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adm135
Text Box
Cummings, Thomas and Christopher G. Worley. Diagnosis and
Feedback at Adhikar. Organization development and change.
Boston. Cengage. 2015. 1133190456. pp. 257-261.
adm135
Text Box
09/28/2017
Sami Al-Qahtani
DIAGNOSIS AND FEEDBACK AT ADHIKAR*

A
dhikart is a human rights-based, non-
governmental organization (NGO). Head-
quartered in Jharkhand, India, it was
founded in 1985 to empower society's
poor and marginalized populations. It has
worked from within socially marginalized com-
munities to organize against the unjust distribu-
tion of wealth, resources, or power. Rajan
Mishra founded the organization and demon-
strated the importance of self-determination
by organizing people into unions and other col-
lectives. organization has grown from a
handful of people inspired by Mishra's vision
during its early days to over 200 employees.
Adhikar's scope of work and involvement
are outlined in Figure 1. Under the umbrella of
the Adivasi Sangathan unit, Adhikar organizes
regional laborers into unions. Adhikar also
works in the area of budgetary analysis and
expenditure monitoring of the state govern-
ment through its financial education unit called
Arthik Siksha. In addition, Adhikar administers a
scholarship program that seeks to fund and
train local level leaders and an emergency
response program that delivers relief services
in times of natural disasters.
INITIATING A CHANGE PROCESS-
ENTRY AND CONTRACTING
The Adhikar engagement began with contact
between Ms. Pia Mishra, an Adhikar regional
coordinator and an OD practitioner with

whom she had worked previously, to discuss
the possibility of an intervention. The organiza-
tion had grown substantially, and its founder
had ~-~--... , joined the central government,
necessitating his withdrawal from day-to-day
management. A second meeting was arranged
to explain the nature of the intended engage-
ment and seek formal permission to enter the
organization, gather information, and report
*This case was abridged and adapted from N. Nair and
N. Vohra, "The case of OD in an NGO in India," Journal
of Management Development, 30 (2011): 148-59.
tThe names of the organization, its location, and the
various individuals have been disguised to maintain
confidentiality.
back on the analysis and recommendations for
action.
Together, Pia and the OD practitioners
agreed to one- to two-hour interviews with
each coordinator concerning their views of
the organization, its culture, and any concerns
or suggestions. All the respondents were to be
assured of the confidentiality of their
responses. In addition, the OD practitioner
would visit a field location in Ghatsila to interact
with the workers and interview the regional
coordinator, Mr. Dubey. During this visit, she
would sit in on one of the regional meetings
and interview the field workers in small groups
of four or five. This was done to understand the
organization from the view of the fieldworkers
and insight into its issues through their

lens.
Finally, the OD practitioner would make
systematic observations of nonverbal beha-
viors, patterns of interaction, and descriptions
of the relationships among members during
interviews, focus groups, and the meetings
she attended. This would provide indications
of the organization's climate.
Following the data collection, a session
would be held with all the coordinators to pres-
ent the findings. This would serve as both a
mirroring (feedback) activity as well as a
forum for initiating dialogue and communica-
tion across the various units and members of
the organization.
Prior to the interviews, the OD practitioner
familiarized herself with Adhikar and its activi-
ties through a study of various reports and pub-
lications, including annual reports, budget
analysis reports of Arthik Siksha, newspaper
clippings, and other documents relating to the
organization. The OD practitioner then met
each of the coordinators of Adhikar, starting
with Pia, who served as the point of contact
throughout. Most of the issues and concerns
described below surfaced through these ses-
sions. She observed that while most coordina-
tors opened up freely to discuss their
concerns, others, like Ms. Devi (the Chaibasa
Regional Coordinator), were less open and did

Adhikar's Scope of Work
Adivasi
Sangha than
Forest Laborers
Mine Workers
Construction
Laborers
Village-level
Groups
Adhikar
Arthik
Siksha
Budget Analysis
Governance
Budget
Communications
Training
Scholarship
Program
Emergency
Relief
Ln

