A Comparative Analysis of Organization Development and Social Work, with Suggestions for What Organization Development can do for Social Work

Abstract

This article compares two human service professions-social work and organization development-on a number of dimensions, including values, ethics, theories, practice skills, and client systems. Sufficient similarities (and distinct differences) emerged from this analysis to indicate the utility of social work incorporating organization development technologies into administrative social work practice and education. It is suggested that such inclusion can strengthen the capacity of social work administrators to make the organizational changes needed to adapt to the changing social conditions of the 1990s.

The Effective Social Worker

“…This behavior recurrently presents itself in inadequate service delivery (Kettner, Moroney, & Martin, 1990). Which might include, not improving the client's condition (Resnick & Menefee, 1993), complete denial of services (Netting et al, 1993;Rothman, 1994), and or offering insufficient services (Fabricant, 1986). For example, following an assessment, a change agent might find that a client is exhibiting appropriate behaviors for his social context but the treatment organization or institution is not pro- viding adequate reinforcers for the appropriate behaviors.…”

The Paradox of Employee–Volunteer Interchangeability in a Supported Social Enterprise

“…Not only do employees and volunteers collaborate to make service delivery possible, they also act as key players in the social and emotional transactions that characterize NPO services (Akingbola, Phaetthayanan, & Brown, 2015;Resnick & Menefee, 1993). Thus, many jobs in NPOs are inherently labor intensive.…”

Editorial

“…The nexus between employment relations and the mission is also likely to be constantly evolving in order to align with change in the operational environment.Moreover, NPOs are inherently complex, labour intensive and dynamically intertwined with their external environment in more ways than organizations in other sectors. The social and emotional transaction nature of non-profit services emphasizes the complexity of these organizations and the critical importance of employee labour (Akingbola, 2015;Resnick and Menefee, 1993). Work in NPOs is inherently labour intensive because their employees are often not distinct from the services of the organization (Akingbola, 2013b;Brunt, 2016).…”