SOCIAL WORK ADMINISTRATION Administration as a process

Administration (Herman Stein) - process of defining and attaining • Is a continuous, dynamic process that leads to
the objectives of the organization through a system of coordination organizational growth and development
and cooperative effort. • Resources of people & materials are harnessed &
coordinated
Definition of Administration
• Leadership is implicit in administration
• A process, a method or a set of relationships between and • Coordination, cooperation & participation are means to
among people working toward common objectives in an achieve organizational goals
organization (Ehlers, Austin& Prothero)
Social Administration
• A process of defining and attaining the objectives of an
organization through a system of coordinated & cooperative • Focuses on the policies, planning and administration of
effort goods and services in relation to the political, social and
economic institutions and to the determinants of the
Administration as a method
distribution of national resources to social welfare needs
• Determination of goals/setting of obiectives ✓ social work profession as a subsystem
• Formulation of policies ✓ administration in health, education & other social
• Creating and maintaining an organization development fields
• Making plans
Activities of administration
• Securing resources
• Selecting necessary technologies for operations • Determination of goals/objectives;
• Designing programs and services • Formulation of policies;
• Optimizing organizational behavior • Maintenance of organization;
• Evaluating results for the improvement of services • Formulation of plans;
• Accounting for resource utilization • Securing of resources;
• Selection of technology;
• Design of programs and services;
• Optimization of organizational behaviour;
 • Evaluation of results for improvement of services; and Elements of Administration
• Accounting for resource utilization.
a. Organization - setting up of framework or structure of the
Social Worker's 3 Distinct Capacities different units of the system to carry out or perform distinct tasks

• Helper- make agency procedures and services appropriate Management - activity that allocates and utilizes resources to
to the needs of the client and potential client achieve organizational goals. Involves establishing and maintaining
• Organizer- run agency efficiently and effectively an organizational climate or internal environment in which people
• Bureaucrat- abide by bureaucratic rules and procedures working together in groups can perform effectively and efficiently

Harrison (1987) "quality work life" requires a balance of Henry Fayol's Principles of Management

