Health and Human Services Discussion

Discussion Paper
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Discussion Paper
The article highlights how the management of Baltimore County Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ensures delivery of the best care, for every patient, every time was achieved in the organization by implementing a quality improvement plan that includes performance measures for each program in the Department of Health. Another strategy involves development of an organizational culture that allows the workers of the organization to work in a way that is best for patients. Staffs who work at HHS are asked to come up with ideas to improve the quality of services. Performance measures and appraisals are used to gauge how the organization is faring in terms of delivering the best care (Kalyanam, 2015).
The second issues looks at how HHS’s management ensures that the goals of the organization is aligned from top to bottom. According to the author, this is ensured by the organizational design structure of HHS that has both the functional structure and divisional structure both of which are examples of hierarchical organization structures. This type of design structure is vital in ensuring goals of the organization are aligned from top to bottom. Communication among the workers is a vital key to successful operation by the organizational members. Regular meetings are held that gives insight into effective communication within the organizational structure.
The article relate to chapter 11 of Understanding and Managing Public Organizations by Hal Rainey in terms leadership theories in management and organizational behavior. In particular, the theory that is addressed in this article as it relates to the book is the contingency theory of organizational structure. This theory provides a major framework for the study of organizational design (Woodward, 2015). It holds that the most effective organizational structural design is where the structure fits the contingencies. Contingency theory can be applied to a number of organizational characteristics, e.g. leadership or strategy, structural contingency theory focuses on the study of organizational structure (Woodward, 2015). The major key element of structural contingency theory is that organizational performance results from a fit between characteristics of structural ...