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Curriculum Center Browse Bibliography Build EPacket Pricing Structure Distribution Process Management Control in Nonprofit Organizations
 
Office of Community Development
Author(s):
Young, David W.
Taylor, Graeme M.
Functional Area(s):
   General Management
   Management Control Systems
   Organizational Behavior
Setting(s):
   Nonprofit
Difficulty Level: Beginner
Pages: 5
Teaching Note: Available. 
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First Page and the Assignment Questions:
Since its inception, the OCD [Office of Community Development] has been described as a “high-visibility” agency. It was created to address the city’s rising poverty rate and the resulting urban unrest. The personal interest of the mayor and the energy of its first director helped it achieve a rapid beginning. There was a sense of urgency in planning, an impatience with bureaucratic delays, and a driving desire to achieve results. A new agency had to be organized and staffed, and new programs had to be launched -- all of this under intense public scrutiny from a community in crisis.

    Because there was no fund of accumulated wisdom at the bottom, as in an established agency, the OCD inevitably developed “topdown” organizational procedures, particularly in the area of planning. To a much greater degree than in an established agency, in which ongoing programs comprise the bulk of operations and consume most of the budget, the OCD had considerable freedom to determine the magnitude and direction of its efforts. It was natural, therefore, that ORPE [Office of Research, Programming and Evaluation, pronounced “oar-pea”] had a major role in shaping the agency.


    The speaker was Robert Oliver, recently appointed head of the Programming and Evaluation (P&E) Division of ORPE. He had arrived at a time when the OCD was considering a proposal to transfer its Budget Branch from the OCD’s Office of Management to the P&E Division. A meeting had been scheduled for the following week so that all the involved parties could discuss the issue and reach a decision. Mr. Oliver needed to formulate and justify a recommendation. He also needed to prepare a suggested reorganization for P&E that would accommodate the Budget Branch should a transfer take place.

    Although he had just joined the OCD, Mr. Oliver had been well briefed on the special circumstances that led to the proposed transfer. He explained:

From the OCD’s inception, ORPE was the principal point of contact with the Mayor, the city’s Bureau of the Budget, and other city agencies—particularly on substantive budgetary matters. Because of the newness of the OCD’s programs, ORPE was frequently the most logical source of ready information on OCD’s developing programs and budgets. During city council hearings, Dr. Kendall [ORPE’s first director] and his staff developed an excellent rapport with the those city entities most closely connected with the OCD’s activities. In a well-established agency, these people would most probably have dealt with the agency’s Budget Branch.

Assignment


1. Should the Budget Branch be transferred from the Office of Management to ORPE?

2. If so, what internal reorganization for ORPE would you recommend?