• Job security • DIVISION OF WORK: Work is divided among individuals and

• fairness and adequacy of pay groups to ensure that effort and attention are focused on
• working conditions special portions of the task. Work specialization as the best
• interpersonal relations, and way to use the human resources of the organization. When
• meaningfulness and challenge of work. employees are specialized, output can increase because
they become increasingly skilled and efficient.
Characteristics of administration • AUTHORITY: Authority and responsibility are closely related.
Authority -right to give orders and power to exact
• Human enterprise that involves activity of people in the
obedience. Responsibility involves being accountable.
organization
• Continuous and dynamic process for common goal or • Managers MUST KEEP IN MIND that with authority comes
purpose responsibility.
• Resources of people and materials are harnessed and • DISCIPLINE: Successful organization requires common effort
coordinated of workers. Penalties should be applied judiciously to
encourage common effort. Discipline must be upheld in
• Leadership is implicit.
organizations.
•Leadership - ability of individual to influence, motivate, and • UNITY OF COMMAND: Workers should receive orders from
enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and successes only one manager. Employees should have only one direct
of the organization of which they are members supervisor.
• UNITY OF DIRECTION: The entire organization should be • EQUITY managers should be fair to staff at all times. Both
moving towards a common objective in a common direction. maintaining disciplines as necessary and acting with
Teams with the same objective should be working under the kindness and appropriate
direction of one manager, using one plan to ensure that • STABILITY OF TENURE OF PERSONNEL retaining productive
action is properly coordinated. employees is a high priority of management, minimize
• SUBORDIATION OF INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS TO THE GENERL employee turnover
INTERESTS the interests of one person should not take • INITIATIVE is defined or additional work activity undertaken
priority over the interests of the organization as a whole through self-direction. Employees should be given necessary
• RENUMERATION many variables, such as cost living, supply level of freedom to create and carry out plans
of qualified personnel, general business conditions and • ESPIRIT DE CORPS management should encourage harmony
success of the business should be considered in determining and general good feelings among employees. Organization
a worker’s rate of pay. Employee satisfaction depends of fair should strive to promote team spirit and unity
renumeration, financial and non-financial
4 Management Functions
• CENTRALIZATION is lowering the importance of the
subordinate role. This principle refers to how close Planning. Leading. Organizing. Controlling
employees are to the decision-making process. Balance is
Social Work Administration
important
• SCALAR CHAIN managers in hierarchies are part of a chain • Method of social work concerned with the provision and
like authority scale. The president possess the most distribution of societal resources to enable clients meet
authority, the first line supervisor the least. Lower level their needs and fulfil their potentials
managers should always keep upper managers informed of • Application of a synthesis of social work methods in
their worked activities. Employees should be aware of administrative processes
where they stand in the organization’s hierarchy or chain of • Addressed to specific social work tasks of defining & solving
command human problems and satisfying human needs
• ORDER for the sake of efficiency and coordination., all
materials and people related to a specific kind of work
should be treated as equally as possible. The work place
facilities must be clean, tidy and safe for employees
Characteristics of Social Work Administration • Structure- organization as an element in administration;
social welfare agency
• Use of principles & techniques of administration in general
• Process- continuous, dynamic and total process of bringing
• Use of philosophy, aims and functions of social work,
together people, resources and purposes to accomplish the
methods of social diagnosis, analysis & synthesis of
agency goal of providing social services
individual, group or community needs and generalizations
for change or development in agency goals and functions Social Welfare Agency
• Primary focus is a helping process for individuals, groups &
• A structured framework within which the administrative
communities
tasks are carried out
• Working with people based on knowledge and
• Types- governmental/public; non-
understanding of human behaviour, human relations and
governmental/private/voluntary; semi-private or quasi-
human organizations
governmental
• Use of social work methods in administrative process and
• Types based on size, geographical coverage, clientele served
staff relations
• Viewed as a bureaucracy & social system
Dimensions of Social Work Administration
Types of Social Welfare Agencies
• Work assignment within the agency structure - allocation of
• Governmental or public agencies
tasks & functions
• Private or voluntary agencies
• Community in which the agency works; source of support &
• Semi-government or quasi government organization
object of services
• Psychosocial dimension in which people release their Government Agency
feelings and energies; when properly harnessed constitute
• By Constitution Mandate
human resources to achieve agency goals
• By Legislative Act
Aspects of Social WorkAdministration • By Executive order of the president/ presidential decrees/
letter of instruction
• Functions- means to which identified social needs are met;
societal action for improved/new services needed; decision-
making at every level of administration
Private Social Welfare Agency Levels in a Social Welfare Agency

• Is created by group of citizens who have decided to organize • Policy - top management/Board of Directors: policy
to meet the identified needs of a community or groups of formulation
people, utilizing community resources to render social • Administrative/executive – Executive Director- implements
services to the people. policies/decisions of Board
• Supervisory - enables workers to perform their functions
Nature of Social Welfare Agencies
• Direct service - provide social services
•Rosemarie C. Sarri and Robert D. Vinter suggest that social welfare • Skills: conceptual, technical & human relations
agencies " must be viewed both as: administrative bureaucracies
and as social systems. Administrative Function: Policy Formulation

Social Welfare Agency as a Social System • Policy - a stated course of action adopted and followed by
the agency in doing its work; written statement formally
• A whole with each part bearing a relation to every part and adopted by the Board or legislative body
all are interdependent • Areas of policy consideration: policy values & objectives;
• A purposeful, organized interrelationships of components in policy target group or clientele; methods of implementation
which the performance of the whole exceeds the individual and environmental impact
outputs of all the parts
Stages in Policy Formulation
• Components: input, throughput and output
• Is an open system -influenced by its external environment- • Identification of the problem or issue
the community • Analysis of the problem
• Is viewed as a system by itself & also as a sub-system; part • Informing the public about the problem
of a multiple system: social adm., social welfare adm., social • Development of policy goals
work administration • Building of public support
• Maintains a uniform & beneficial stability within & between • Legislation or enunciation of policy
its parts (equilibrium) • Implementation and administration
• Assessment and evaluation
Principles of Policy Determination long range/term