Cl
N
D)
-~
..5
a,
D)
ro
D)
QJ
u ,..__ _____________________________________ ___,@
not share much about their views on Adhikar and
its functioning.
Most coordinators had been with the organiza-
tion since its inception. All of them echoed a strong
sense of organizational identification and commit-
ment. There was high regard for the founder,
Mr. Mishra. However, Pia has had to prove herself
in the organization, although she is professionally
qualified and has been actively working in the
field. Interestingly, during meetings with Pia, she
never mentioned that she was the daughter of
the founder. The OD practitioner came to know
this only during the course of her later interviews.
DIAGNOSTIC DATA
The data from the interviews were categorized
using Weisbord's six-box model (Figure 2) and are
described below.

Issues Related to Purpose
There was considerable agreement on the organi-
zation's objective: facilitating social change through
rights-based mobilization and advocacy. However,
some coordinators believed that the organization
needed to work more towards the capacity build-
ing development of the tribal/regional unions and
not just their formation. The vision and future
direction of Adhikar as either rights-based or devel-
opmental or a combination of both did not have a
consensus among all the coordinators. The view
posed by some was that it was time for Adhikar
to move into developmental work, given that
much of the rights-based work had been success-
ful and the future lay in the area of capacity
building.
Issues Related to Structure
There appeared to be a lack of clarity regarding
Adhikar's structure. As the organization had
grown, its structure had evolved. Adhikar was cur-
rently structured along both geographic and pro-
gram dimensions (Figure 3). The various unions
and programs were managed by different coordina-
tors that all reported directly to the Managing
Trustee, Mr. Mishra. In addition, location coordina-
tors in Chaibasa, Ghatsila, and Saraikela worked to
see that .. the programs were implemented locally
and also reported to the Managing Trustee.
The structural confusion existed primarily
because of considerable overlap in reporting rela-
tionships and responsibilities between programs

and regions. Interviewees cited instances when
this caused conflict regarding reporting relation-
ships or precedence of command.
Weisbord's Six-Box Model
Leadership
en
0
N
0,
-~
~
0)
0,
"' Cl) c::
w
u
1-...----------------------------------------'@
Adhikar Reporting Structure
Governing Body
Managing Trustee
(Mr. Mishra)
Regional Coordinators Program Coordinators
Ghatsila

(Pia Mishra)
Coordinator
(Mr. Dubey)
Chaibasa
(Ms. Devi)
Saraikela
Adivasi
Sangathan
Arthik Siksha
Scholarship
Program
Construction
Union
ln
~
OJ
c::
-~
~
a,
0)
"' C)
c::
a,
u

L---------------~--------------------------'@
I
''
Coordinators r,ad considerable aJtonorny. '-iow-
ever, some 7e1t that the sense of '.'esoorsbili:Y and
accountabil;ty 1~at co:110s wlth empowerrrient was
lacking h Ach,'<ar Varous coocdi~ating mechan-
isms, such as periodic :neeti::gs arnong coordinators
to make decen-::ralizatlon effective, we:e abse:1t. !n
such a scenano, the differerit vr.its seerred to be
operatrng in silos wrf:1 11u;e coordination arid a to!al
absence of centralizatia~ at any leveL
Issues Related to Relationships
The rnost comrrion theme ir the inte'Views was tf'e
concem over a lack of coord;natlor. Most of the
prograr1 coordinators thought that there sho~ld be
niore ir.:egratiof'. arr1ong_ them, Each uriit of AdhiKar
was performi;;g we!!, bu tnere vvas Huie sf'arlng of
informa:i:lon. Although there was a high degree o.:
decentralizat;o:1 and autonomy at the coordinator
level, tne coo,.dinatirg mechanisms were absen~.
Tnere had been a notlceab!e decline, over tirr:e, ir.
the number o7 neetirgs wllen all the coordinatois
met and many cited this as a reason fo:· the disco'!-
noct they felt with Adhika' as a whole.
In talking with 0 1d versus new coord:c,ators.
the data supported the condusion t(lat tPere was
iittle trust betvveen the two groups, The new coor-

