Diagnosing Organizations: Methods, Models, And Processes Vol 8

Description:
How can organizations handle the opportunities and threats posed by rapidly changing markets and external conditions? How can they improve their overall effectiveness? The Third Edition of Diagnosing Organizations contains up-to-date treatments of techniques and models for diagnosing how organizations deal with challenges like these. The book also shows how consultants and applied researchers can help managers find ways to enhance organizational effectiveness. The completely revised edition of this best-selling book presents the latest techniques for gathering and analyzing diagnostic data. It also covers models and methods for diagnosing organizational designs, everyday practices, fits among organizational components, organizational politics, and power relations. Ethical and political dilemmas of consulting and diagnosis are also explored. The book retains its original coverage of the process of working with members of a client organization to plan and administer a diagnostic study and communicate its results.

Table of Contents:
Preface 1. Diagnosis: Approaches and Methods Uses of Diagnosis Three Keys to Successful Diagnosis Diagnosis in Turbulent Times Conclusion and Plan of the Book Exercise 2. Open Systems Models Using the Open Systems Approach Gathering and Analyzing Data Assessing Effectiveness Assessing Feasibility of Change and Choosing Appropriate Interventions Exercises 3. Assessing Individual and Group Behavior Model for Diagnosing Individual and Group Behavior Action Model for Group Task Performance Diagnostic Methods and Procedures Exercises 4. System Fits and Organizational Politics Diagnosing System Fits Emergent Behavior and Culture Versus Official Mandates Assessing the Impacts of Fits and Gaps Power and Politics Exercises 5. Environmental Relations Guidelines for Diagnosis Diagnostic Methods Exercises 6. Challenges and Dilemmas of Diagnosis The Goals Dilemma The Politics Dilemma The Professionalism Dilemma Conclusion Conclusion Appendix A: General Orientation Interview Appendix B: Instruments for Diagnosis and Assessment Appendix C: A Guide to Diagnosing Behavior During Meetings Appendix D: Resources for Developing Expertise in Diagnosis References Index About the Author

Author Biography:
Michael I. Harrison is an internationally known scholar of organizations and health systems. He is Senior Research Scientist at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in Rockville, Maryland. He holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Michigan. He has been a faculty member at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and Bar-Ilan University in Israel, a visiting professor at the School of Management at Boston College, and a visiting scholar at Brandeis University, Georgetown University, Harvard Business School, and the Nordic School of Public Health. He has worked as a consultant and conducted research in businesses, services, government organizations, worker-managed cooperatives, and voluntary groups. His publications include Organizational Diagnosis and Assessment: Bridging Theory and Practice (with A. Shirom; Sage, 1999) and Implementing Change in Health Systems: Market Reforms in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the Netherlands (Sage, 2004).