<p> Although there are many organizational culture studies that have been conducted, very few have been conducted in the context of a human service organization (Jaskyte, 2010). Organizational culture has been described as a neglected area of exploration as it relates to the enhancement of quality of life for persons with disabilities (Gillet & Stenfert-Kroese, 2003). </p><p> This research took the form of a qualitative case study of the culture of one human service organization. This study may make three specific contributions to the organizational culture literature. These include: (a) providing an empirical study of a human service organization's culture, (b) attempting to describe and understand specific mechanisms that may contribute to culture formation and maintenance, and (c) identifying aspects of a human service organizations culture that may help or hinder their effectiveness. Fourteen participants were be engaged in the research. The participants were associated with three different position levels. </p><p> The participating organization presented a strong and unified culture. The espoused theories and the theories-in-use of the organization's founders were highly congruent. The founders of the organization conveyed a sense of mission that was readily adopted by initial hires. The mission of the organization was formulated around principles of highly individualized support, community inclusion, quality of life, and a consistent regard for the dignity and respect of the individuals supported by the organization. Potential contributions of this research include: (a) being one of the few qualitative studies related to the culture of an organization that provides services for persons with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD); (b) a research design that provides a relatively comprehensive approach to the study of a single organizational culture; (c) a rich account of how human service workers, from multiple position levels, experience their culture; (d) a preliminary analysis of how leadership may influence culture in the context of a human service environment, and (e) an exploratory investigation as it relates to discovering additional approaches that may assist in evaluating the relationship between culture and organizational effectiveness. The following is a listing of potential future directions for research related to this type of study: (a) a replication of this study, or an approximation thereof, with one or more human service organizations; (b) additional research related to the congruence of, or lack thereof, between espoused theories and theories-in-use held by staff members of human service organizations; (c) the development of mixed methods approaches (quantitative/qualitative) to assessing and measuring congruence between espoused theories and theories-in-use; (d) the relationship between specific types of organizational cultures and effectiveness as it relates to supporting persons intellectual/developmental disabilities and perhaps more specifically, challenging behavior; and (e) research related to various leadership models and behavior as it relates to culture formation in human service organizations.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3630080 |
| Date | 19 September 2014 |
| Creators | Jaques, David W. |
| Publisher | The Chicago School of Professional Psychology |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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