dinators felt their pr:,fessicnal growth and orogrnm
hitiatives were stym 1ed by tr,e o:d guard who
appeared to be protectic,g their turf. New coord na-
tcrs d:d r1ot feel welcomed by the more serior
coordinators. On the ot!ie 1• rana, 1he oloer mem-
bers in the organization believed :hat tl:e new coor-
dinators were over-ambitious and got right into the
field without rnsking an effort to urdersta1d the
organization. This concern was voiced by a few
but not all coordinatcrs, but the OD practitioner
believed it had 1fie potential to grow and create
conflict if not properiy add,esse::1.
A ~elated theme was that new eritrants did not
go tr-,rough a:1y formal soc:a)ization process, which
also manifestea in a :'eellng of not beirg we1comed
into the orgar:ization. The interviewees provided
exanples where new en 'ra1ts had '.o seek 'nfo,-
mation and figure things out for thernselv_es,
whlc~ further created a feeling of isolation,
Issues Related to Rewards
Adhikar begar as a rigf"r~s-based organization ar~d
rrost of the older employees chose to work there
because of their ded1catlor to the orlglnal cause.
Tl--1e :-iewer employees {some berter qualified pro-
less,onally) were getting pa;d hig~e, wages, which
was perceived to be discrir:1ir.atory and was a
source of_ discont.:ent among be older members.
As a NGO that ciependec on exter~al funding,
the issue of job security was also a matter o7 con-
cern. VV!th fv1:. Mlshra's deci!ning i:1vo,vernent,
there was a palpable fear that Adn:kar ~ight

close its ooors in ti"'e not too distant ·future. The
;r,tervlewees suggested that some form of assur-
ance irom the 1eadership of Adhikar might ease the
sense of ir,secu·'ity.
Issues Related to Helpful Mechanisms
Some coordinators were concerned about tr.e
ir'agularity of repo"ting. WhHe some coordinators
rnsde progress reoorts on time, others were con-
sistently tardy ar.d tn:s was poirited out as an
exa.-r,plc cf inconsistency in ieadership and autoo·-
ity. Most coordinators in the past hod reported ver--
bally on a regular basis to Mr. Mishra, who was
able to fill In gaos of ;nformation wr,enever
required for other ccordinatcrs. Thus. the formal
sys1erri of SLbmlttirg and readlrg o-:.hers' repo'."ts
had never ceer: ernphasized.
Issues Related to Leadership
Aah1kar's founder arad leader was co'lsidered
dyramic and charismat!c--a r:umber of peop1e
had been atl'acteo to t~e organizatior, by 11:s per-
sonality. At the time o"' the interviews, ML Mishra
he.ct taker a position in lrd:a's cencral govea1ment
and was mov,ng away from dav-to-day rnanage-
:-nent. :"r'is behavior was interpreted as an aopro-
oriate response to keep political alignments
~rensparent. However, it did create a !ea::lershio
vacuuri.
Perhaps because of his absence, many in the
orga:iizatJon w0re worried about a dearth of
second-level leaders in the organization. Even in
ois absence, M 0 • M1srra sttll appeared to be the

de facto leader. The ocgan zation seemed to be +ac-
ing a crisis in terms of a :eader who cou:d corn-
rna~d the sanoe :evel of respect and tollow,ng.
Two vvomen, Ms. Devi and Pia, were :i1ost
often cited as potential future leaders of Adhikar.
The Chaibasa coordinate', Ms. DevL had been
with the organization since its founding and was
supported by the people in her region. In the
eyes of some others, however, Ms. Devi was a
shadow of Mr. Mishra and a surrogate leader for
Pia. Ms. Devi was viewed consistently as a good
worker, but lacked the vision needed to lead a
highly motivated team. Ms. Devi had not been
very forthcoming in the interview.
In the absence of her father, Pia appeared to
be the chief decision maker. She had been with
the organization for five years as the Program
Director of Ghatsila, and operated from the head-
quarters while Ms. Devi preferred to work from her
Chaibasa location.
Both women, independently, echoed reserva-
tions as potential next leaders and mentioned their
gender as one of the reasons. They felt that the
other male coordinators and the community they
served might not be ready for a female leader. In
discussions with most of the other coordinators,
however, the OD practitioner got the sense that
they were open to having a woman leader. Some
of the coordination issues were expected to be

