Administration and Supervision Flashcards
A major advantage of a bureaucratic organizational structure is its ability to:
Manage large groups of people more efficiently
Also known as task leadership, this leadership style prioritizes the accomplishment of tasks within established deadlines:
instrumental leadership
The primary instrumental task of supervision is:
Getting the work done
A large multi-service agency develops a new organizational chart. The most probable appearance of the chart will be:
A regular pyramid to reflect authority relationships
The role of an executive director of a professional organization frequently causes special dilemmas. At times, the complexity of the dual roles of administrator and professional played by a director results in the development of institutionalized role conflict. The conflict can usually be resolved by:
Appointing an administrator who combines a professional education with managerial skills
In supervision, when the supervisor uses the idea of “one good question deserves another,” he is playing the game of:
abdication
(failure to fulfill a responsibility or duty)
In the informal organization of a social work agency, one would not expect to find
1. Mutual assistance
2. Social ranking
3. Consensus
4. Printed communication
The correct answer is 4.
Informal structures do not rely on the more formal mechanisms for communication, Thus, a social group is unlikely to send an interoffice memo with a lunchtime agenda for discussion.
The director of a large agency wants to stimulate loyalty and commitment to client service. She wants to promote positive staff morale and encourage staff to go beyond ritualized service to clients. The best method for accomplishing these goals would be to:
Emphasize staff development to provide a sense that the agency is concerned about professional growth.
Expert power refers to:
knowledge
Referent power suggests a power based on:
a relationship with another
A supervisor works with a social worker whose learning pattern is that of an experimental-empathetic learner. The worker is intuitive and uses self-appraisals quite well. To enhance the worker’s learning, the supervisor might:
Offer repetitive experience with different cases
A normative framework in an agency usually refers to:
Values
The major advantage of a bureaucracy for social workers is that:
Expertise can be developed in a specific area or specialty
An inherent problem in providing client services in large formal organizations is that:
As rules and regulations increase, the organization may ignore clients’ needs
Large organizations tend to drift toward self-maintenance and grow careless in their service delivery functions as they become more bound to procedures and rules.
A supervisor informs her unit that she wants questionnaires filled out by the end of the week. By Friday it is apparent that no one intends to submit them. Pat Macket, a line social worker, says, “I heard they are for research purposes.” She suggests that everyone complete them. The workers respond by completing the forms. Ms. Macket is using:
Functional authority
The social worker has offered a specific suggestion and a rationale for cooperation. Her authority is not informal or formal, but rather linked to the activity.
An administrator wishes to seek compliance with agency rules and regulations. The least effective plan is
1. Rewards
2. Laissez-faire democracy
3. The social debt system
4. Punishment or deprivation of rewards
The correct answer is 2.
Laissez-faire styles of leadership tend to produce non-compliance, confusion, and diffused, unfocused activity.
An example of the latent function of a committee is to:
Provide opportunities to exercise informal power and receive rewards
Six social workers worry about the effect of caseload increases on services. After meeting twice, they decide to request a limit on new intakes. To stimulate discussion, they decide to propose limiting intake interviews to two per week at the next staff meeting. Other staff are prepared for the discussion during coffee breaks and at lunch. The social workers are involved in:
An informal organization
The question is somewhat tricky, since it initially sounds as if the workers are engaging in worker organizing. However, it is clear from the question that the workers are not forming an organization, but are trying to address a particular policy issue through informal means.
