Managerilism

Human service organisations, like small businesses tend to be run under a managerial approach in order to gain effective results in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible. The youth independence association is a non-government, human service organisation established to provide community living skills for young individuals with intellectual disabilities. However, the association suffers from a lack of funding and faces the challenge of finding new strategies in order to run the program efficiently. This essay will critically analyse the issue of efficiency, effectiveness, equity, excellence and expansion facing the Youth Independence Association and offer recommendations to put forward at the meeting in accordance to a more productive way of running the association.

The Youth Independence Association rents two houses in the inner suburbs of the city for young people accepted into the program to live, where they will be taught to live independently with three to four other individuals. During this period the participants in the program will learn intensively about themselves individually, how to deal with separation anxieties’, and how to run a household successfully. In short, they will experience the things that majority of other people in the community experience. Workers will take on a supportive role for the young people and are involved in assisting the young people to move out of the houses into fully independent housing within the wider community. The association is currently funded under the Commonwealth Government’s Disability Services Act as a three year demonstration project. At the end of the three year period the organisations activities will be evaluated. The government currently provides 90 percent of the organisations funding, whereas the remainder comes from a $50.00 rental payment per week from the young people participating in the program. The association, keen to continue receiving funding after the third year are now coming into their third year, however will fall short of the requested amount. The association is also anticipating a 20 percent increase in expenditures on salaries. However, the Commonwealth Government has refused to meet these additional costs. The association inevitably will be inclined to restructure their management and financial system in order for the program to continue to function. Such restructuring may fall under the theory of Managerialism.

Managerialism is a broad theory which to define in one simple sentence may pose as quite a difficult task. Managerialism is associated with managing for results, the idea that any organisation can be blanketed by one set of objectives-the maximising of productivity and profit or funds, and one means of obtaining those objectives; efficient management. (Ress 1987) Managerialism is most often a model applied and used in accordance to business or economy. Models as such when applied to human service organisations can often pose as a problem as the issues that stem from human service organisations cannot be standardised as a simple figure. Managerialism strives to manage an organisation in the most efficient and cost effective way possible.

Efficiency is a significant concept that stems from the theory of Managerialism, this concept can be defined as meeting objectives whilst keeping costs to a minimum (McCallum 1984) The Youth Independence Association face extensive efficiency issues in order to keep the association running. Mrs Henderson, a woman with appropriate managerial experience has put forward various ideas to manage the association in a more efficient way. She has proposed and concluded that $66,000 could be saved if one case worker and one residential program officer position was abolished. The Family worker could then take on Family and case work full time. As a result the $66,000 could be used to hire a new manager with a successful track record in managing business in order to reduce the deficit. This restructuring of management could pose as administratively efficient, however is likely to affect the effectiveness of the association. For example, if two employees are let go, this may result in an unmanageable workload for the family worker, leading to unfinished work which will ultimately disrupt the functioning of the association. Although, it could also act as an advantage, as the implementation of a new managerial system through the use of the $66,000 may ultimately save more money, and if run correctly, the association could be run efficiently and effectively finding the perfect balance.

Effectiveness is also an important concept linked to the theory of Managerialism and co-insides along with efficiency. Effectiveness refers to meeting the objectives that have been set. (McCallum 1984) The Youth Independence Association has seen a fairly high success rate. Fourteen out of thirty-two consumers have gained successful results over the past two years and are now living independently. Eight are back living with their parents, while ten are still with the program. However, the criteria of success is often blurred due to Managerialism. Business managers or the government may see these numbers as ineffective in comparison to the amount of money that is going into the organisation. For example, one staff member suggested that the program only take in applicants that show characteristics similar to those of past successful consumers in order to generate a higher rate of successful cases and to serve a greater number of people. However, this defeats the purpose of the program. Only allowing certain individuals into the program strips other individuals of the opportunity of attempting to live independently, and who is to say that the �unsuccessful’ individual had an ineffective experience? One may have learnt extensively about themselves which in the long run may have a �successful’ effect. There is also the issue of how to define success within Human service organisations. Organisational effectiveness is the achievement of the stated objectives. From a managerial perspective, effectiveness, as touched on earlier would refer to the amount of successful cases the organisation has generated, therefore the suggestion of selecting participants on their likeliness to succeed would be the most appropriate method in order to receive funding and support. Managerialism is essentially based on such a rational view.

Like effectiveness and efficiency, equity is an ambiguous concept with various meanings, which holds much weight in accordance to the theory of managerialism. However, ultimately it refers to concepts such as equality, justice, rights and so on. Equity often applies to the processes and outcomes of an issue. Equitable outcomes refer to those that deal with people in a fair and consistent manner, or discriminate positively

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