addressed if a new leader was appointed.
Questions
1. Based on the data provided in the case, what's
your analysis of the situation at Adhikar? Is the
organization in trouble? If so, how big is the
problem? Is the organization "doing fine?"
That is, are all the data presented just symp-
toms of an organization that is young and
growing?
2. Design the feedback meeting. What's the
purpose of the meeting, what's the agenda,
how will you present the data?
3. What activities do you believe the Adhikar
organization should take? What problems do
you think these actions would solve?
20170928132245963.pdfDiagnosis and Feedback at Adhikar.pdf
Overview (1 of 9)
Lesson Overview
This lesson (Chapters 7 and 8 in your textbook) focuses on your
leadership competencies. In this lesson, you
will learn how an individual is socially influenced and how we
socially influence others.
First, you need to explore foundational concepts and models of
leadership by reviewing the role of power and
political behavior for managers. You will need to explore
traditional leadership models and focus on

contemporary models of leadership. Leadership is like a
prism—you see something new and different each time
you look at it from a new angle. You will learn additional lenses
for understanding and addressing the range of
leadership issues and the pressures that leaders face. You could
also explore new perspectives and models of
leadership: transactional, authentic, transformational. Following
you understanding of leadership, you will get an
appreciation of power and politics in organizations. You will
understand the importance of politics and power, the
changing perspectives on power, the sources of power, and the
positive and negative impacts of power.
Lesson Objectives
After completing this lesson, you should be able to
explain the current leadership context and skills needed;
identify reasons why leadership is important;
define the different approaches to leadership;
understand the different perseptives in leadership in public
administration and public management;
understand the importance of politics and power;
explain the changing perspectives of power;
explain the sources of power;
use the concepts of balancing power; and
understand the positive and negative effects of power.
Lesson Readings & Activities

By the end of this lesson, make sure you have completed the
readings and activities found in the Lesson 7 Cour
se Schedule.
Key Questions (2 of 9)
Key Questions to Organize and Guide Your Study
When you read the textbook and extra reading materials, think
about the following questions:
What are the differences between leadership and management?
What are the differences between a
leader and a manager?
PADM510: ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR
Lesson 7: Power, Politics, and Leadership
https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/canvas/fa20/22081---
6375/common/wrapschedule%23lesson7
Sami Al-Qahtani
Should the president of United States be a leader or a manager?
Based on you understanding of the first
question, do you evaluate the president’s job using leadership
criteria or management criteria? Why?
Is a leader born or made? Why?
Might leadership style be the result (not cause) of subordinate
behavior? Why?
Is it possible to get rid of politics at an organization? Why or
why not?

Leadership Theories and Practices (3 of 9)
Leadership Theories and Practices
In the current context of recurrent crisis in the public sphere,
the
challenge of defining, finding, and supporting adequate
leadership has never been greater or more pressing. Crises
include the domestic and global recession and associated
sovereign debt crisis, multiple armed conflicts in which the
United States is involved, and global environmental and natural
disasters that challenge the capacity of public organizations to
respond effectively. Inadequate leadership contributed to many
of these crises. Despite unprecedented demonstrations of the
risks and consequences of inadequate leadership
capacity in public organizations, however, the profession of
public administration has not embraced leadership
as a fundamental element of success.
The question of leadership became more important while
administrative discretion, or actions taken outside the
explicit wording of legislation and policy, was seen as
unavoidable and inevitable in the complex world of public
policy. Use of judgment, and going beyond the exact wording of
legislation to achieve goals and objectives,
seemed to require skills other than the management skills
identified in the early public administration writings,
such as budgeting, organizational design, and so on.
As public administration embraced the idea of administrative
leadership, it imported many of the more
theoretical approaches to leadership into its scholarship and
education.
Traditional Approaches to Leadership
The study of leadership has gone through a number of distinct
eras or phases. Not everyone agrees on the

