POLICE MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR - A CONTINGENCY APPROACH

• NCJ Number: 58751
• Author(s): R R ROBERG
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 363 pages
• Corporate Author: West Publishing Co
• Sale Source: West Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Instructional Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. CRIMINAL JUSTICE SERIES

Annotation

AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND POLICE MANAGEMENT, THIS TEXT INCORPORATES RESEARCH FROM THE BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES WITH MANAGERIAL THEORY AND PRACTICAL POLICE ADMINISTRATION KNOWLEDGE.

Abstract

A CONTINGENCY CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK IS EMPLOYED THROUGHOUT THE TEXT TO ORIENT THE READER TO SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT APPROACHES. AN OVERVIEW OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF MANAGEMENT THEORY AND A DISCUSSION OF THE APPLICABILITY OF CONTINGENCY MANAGEMENT TO POLICE ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR OPEN THE VOLUME, WHICH THEN MOVES ON TO SUMMARIZE RESEARCH METHODS IN MANAGEMENT. THE KANSAS CITY, MO., PREVENTIVE PATROL EXPERIMENT IS PRESENTED AS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE OF A SOCIAL SCIENCE, POLICE-RELATED FIELD EXPERIMENT ON A LARGE SCALE. THE ORGANIZATION, ITS STRUCTURE, AND FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS ARE COVERED, AS ARE THE INDIVIDUALS WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION AND HUMAN BEHAVIOR AND MOTIVATION. GROUP INFLUENCES, GROUP COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS (E.G., THE WHEEL, THE 'Y', THE CIRCLE TYPE), AND GROUP CONTROL OVER STIMULI TO WHICH MEMBERS ARE EXPOSED AND WHICH AFFECT BELIEFS, ATTITUDES AND VALUES, AND JOB-RELATED SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE ARE EXAMINED AS WELL AS THE INFLUENCES OF GROUP LEADERS ON THEIR GROUP MEMBERS. MAJOR LEADERSHIP THEORIES, SUCH AS PARTICIPATORY MANAGEMENT AND THE CONTINGENCY THEORY ARE DISCUSSED AND A CASE STUDY IS PRESENTED TO ILLUSTRATE THE PARTICIPATIVE MANAGEMENT STYLE. MAJOR INFLUENCES ON ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN ARE EXPLAINED AND A SUMMARY TABLE IS PRESENTED WHICH COMBINES THE MAJOR CONTINGENCY THEMES IN TWO CLASSIFICATIONS: CLOSED/STABLE/MECHANISTIC AND OPEN/ADAPTIVE/ORGANIC. LATER SECTIONS CONSIDER JOB DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND THE CONTINGENCY APPROACH TO BOTH, THE DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING OF HUMAN RESOURCES, AND PLANNING FOR ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT. THE FINAL SECTION, BOTH PRESCRIPTIVE AND PREDICTIVE, CALLS FOR THE DECLINE OF HIGHLY BUREAUCRATIC STRUCTURES AND MANAGEMENT STYLES IN POLICE ADMINISTRATION, BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT SUITED TO THE TURBULENT ENVIRONMENTS WITHIN POLICE AGENCIES AND TO THE INFLUX OF YOUNG, HIGHLY EDUCATED STAFFS. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS, STUDY OBJECTIVES, AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES ACCOMPANY EACH CHAPTER, AND NAME AND SUBJECT INDEXES ARE PROVIDED.