• Policy must be based on agency purpose Elements in Planning

• Must be based on adequately evaluated facts &
• goal or the what
experience; participation of clientele & people affected by
• resources, means, procedures and methods or the how
policy
• people involved in achieving the goals or the who
• Focus and direction for the attainment of agency purpose
• method of evaluation and review
• Unity and consistency between various policies & between
• conditions under which the plan will be implemented
policy & purpose
• Participation of agency staff in policy Steps in Planning and Types of Plan
• Relate agency purpose to realities in community and
• Steps in planning
agencies facilities and resources
• Policy-making, planning and operations are interrelated recognition of the need for action. investigation and analysis.
• New policies should be based on evaluation of existing proposal for action. decision
policies and practice
Types of plan:
• Thorough knowledge of policy by staff is essential
• Policies be expressed in positive forms substantive plan (achieve program objectives).
• Carrying out of policies in the spirit of their intent be by procedural plan (embodies various administrative mechanisms)
administration and staff
• Evaluate any conflict between policy & practice Principles of Planning

Administrative Function; Planning • grow out of the expressed interests and needs of all persons
in the agency
• Planning is a process of mapping out one's activities • participation of those to be affected
towards the accomplishment of goals and projecting the • adequate factual basis
means or resources of achieving them
• combines face-to-face methods and committee work
• Plan is a course of action for reaching a goal beginning now
• individualized/particularized based on varied situations;
or at any predetermined time in the future
• use of varied approaches indigenous to the situation
• short range/term; medium range/term;
• requires professional leadership
 • requires the efforts of volunteers, non-professionals, relationships between the physical factors and personnel
community leaders required for the performance of these functions
• calls for documentation and recording
Types of Organizational Structure
• use existing plans and resources
• dependent upon thinking prior to action • formal- established by law; by laws and activities are
consciously coordinated found in their policies, procedures,
Characteristics of Effective Planning etc.
• Be based on clearly well-defined objective or goals • informal - established unconsciously by spontaneous
• Be simple and easily understood grouping of persons and consists of rules, sentiments,
• Be flexible traditions
• Be easily analysed and classified Kinds of Formal Organizations
• Maximize existing/limited resources such as funds and
personnel • Line organization-authority is from top to bottom work
towards primary service goals
Administrative Function: Programming • Functional organization-different staff units have authority
• Programming is a process of preparing or setting up the over the same people and are concerned with providing
program involving a specific period of time and specific type benefits and services to the organization itself.
of services. • Line and staff organization-units have authority over their
• Program is a unit of planned purposive action. own subordinates; staff units assist, advise, etc. for use of
line executives
Administrative Function: Organizing • Committee type of organization-group of persons act as a
• Organizing is a process of setting up individuals and body and perform functional, staff or line duties
functions into productive relationships towards the Models of Organization
accomplishment of certain common objectives.
• Organization is the structure or the pattern or network of • Bureaucratic form-a pre-set system of procedures and
relationships between the various positions and the rules; division of labour based on specialization;
individuals holding such positions; set of formal, planned • promotion and selection of personnel based on technical
competence; impersonality in human relations.
 • Democratic form-more informal and employees participate • Horizontal chart-shows the position on the left side and
& share in decision-making; warm, cooperative presents the different levels in a vertical position while the
relationships encouraged functions are shown horizontally
• Adhocracy-blending of bureaucratic & democratic forms; • Circular chart-shows the position of authority from the
flattening of the pyramid mixed matrix middle of the circle and the functions flow from the centre
• Collegial or professional team model-group of professional
Steps in Organizing
colleagues organized in a collaborative lifestyle with
maximum informal communication • Distinguish clearly the various functions necessary to
accomplish the action.
Model of Agency Structure
• Group the functions into organizational units and eventually
• Purpose: To identify alternative means of structuring staff into economical and effective work assignments.
roles and responsibilities to achieve efficient and effective • Provide in advance of the need for the physical facilities and
service provision. resources.
• Public agencies are constrained by the laws that establish • Find the qualified personnel who can perform the assigned
and sanction their operation, are dependent on a budget responsibilities
allocation from a legislative body, and are governed by a
Principles of Organizing
politically elected or appointed board.
• Private agencies have a volunteer board, elected by its • Work specialization or division of work
membership, that is familiar with the internal operation of • Unity of command- one supervisor
the agency. • Span of control-no. of supervisees
Kinds of Organizational Charts • Homogenous assignment
• Delegation of authority
• Organizational chart is a pictorial presentation of the • Hierarchical or scalar principle
organizational structure • Line and staff principle
• Vertical chart-shows the position of authority at the top • Division of labour
with the different levels in a horizontal position and the • Short chain of command
functions running vertically • balance
Administrative Function: Staffing • Steps in directing: setting up the major responsibilities,
persons, units; placing the jobs, responsibilities and
• Staffing/personnel management is the art of acquiring,
functions properly in an organizational pattern; issuing
developing and maintaining a competent workforce in such
directions, special assignments and orders; controlling or
a manner as to accomplish with maximum efficiency and
directing closely by basic policies and plans
economy the functions and objectives of the organization
• Objectives: to secure and develop adequate and efficient Administrative Function: Controlling
personnel to aid management in accomplishing the goals; to
• Controlling is the work of constraining, coordinating and
aid every personnel to develop and perform to the limit of
regulating action in accordance with plans for the
his capacity recognizing his interests & competency
achievement of specified objectives.
Elements of Staffing • Steps in controlling: setting standards at strategic points,
checking & reporting on performance; getting
• Effective recruitment, selection and hiring
feedback/information about the results of performance;
• Placement-right person for the right job
taking corrective action
• Orientation or induction and training
• Methods: reporting; setting deadlines; inspection and prior
• Promotion
approval of projects
• Transfer-horizontal or vertical movement
• Performance appraisal/rating Administrative Function: Coordinating
• Wage and salary administration • Coordinating is the process of interrelating the various
• Discipline parts of the work of an agency so that it functions as a
• Employee benefits and services whole.
• Turn-over, separation, retirement • Types: coordination of thought; and coordination of action
Administrative Function: Directing • Forms: perpendicular/vertical coordination; and
horizontal/cross-coordination
• Directing is the process of implementing the total plan and • Ways for effective coordination: clear lines of authority &
bringing into being all the necessary and available resources responsibility; periodic reports; effective communication
to achieve the objectives of the organization; issuing system
instructions
Administrative Function: Communication Administrative Function: Recording and Reporting

