Diagnosing Organizations: Methods, Models, and Processes (Applied Social Research Methods)

"The book is a very sound piece of work defining a set of soft tools that can be applied to organizational situations. It is centered on the concept of the open systems and where this is deficient, it brings in a political model. This reader enjoyed the book and looks forward to a further volume."

--Systems Practice

How can organizations handle the opportunities and threats posed by rapidly changing markets and external conditions? How can they improve their overall effectiveness? The second 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. This second edition also continues to focus on group processes and the quality of working life.

Professionals and researchers in management, evaluation, public administration, and sociology will appreciate the practical guidelines this volume offers.

Michael I. Harrison, Ph.D, is a Senior Social Scientist in the Center for Delivery, Organization, and Markets at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). He leads Agency activities in Health System Design, manages and contributes to research in delivery systems across the United States, and conducts research on organizational improvement and implementation of system change.

His publications include papers in leading health services research journals, Diagnosing Organizations: Methods, Models, and Processes (Sage, 2005), and Implementing Change in Health Systems: Market Reforms in the United Kingdom, Sweden, and the Netherlands (SAGE, 2004). He has given presentations and led workshops at scientific and professional conferences throughout the United States and Europe.Dr. Harrison holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Michigan. He was previously a faculty member at the State University of New York (SUNY), Stony Brook, and at Bar Ilan University in Israel; a visiting professor at Boston College and Haifa University; and a visiting scholar at Brandeis University, Georgetown University, Harvard Business School, and the Nordic School of Public Health.