Multiple Constituencies, Differential Power, and the Question of Effectiveness in Human Service Organizations

A multiple constituencies model of human service organizations identifies twelve interest groups which must be considered when effectiveness questions are raised. The differential power of the interest groups suggests that some groups' preferences are likely to be emphasized over others. The relationship between power inside the organization and that on the outside is analyzed. Recent trends in the growth andmiiitancy of professional associations and employee groups suggest that internal control by senior administrators is increasingly challenged and variable. Future studies of effectiveness in the human services are encouraged to remain sensitive to the effects of constituency interests and power on the establishment and implementation of priorities and goals. The mandate to human service organizations (HSO's) that they "provide service to clients" (Hasenfeld and English, 1974) is more problematic than appears on the surface. To "provide service," an organization must first survive yet policies and procedures which facilitate survival may contradict a "service" orientation (Glisson and Martin, 1980). Furthermore, service organizations both contain and operate in the midst of multiple constituencies or interest groups which hold conflicting and incompatible expectations regarding their proper role and outputs (Schmidt and Kochan, 1976; Whetten, 1977, 1978). Clients, for example, tend to hold different expectations for a service agency than do agency administrators or the public-at-large (Scott, 1977). With different constituencies expecting, and often demanding, different types of outputs, a question can be raised as to how an organization's success at fulfilling its mandate or goals is to be evaluated or assessed (Blackwell and Bolman, 1977; Keeley, 1978; Kouzes and Mico, 1979). The aim of the present paper is to present and develop a multiple constituencies model of human service organizations and to analyze its implications for Understanding the concept of effectiveness in a social services context. Attention is given to the correlates and consequences of power differentials among the constituent groups with particular emphasis on the implications of such differences 'for influencing the types of goals which members of the organization are likely to 'pursue.