details, but it is fair to say that leadership began with the so-
called "great man" or "traits" approach. The traits
approach to leadership focused exclusively on the leader
himself (rarely "herself," given the times) and the
supposed traits leaders possessed that separated them from
lesser individuals. These traits might be physical
(strength, beauty, size), intellectual (intelligent, wise, decisive),
or moral (humble, other-regarding, patriotic). This
approach could help identify why leadership was an important
aspect to explain historical events or the
performance of an organization, but by definition it could not
train people to be leaders. Leaders were born
different than the rest of us.
Researchers of leadership also consider the behavior of leaders
into their studies rather just the traits that
leaders possess (Denhardt, Denhardt & Aristigueta, 2016).
Different types of leadership have been identified
and examined. The essential and widely used distinciton is
relationship-oriented and task-oriented. Different
approaches suggest different types of leaderhip styles. For
example, the mangerial grid has two demensions:
concern for production and concern for people. In another
approach, situational leadership, its emphasis is "on
the relationship between the leader and his or her followers"
(Denhardt, Denhardt, & Aristigueta, 2019, p. 201).
The leadership style dpends on the the readiness levels of the
followers.
The contingency approach takes both individual and sitatuional
factors into consideration. The leader
effectiveness is "contingent on the relationship between the
style of leadership and the degree to which the
situation enables the leader to exert influence" (Denhardt,

Denhardt, Aristigueta, & Rawlings, 2019, p. 203).
Contemporary Approaches to Leadership
Denhardt, Denhardt, Aristigueta, and Rawlings (2019) state that
most of the contemporary approaches agree
that "leaders may be born but that they also can be made—or at
least improved on" (p. 205). Also, besides
traits, the contemporary approaches also look into other aspects
associated with leadership, including skills,
competencies, and strategies.
In 1978, the eminent political historian James MacGregor Burns
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_MacGregor_Burns)
published a book simply titled Leadership. Burns used the
differentiation between two types of leadership,
transactional and transformational, to build his case for the
importance of leadership:
Transactional leadership involves exchanges between leaders
and followers. It accepts values as given
and does not challenge the status quo.
Transformational leadership involves a leader-follower
relationship that alters the values of the
followers, convinces them of the need to reorder their view of
the world and motivates them, in the words
of a U.S. Army recruiting jingle, "to be all that you can be."
Denhardt, Denhardt, Aristigueta, and Rawlings (2019) have
examined different contemporary approaches:
value-based leadership;
servant leadership;
positive leadership; and

shared, connective, and collaborative leadership.
References
Denhardt, R. B., Denhardt, J. V., Aristigueta, M. R., &
Rawlings, K. C. (2019). Managing human behavior in
public and nonprofit organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE
Publications, Ltd.
Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.
Tension from Public Administration's History (4 of 9)
Tension From Public Administration's History: The Role of
Leaders
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_MacGregor_Burns
In public administraiton, leadership is also a key concept.
However, there is a long-standing debate in the public
service literature over the appropriate role of leaders
(managers) in a constitutional democracy.
Wilson (1887), for instance, called for a separation
between politics and administration to avoid undue
influence of the one on the other. Appleby (1973) and others
rejected this notion, pointing out that government is
different from private enterprise and that private managers can
only succeed in public leadership positions with
a public interest attitude.
Waldo (1948) eschewed scientific administration as proposed by
Taylor (1947), contending that the public

service needed its own science of administration that was
different from private business.
Selznik (1949) anticipated modern leadership theory with his
call for cooptation of the public into government
decision-making, as well as his description of transformational
leadership principles. The Hoover Commission
(1949) recommended empowerment of public executives,
advocating for instance that they be allowed to
reorganize departments without congressional approval.
Twenty years later, Kaufman (1969) correctly identified the
three-way tension in public administration between
representativeness, political neutrality, and executive
leadership. He predicted the recurrent themes of reform
around decentralization is to remove politics from
administration and to remove administration from politics, thus
leading to the neutrality and independence of the civil service.
New Public Management (NPM), with its
foundation of management based on public-choice theories of
efficiency and output, sparked a sequence of
privatization initiatives in the public service, resulting in the
“hollowing out” (Hood, 1991) of government, a term
referring to services provided by private contractors as opposed
to public employees.
Two Opposing Schools of Thought
This century-old debate resulted in the establishment of two
opposing schools of thought among public
administration scholars regarding the role of leadership in the
public sector, both of which, ironically, recommend
a diminished role. Advocates for a market-based approach to
service delivery in the public sector believe this
approach would bring about the best efficiency and
accountability. Public interest advocates, on the other hand,
point out the shortcomings of economic individualism, and