• Communication is a process that transmits ideas from one • Records an account in written or other permanent form
person to another for use in the performance of managerial serving as a memorial or authentic evidence of a fact or
functions. event
• Components: sender, message, receiver • Purposes: Practice; Administrative; Research;�Teaching;
• Purposes: clarify what is to be done, how and by whom; Supervision (PARTS)
reinforce identity with agency purposes; transmit problems, • Reporting-to make or give an account of, often formally
ideas, suggestions; report progress; promote participation • Purposes: upward & outward- report on progress,
and promote social interchange/provide recognition justification of program, plans; downward- inform workers
• Patterns: formal and informal communication about policies, etc.
Administrative Function: Budgeting Administrative Function: Public Relations

• Budget- financial plan for an agency • Public relations planned and sustained effort to establish
• Steps in preparation: developing a statement of goals 8 and maintain mutual understanding between an
objectives; writing a plan of action; setting up a chart of organization and its public
accounts; submission or presentation to authorities for • Function: promote public understanding and acceptance
approval or authorization; execution/implementation; of an agency and its services
reporting & accounting • Public image whether the agency is a organization to work
• Factors of an ideal budget: is comprehensive including for or invest in; or whose services can be given with
planned expenditures and estimated income; clear and confidence and reliability
easily under-stood; flexible; workable; accurate & realistic
Administrative Function: Evaluation and Research
• Types: Program, Planning, Budgeting System; line
budgeting; zero-based budgeting • Evaluation assesses the effectiveness of an ongoing
program in achieving its objectives and aims at program's
improvement through modification of current operations.
• Types of evaluation research: for program planning;
program monitoring; impact assessment; project efficiency