Title SWPPS 3 - Handout - Social Welfare Agency Administration SWLE Review Notes.docx.pdf ✅

CARL BALITA REVIEW CENTER SOCIAL WORK BOARD REVIEW NOTES ADMINISTRATION From the root word ‘administer’ (Latin – ‘administrare’) meaning “to attend to” or “to manage”. It is an important area in organized human activity. It has been considered a process, a method, or a set of relationships between and among people working toward common objectives in an organization. Process of defining and attaining the objectives of the organization through a system of coordination and cooperative effort (Herman Stein). Activities of Administration 1. Determination of goals and/or setting of objectives; 2. Formulation of policies; 3. Maintenance of an organization; 4. Formulation of plans; 5. Securing of resources; 6. Selection of technologies necessary for operations; 7. Design of programs and services; 8. Optimization of organizational behaviour; 9. Evaluation of results for the improvement of services; and 10. Accounting for resource utilization Characteristics of Administration • Administration is a human enterprise that involves the activity of people in the organization. • It is a continuous, dynamic process for a common purpose or goal that is pursued through an uninterrupted, continuing interactive activity between and among people in vertical and horizontal positions in the organization. • The resources of people and materials are harnessed and coordinated to achieve organizational goals. • Leadership is implicit in administration. *Leadership - ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organization of which they are members. Elements of Administration 1. Organization The setting up of the framework or structure of the different units of the system to carry out or perform distinct tasks for the attainment of the goals of administration. These are social entities that are goal directed, are designed as deliberately structured and coordinated systems and are linked to the external environment (Daft, 1998). The key elements of an organization are people and their relationships with one another. It can be classified as private or public, for profit or non-profit, formal or informal or classify them according to general purpose: political, economic, social, cultural, etc. An organization comes into being when: (a) there are persons able to communicate with each other, (b) who are willing to contribute action, and (c) to accomplish a common purpose. 2. Management The activity that allocates and utilizes resources to achieve the goals of the organization. More specifically, it is the scientific utilization of manpower, money, machines, materials, methods, time, space, and other resources for the attainment of organizational goals. It involves the tasks of establishing and maintaining an organizational climate or internal environment in which people working together in groups can perform effectively and efficiently towards the attainment of group goals. Social Welfare Agency Administration...Page | 1

CARL BALITA REVIEW CENTER SOCIAL WORK BOARD REVIEW NOTES It is also referred to as social agency administration. Major objective: enhancement of social functioning (Edward Schwartz) Basic Principles of Social Welfare Administration (Harleigh Trecker, 1971) 1. Social work values as foundation of organizational management, program development and implementation. 2. Client/community needs as basis for existence of social development agencies and provision of programs/services. 3. Clear agency purpose. 4. Cultural setting as basis for fine tuning organizational and program management. 5. Purposeful working relationship internally and externally. 6. Viewing agency as a system or as totality. 7. Professional responsibility for excellence. 8. Stakeholder participation. 9. Open communication in problem solving atmosphere. 10. Leadership by competence (doing things right); by example (doing the right things). 11. Continuous planning implies rational analytical and rational direction setting. 12. Clear organization: clear to all and responsive. 13. Delegation were possible (it’s not abdication). 14. Coordination of different people, units and tasks. 15. Efficient/effective resource utilization. 16. Acceptance of change as permanent feature. 17. Monitoring and evaluation for improvement of performance. 18. Growth for all. SOCIAL WELFARE AGENCY It is a structured framework within which the administrative tasks are carried out. It is an instrument of society, established through government initiative or through voluntary efforts to achieve a social goal. Types of Social Welfare Agency 1. Governmental or public agencies – organization supported by public funds or taxes. 2. Private or voluntary agencies – organizations supported by private contributions or donations or income from services. These are popularly referred to as non-governmental organizations (NGO’s) 3. Semi-government or quasi-governmental organizations – organizations that receive some form of subsidy, either in cash or kind, from the government. Government Private Basis of Establishment Constitutional mandate & other laws of the land, social need Voluntary response to a social need; faith-based or humanitarian motivation Purpose Basic social services Charity; social services; advocacy Clientele All citizen in a given territory; or special sectors Specific area or sectors (usually the poor or people with special needs) Leadership & Management Elective, legislative or appointive officials; hired management & staff Founders/members/elective BOT/hired management & staff if any Sources of Funds Taxes and other incomes Member’s fees, donation, grants and other incomes such as surplus (profit) Structure Bureaucratic & less flexible; conform to government procedures Less bureaucratic & more flexible Issues and Concerns Inefficiency, transparency & corruption Inefficiency & ineffectiveness due to smallness Nature (Rosemary C. Sarri and Robert D. Vinter): Social Welfare Agency Administration...Page | 3
CARL BALITA REVIEW CENTER SOCIAL WORK BOARD REVIEW NOTES 1. They are administrative bureaucracies in that they are established to attain specific goals, and their internal structures, technologies, and procedures are designed to implement these goals. 2. They are social systems that adoptively respond to external and internal pressures, and they generate informal patterns that may both facilitate and hamper goal attainment. MANAGEMENT: ART OR SCIENCE? According to Joseph Massie (1964): ● The emphasis in any activity that is classed as an art is on applying skills and knowledge and accomplishing an end through deliberate efforts. It is clear that management is an art. It implies practice, experience, intuition and wisdom. ● Science, on the other hand, involves seeking new knowledge through the use of rigorous method of collecting data, classifying and measuring it, setting up hypotheses, and testing such hypotheses. It implies use of scientific method and rationality. MANAGEMENT AND CULTURE ● Although management is an organized body of knowledge with universal application, it is likewise culture-bound. ● It operates within a set of traditions, values, customs and beliefs – Management practice is molded by these cultural factors. MANAGER AND HIS ENVIRONMENT ● Central element in an organization is management while central character in management is the manager. ● Manager does not operate in a vacuum. He/she operates within an internal (mainly controllable factors) and external (relatively uncontrollable) environment which affects his/her decisions and performance and the performance of his/her organization. External Environment 1. Economic 2. Political – legal 3. Socio – cultural 4. Technological Predominantly Filipino Values 1. Social Acceptance – being taken by one’s fellow for what one is, or believes he is, and being treated in accordance with his status. This value is facilitated by the following intermediate values: a. Smooth Interpersonal Relations (SIR) – getting along with others in such a way as to avoid outward signs of conflict. It is acquired and preserved by three means: a.1. Pakikisama a.2. Euphemism a.3. Use of Go-between (tulay) b. Amor Propio – sensitivity to personal affront and functions to protect the individual against loss of social acceptance. Closely related to this value is the value of “hiya” (literally translated, it means sense of shame). 2. Emotional Closeness and Security in a Family – Facilitated through the following: a. Sacrificing individual interest for the good of the family b. Parental striving to give their children an education even at great cost to themselves c. Older children sacrificing for the younger siblings d. Mothers making sacrifices for the family 3. The Authority Value – families will remain close if someone exerts firm authority, and that such person must be respected and obeyed. Closely related to this value is the respect for traditions and rituals no matter how impractical they have become. 4. Personalism – this values attaches major importance to the personal factor which guarantees intimacy, warmth, and security of kinship and friends in getting things done. Some specific values related to this value are “tiwala” (trust), “kilala” (personal reference), and “walang-pakialam” (non-interference). 5. Utang Na Loob or “debt of gratitude” - granted when a transfer of goods or services takes place between individuals belonging to two different groups. It compels the recipient to show his gratitude proper by returning a favour “with interest” to be sure that he does not remain in the other’s debt. Social Welfare Agency Administration...Page | 4