believe public servants should only follow the
directions of politicians, courts, and legislators. In both schools,
public managers serve a secondary role,
allowing others—private contractors or elected
representatives—to do the “real work” of government.
Relation to New Public Management (NPM)
The shortcomings of the NPM led a number of scholars to
express concern regarding the overreaching or
misdirection of public managers functioning as economic
individualists. These public administration authors
warn that strong leadership may be a danger to the democratic
process. They worry that managers in such a
system have an inherent propensity to shirk, to be opportunistic,
to maximize their own self-interest, to act with
guile, and to behave in a way that constitutes a moral hazard.
They believe that public managers should be
beholden to their political bosses, and that while their ability to
set and carry out goals is an important function,
their actions should be constrained by the goals and purposes of
the institutions they represent. Public
managers should work to examine the system as a whole, and
work to integrate their role in the system into the
greater whole through goal setting that reflects public values of
justice and equity rather than business values of
maximum economic efficiency and maximizing self-interests.
References
Appleby, P. H. (1973). Big democracy. New York, NY: Alfred
A. Knopf.
Hood, C. (1991). A public management for all seasons? Public
Administration, 69(1), 3–19.

Kaufman, H. (1969). Administrative decentralization and
political power. Public Administration Review, 29(1), 3–
15.
Selznick, P. (1949). TVA and the grass roots. Berkeley, CA: UC
Berkeley Press.
Taylor, F. W. (1947). Scientific management. New York, NY:
Harper & Row.
The Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of
the Government (1949). Task Force Report on
National Security Organization. January 1949.
Waldo, D. (1948). The administrative state: A study of the
political theory of American public administration (2nd
ed.). New York, NY: Holmes and Meier.
Wilson, W. (1887). The study of administration. Political
Science Quarterly, 2(2), 197–222.
Problems with Leadership in the Public Service (5 of 9)
Problems With Leadership in the Public Service
Despite the extensive debate regarding the relative merits of
different forms of leadership in public administration
throughout its
history, or perhaps as a result of the lack of a clear consensus
regarding either the role or the form of leadership in public
sectors,
there are a number of startling examples of failed public
leadership
that have in turn led to high-profile mishaps. For example,
inadequate leadership contributed significantly to the
Challenger

and Columbia space shuttle disasters. Failed leadership at the
federal, state, and local levels played a prominent role in the
poor
federal response to Hurricane Katrina. Shortcomings of
leadership were also instrumental in the Federal Home
Loan Bureau’s role in the recent housing crisis.
These failures demonstrate the importance of leadership in
public organizations. Nevertheless, challenges to
the appropriateness of “managers” in public service are
reflected by a large gap between the public and general
leadership literature. Fairholm (2004) notes that “it has been a
struggle to discuss the philosophy of leadership
in public administration” (p. 577). As an example of this
struggle, speaking to those who delve into public sector
management research, Cook (1998) cautioned “wariness in
trying to reach beyond art to science in developing
the political core of public management thus may be
appropriate. Nevertheless, it is certainly possible for
scholars to derive a set of testable hypotheses from the
Madisonian framework” (p. 230). There is an extensive
literature on public leadership, but it has not progressed to the
level of the general leadership literature. There is
a broad consensus regarding its lack of depth, breadth, and
substance. There have been calls for research
efforts to help better define the need, structure, tools, processes,
and functions of leadership in the public sector.
Increased Complexity of Public Organizations' External
Environment (6 of 9)
Increased Complexity of Public Organizations' External
Environment
The current complex public

