Management Practice

Knowledge Management: Implications for Human Service Organizations

Austin, M.J.
Claassen, J.
Vu, C.
Mizrahi, P.
2008

Knowledge management has recently taken a more prominent role in the management of organizations as worker knowledge and intellectual capital are recognized as critical to organizational success. This analysis explores the literature of knowledge management including the individual level of tacit and explicit knowledge, the networks and social interactions utilized by workers to create and share new knowledge, and the multiple organizational and managerial factors associated with effective knowledge management systems. Based on the role of organizational culture, structure, leadership, and...

Knowledge Capture and the Retirement of the Director of Finance: Succession Planning in the San Mateo County Human Services Agency

Winship, K.
Austin, M.J.
2012

Concern over the impending retirement of several top-level managers led a county agency to engage in efforts aimed at more efficient succession management. Administrators developed plans to prevent the loss of invaluable knowledge and wisdom accompanying retirement of experienced agency leaders. The agency's Director of Finance (DoF) was one of the first key figures projected to retire, and a succession plan was implemented to transfer his knowledge for use after his departure. The knowledge transfer process involved three stages, including: (1) employing the DoF as teacher, having him...

Implementing Evidence-Based Practice: Lessons from the Field

Austin, M.J.
Claassen, J.
2008

Evidence-based practice (EBP) involves the integration of the expertise of individual practitioners with the best available evidence within the context of values and expectations of clients. Little is known about the implementation of evidence~based practice in the human services. This article is based on a comprehensive search of the literature related to the organizational factors needed to introduce EBP into a human service agency, tools for assessing organizational readiness for EBP, and lessons learned from the current implementation efforts. Three approaches to implementing EBP are...

Impact of Organizational Change on Organizational Culture: Implications for Introducing Evidence-based Practice

Austin, M.J.
Claassen, J.
2008

Evidence-based practice (EBP) seeks to integrate the expertise of individual practitioners with the best available evidence within the context of the values and expectations of clients. Prior to implementing EBP, it is important to understand the significance that organizational change and organizational culture play. This article seeks to explore the literature associated with both organizational change and organizational culture. The analysis of organizational culture and change draw upon findings from both the private, for-profit sector, and the public, non-profit field. It is divided...

Evidence-Based Accreditation Standards to Promote Continuous Quality Improvement: The Experiences of the San Mateo County Human Services AgencyFollowing a difficult period of service provision, an agency determined that drastic changes were needed to impr

Winship, K.
Lee, S.T.
2012

Following a difficult period of service provision, an agency determined that drastic changes were needed to improve agency-wide capacity and functioning. The agency engaged in an organizational level self-assessment aimed at identifying areas for improvement and beginning work towards determining professional standards for service. Results of this organizational self-assessment paved the way for pursuing accreditation of its services, and the agency became the first public agency in its state to be accredited by the Council on Accreditation in all eligible services. This case study...

Building Organizational Supports for Research-minded Practitioners

Dal Santo, T.
Austin, M.J.
2012

One of the biggest challenges facing human service organizations is the proliferation of information from inside and outside the agency that needs to be managed if it is to be of use. The concepts of tacit and explicit knowledge can inform an approach to this challenge. Tacit knowledge is stored in the minds of practitioners (often called practice wisdom) and the explicit knowledge is often found in organizational procedure manuals and educational and training materials. Building on this perspective, this analysis provides a preliminary definition of research-minded practitioners by...

Building Organizational Supports for Knowledge Sharing in County Social Service Agencies: Cross-Case Analysis of Works-in-Progress

Lee, C.
Austin, M.J.
2012

Building on the literature related to evidence-based practice, knowledge management, and learning organizations, this cross-case analysis presents twelve works-in-progress in ten local public human service organizations seeking to develop their own knowledge sharing systems. The data for this cross-case analysis can be found in the various contributions to this Special Issue. The findings feature the developmental aspects of building a learning organization that include knowledge sharing systems featuring transparency, self-assessment, and dissemination and utilization. Implications for...

Building a Culture of Learning through Organizational Development: The Experiences of the Marin County Health and Human Services Department

Lindberg, A.
Meredith, L.
Austin, M.J.
2012

After determining a need for organizational change informed by changes in workforce demographics, community demographics, the socio-political and economic environment, and constraints on resources, one agency sought to transform its organizational culture into that of a learning organization. An external organizational development consultant was hired to work with agency leadership to identify ways that would help move the agency's culture towards one that was conducive to learning. Specifically, the agency director sought to create a culture where communication is encouraged both...

Becoming a Manager in Nonprofit Service Organizations: Building on Evidence from the For-profit Sector

Gothard, S.
Carnochan, S.
Regan, M.
Samples, M.
Austin, M.J.
2012
The transition from direct service to management in human service organizations requires newly promoted managers to engage in significant role transformation that calls into question their selfconcept and identity. Yet new managers are rarely provided training opportunities that address the formation of a managerial identity. This analysis draws upon the for-profit and nonprofit literature to construct a conceptual model of managerial identity formation. The model is then applied to a case vignette of a managerial leadership development training program developed by a regional network of...