Public Welfare changed its name to American Public Human Service Association to recognize broadened scope of services it was addressing. As a federal organization, the organization works with state officials and agencies to fulfill its aim (Pfeffer, 1981). Apparently, the organization is influenced by politics in a democratically capitalist nation. The Congress and the White House and other political players will be key in determining budget allocations and the choice and allocation of other resources, including the personnel (APHSA, 2016; Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978). However, since America is a democracy, there are well laid out rules of how power from the Congress and the White House can be transformed into authority for personnel at the APHSA, so that institutionalized power can become effective (Meyer & Rowan, 1977).
The other aspect of politics in this regard is organizational politics, which is usually espoused in all forms of the organization’s managerial functions. In order to influence more people, many organization power holders are considering increased efficiency and rationality, and other kinds of motivators in all facets of the organization (Schein, 2004). Efficiency is achieved by shorter and effective channels of communications: the organization structure of this organization presents less levels of management (only four) (Schein, 2004). There are aspects of horizontal communication among CEOs of the same ranks (State CEO council, Local Council and Affiliate Presidents’ Council). All these increase efficient and effective communications that increase influence of the managers in the organization. Apart from flexible time schedule and well work-life balance, the organization’s employees have benefits such as health insurance, paid holidays and annual and sick leave (Kuipers, et al., 2014; Park & Shaw, 2013).
Legal condition: Legally, the functioning of this organization is governed by legal acts and presidential directives. For instance, in 2003, the APHSA’s recommendations were signed into the law by the Senate Finance Committee. Various changes such as those of Presidents Clinton and Bush have affected the way the institution function. Importantly, too, the organization has its own by-laws that outline its name, purpose, values, membership, the board, elected officers and so forth. Various affiliate organizations, councils, vacancies and miscellaneous issues are also outlined (APHSA, 2016). However, as a non-profit making association, the organization was also supposed to indicate and elaborate how it obtains grants and how grant monies are distributed. Policies of solving conflicts of interests regarding the same were also needed. This would indicate that the organization is readily concerned with accountability and transparency. It is quite remarkable that the organization carries out various sessions to educate its members in new trends concerning legal acts and court interpretations. The most recent was a case that concerned the Affordable Care Act; its ruling was important in that it would affect the way the general health care provisions in the country would be delivered (APHSA, 2016). APHSA and its affiliate parties have been monitoring developments in the implementations of the Act and challenges it faced due to its constitutionality (Ohemeng & Ayee, 2016; Sabatier & Weble, 2014).
Technological Framework: Despite having physical offices for physical interactions, the organization also has also embraced IT solutions for its operations. The organization promotes practices in Information Technology by connecting itself with affiliates and other stakeholders through IT. It always shares innovative solutions and collaborates with stake holders efficiently through ICT. Despite traditional physical mails and e-mails, individuals can now get notifications about conferences through Twitter and Facebook. Webinars are now common form of conferencing with its stakeholder rather than wasting time and money by inviting individuals to its physical place. Despite e-mails, one can find information regarding webinar schedules on the organization’s website. Pod casts of presentations of last conferences can also be obtained on the website. The presentations are those that train online visitors about Medicaid programs like TANF, SNAP, Child Welfare, aging, Child Support and so forth. The current webinar trains individuals about using business rules engine technology for Medicaid Administration and MAGI processing. The organization is an innovating organization too. It is launching innovations in adaptative networks, social investments, alternative financing of human services and so forth (APHSA, 2016). However, it has to be organizing for strategic partnership and internal staff training and development. Strategic partnerships can assess customer transactional needs and education levels so that credible systems that suit them can be prioritized. There have to be programs for employees to be trained and developed on matters that concern the IT implementation in the organization (Ohemeng & Ayee, 2016).
The APHSA organization deals with issues related to child support, child welfare, food stamps, disabilities, adoption and temporary assistances for needy families. Possibly, it deals with disabled people, children that need support and whose welfare is at risk, families that need temporary assistances and those children that have been newly adopted. Since the organization aims at making everybody well in the community, it collaborates with a range of stakeholders such as employers, education systems and workforce investment boards to ensure that families get necessary education and employment so that they remain secure and vital resources in the community (APHSA, 2016). In summary, this organization is more concerned with helping individuals and families in disadvantaged communities, whose members cannot access employment easily, or continue to experience disproportionate representations in public service programs (Katz & Kahn, 1966). The program however, despite connecting the unemployed with jobs, it has to ensure that low income areas have enough and quality school; education and employment will enable such people to stand on poverty with their own feet (Glisson & Williams, 2015; Wilesnky, 2015).
Ecological conditions: The organization has interdependence relationships with sponsors and affiliate organization to boost its activities. Sponsors include CGI, Deloitte, KPMG, OPTUM and MAXIMUS . Affiliate organizations include Centre for Workers with Disabilities, National Association of TANF Administrators and National Association of Public Welfare Administrators to boost the scope of its activities. National Staff Development and Training Association, as another affiliate organization, are important in ensuring that the staffs are trained and developed for satisfactory job delivery (APHSA, 2016). Although the organization shows plausible IT solutions to natural environment, it does not have concrete programs for reclaiming deteriorated environment or advocating for the same. Poverty and land degradation usually go hand in hand, and therefore one cannot eliminate one without eliminating the other (Weick & Sutcliffe, 2005). Poverty can lead to people destroying the environment, resulting in mass extinction of some species. All species of plants and animals and their environments have to be protected, so that they work together to ensure a balanced environment that is healthy for everyone. The organization can ensure that members from low income areas are taught about responsible consumption and waste management to avoid degrading their own environments (Ohemeng & Ayee, 2016).
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