service environment reflects the
atmosphere following the
September 11 attacks. This
requires public leaders to balance
operational priorities with
unanticipated emergent needs,
particularly in the setting of an
increased focus on performance
placing additional demands on
public service leadership. It is true
that our country has never been
without significant economic,
military, social, or political upheaval. The Great Depression
was more disruptive and destructive than our recent
financial crisis. The Second World War was more costly in
terms of money and lives than the Iraq war. The
Haitian earthquake and Hurricane Katrina are among the most
destructive natural disasters in modern history,
but there have been much worse. Nevertheless, the current
period is remarkable for the frequency and severity
of public crisis as well as the ongoing unprecedented
transformation of the economic, technological, and political
American landscape.
Regardless of the comparative seriousness of today’s problems
compared to earlier years, there exists a
compelling and urgent need for modern leadership in the public
service, and a concomitant need for academic
support to supply the necessary understanding, principles, and
structure of modern public service leadership.
Increased Complexity of Public Organizations' Internal
Environment (7 of 9)
The Increased Complexity of Public Organizations'
Internal Environment

Public organizations’ internal environments have also become
increasingly complex. Schneider (2002) uses the
term radix organization for this new level of complexity,
describing organizations as flexible value chains and
support activities for customers. The term captures the
complicated structures that public organizations have
assumed, with outsourcing arrangements of various services,
ambiguous oversight structures, etc. In the
bureaucratic approach to organizational structure, the
organization’s leader has direct power and control over
the remainder of the organization. In the radix organization,
however, the leader's success depends on an ability
to interact with the organization’s various stakeholders, an
environment in which many public organizations must
function. With the influence of political leaders, legislative
oversight bodies, private interest groups, and private
citizens on public organizations, the command and control
approach is outdated at best, failing to provide the
flexibility and adaptability required for these dynamic
environments.
Radix organizations are characterized by structures such as
teams, alliances, contingent workers, and
outsourcing arrangements, all of which are characteristic of
many public organizations. As opposed to
bureaucratic organizations built on a strictly vertical power
structure, radix organizations understand different
types of authority in nonvertical relationships.
CMS as an Example
An example of a radix organization is the Centers for Medicare
and
Medicaid Services (CMS), which is tasked with implementing
the recently

adopted healthcare reform legislation. CMS’ mission of
financing and
overseeing the care of elderly and disadvantaged patients is
provided by a
network of private contractors that in turn interact with many
thousands of
care providers. The Medicaid program has the added complexity
of being
administered at the state level, with no two states having the
same eligibility,
program structure, etc. Thus, Donald Berwick, President
Obama’s appointee
for the CMS directorship, must work with this network of
independent providers and insurers, 50 different state
legislatures and governors, and a deeply divided U.S. Congress
to implement a vast legislative mandate (over
2,400 pages) that lacks clarity on many fronts. There is little
question that the traditional bureaucratic, command-
and-control approach to such an undertaking would have little
likelihood of success. Rather, Berwick must work
collaboratively with this vast array of stakeholders in order to
carry out this task.
The Need for New Leadership Models (8 of 9)
The Need for New Leadership Models
Radix organizations such as the
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services require new leadership
structures to deal with their
increasingly complex environments.
The law of requisite variety states
that an organization must have the
same level of variety (complexity) as
its environment in order to
successfully interact with that

environment (Ashby, 1960). Thus, as
public organizations’ internal and
external environments become more complex, their
organizational structures must similarly increase their
complexity so that the organizati ons can successfully
accomplish their mission.
The traditional bureaucratic structure with its strictly
hierarchical power structure was developed for an earlier
age. Previously, there was little ambiguity as to the roles of
public organizations and their leaders. This dynamic
no longer prevails. Through various periods of reform, political
adventurism, and judicial review, public
organizations have become more complex, with multiple
stakeholders, oversight mechanisms, mixtures of
private and public service delivery, and citizen involvement. As
per the law of requisite variety, this increased
complexity requires that public organizations’ structures
become correspondingly more complex and diverse in
order to successfully interact in this environment. Leader ship
will determine how successfully public
organizations are able to adapt to their changing environments.
It is clear that as the complexity of the U.S.
society has increased, traditional top-down forms of civic
leadership have become ineffective. In order for the
public sector to deal with the myriad challenges it faces in
health care, Social Security, security, defense,
interaction with the private sector, and the increasingly
unrealistic expectations of the public, strong and dynamic
leadership will be even more crucial.
Learning Case (9 of 9)
Learning Case

