Discussion - Organizational Analysis, Social work administrators

Discussion Board

Organizational Analysis 

You should incorporate ethical considerations consistent with the following NASW mandate:

3.07 Administration

(a) Social work administrators should advocate within and outside their agencies for adequate resources to meet clients' needs.

(b) Social workers should advocate for resource allocation procedures that are open and fair. When not all clients' needs can be met, an allocation procedure should be developed that is nondiscriminatory and based on appropriate and consistently applied principles.

(c) Social workers who are administrators should take reasonable steps to ensure that adequate agency or organizational resources are available to provide appropriate staff supervision.

(d) Social work administrators should take reasonable steps to ensure that the working environment for which they are responsible is consistent with and encourages compliance with the NASW Code of Ethics. Social work administrators should take reasonable steps to eliminate any conditions in their organizations that violate, interfere with, or discourage compliance with the Code.

The purpose of this is for students to demonstrate their competence in analyzing an organization as a macro system. The student can choose to analyze their field placement agency or the agency for which they work. For this assignment, students are to assume the role of a "consultant."

As a consultant, students will 1) examine agency documents, 2) observe agency processes, 3) interview staff, and (4) keep a journal of notes from these activities. Students will use these methods to examine the core elements of their agency, how well their agency empowers its staff and clients, whether or not staff and clients are treated with dignity and respect, and the extent to which the agency employs a diverse workforce. Based on these activities, students will write up an organizational analysis.