Sami Al-Qahtani
Learning Case
It is time for us to apply what we have learned in this course to
some real-life managerial situations. The cases we
have selected provide you with examples of organizational
problems that you probably have not had the
opportunity to experience firsthand. In a relatively short period
of time, you will have the chance to appreciate and
analyze the problems faced by many different organizations and
to understand how managers have tried to deal
with them. When you analyze these cases, you are expected to
use the fundamental knowledge you have
learned. The theory and concepts covered in this course help
reveal problems in the organizations being studied
and allow you to evaluate the solutions. You are also expected
to intensely engage in a discussion with your
classmates and gain experience in presenting your ideas to
others. Your classmates may have analyzed the
issues differently from you, and they will want to argue w ith
your points before they will accept your conclusions,
so be prepared for debate. This is how decisions are made in the
actual organizational world.
"Diagnosis and Feedback at Adhikar"
This week, we focus on the "Diagnosis and Feedback at
Adhikar" case in e-Reserves. This case provides a
good opportunity for you to understand the importance of
defining and solidifying organizational leadership
before beginning any change. You will also get in touch on the
steps involved in gathering, analyzing,
diagnosing, and reporting on the health and effectiveness of an
organization.

First, you need to analyze the case individually. Then, post your
case analysis in the case discussion at the end of
this module by the end of the first week. Finally, discuss further
with the entire class during the second week. I will
suggest that you analyze the case by addressing the following
five items:
1. Key Issues: Briefly describe the leading issues in this case
using the data presented in the case
description.
2. Diagnosis: Define the nature of the problem as social (e.g.,
related to goals, values, culture, or
psychological climate) or technical (e.g., related to
technological, structural, or managerial work processes).
Some cases will present a successful story rather than a
problem. For these cases, you need to define the
nature of success as social or technical.
3. Levels: Define the level or levels of the problems/success
factors. Are they individual, interpersonal, and/or
organizational?
4. Processes: Define the process problems in the case. Do they
result from poor communication, missing
leadership, muddled decision-making, incomplete problem
solving, ineffective group norms and rules,
inadequate conflict resolution strategies—or some other reason?
For some cases, you need to define the
process factors that contribute to the success.
5. Redesign: Describe the steps you would take to take to
redesign this situation to resolve the problems
presented in the case. If the case study presented an example of
success, how would you further improve
the situation or can you identify reasons for the success? That

is, you will propose four to six concise
recommendations for people, technology, and structure changes
at the individual, interpersonal, and/or
PADM510: ORGANIZATION BEHAVIOR
Lesson 7: Power, Politics, and Leadership
Sami Al-Qahtani
organizational levels.
Bi-Weekly Case Study
Specifically, you need to do the following:
1. In the first week, individually analyze the five items listed
above and write a detailed case analysis
(usually about 800 words). By 11:59 p.m. (ET) Sunday of the
first week, please post your analysis in
the discussion for this case study, which is open to the entire
class.
2. Then, during the second week, each of you must read and
make comments to at least 5 case
analyses done by your classmates in the discussion for this case
study. You must also respond to
any comments/questions made by other students on your own
case analysis by 11:59 p.m. (ET)
Sunday of the next week.
Please note that there is no standard case analysis, which is
unfortunately the reality of any “soft” social science.
However, some responses are better than others, which is how I
will grade the case summaries. "Better" in this
case means more logical, more in-depth, more consistent

internally, more critical, and more clearly written. In the
grading, I will also take into consideration your comments on
other students’ case analyses and how you respond
to any questions, concerns, or comments made by other students
on your case analysis. If you successfully finish
these three tasks, you could get up to eight points for this case.

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