Metropolitan Welfare Project
Introduction
As Murphy’s Law states “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”. This is evident in the case of the Metropolitan Welfare Department. The welfare system was in desperate straits and after a total revamp of the welfare’s department and offices, the Clearly Street office began to crumble under the new structure. What had been a sombre and quiet place of business, before the re-structure, was now riddled with problems and in need of effective solutions.
Summary of the facts
The Metropolitan Welfare system was in a state of imminent collapse. The system cost 3 million to operate yearly and cost increased by 18% annually. The regional offices were suffering from inadequate facilities. The department was over staff by 25% and there was no chain of command. Fraud and over payment took place in the organization as well as some clients were violent and verbally abusive.
The mayor’s office hired a management consulting firm headed by a young Harvard graduate to make suggestions and control organizational problems. The interview process took two months after which the consulting firm presented a reorganization plan to solve the most pressing departmental problems.
The Cleary Street Office
The Cleary Street Office was quiet under the old system but problems surfaced after the organisational structure was changed. Under the new plan, the office case load increased from 2,700 to 3,125 with each worker’s case load increased by 35 clients. Previously, there had been no formal staff director but Robert S. Baxter assumed most of the communicating and reporting responsibilities and the staff looked up to him and frequently sought his advice. They however, viewed him as too inflexible in matters regarding form usage and too callous with the clients. Mr. Baxter was fifty-four and married and held a major in political science. Since Baxter’s discharge from the Army in 1946, twenty of Baxter’s twenty-eight years of service in the Welfare system had been spent at
As Murphy’s Law states “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”. This is evident in the case of the Metropolitan Welfare Department. The welfare system was in desperate straits and after a total revamp of the welfare’s department and offices, the Clearly Street office began to crumble under the new structure. What had been a sombre and quiet place of business, before the re-structure, was now riddled with problems and in need of effective solutions.
Summary of the facts
The Metropolitan Welfare system was in a state of imminent collapse. The system cost 3 million to operate yearly and cost increased by 18% annually. The regional offices were suffering from inadequate facilities. The department was over staff by 25% and there was no chain of command. Fraud and over payment took place in the organization as well as some clients were violent and verbally abusive.
The mayor’s office hired a management consulting firm headed by a young Harvard graduate to make suggestions and control organizational problems. The interview process took two months after which the consulting firm presented a reorganization plan to solve the most pressing departmental problems.
The Cleary Street Office
The Cleary Street Office was quiet under the old system but problems surfaced after the organisational structure was changed. Under the new plan, the office case load increased from 2,700 to 3,125 with each worker’s case load increased by 35 clients. Previously, there had been no formal staff director but Robert S. Baxter assumed most of the communicating and reporting responsibilities and the staff looked up to him and frequently sought his advice. They however, viewed him as too inflexible in matters regarding form usage and too callous with the clients. Mr. Baxter was fifty-four and married and held a major in political science. Since Baxter’s discharge from the Army in 1946, twenty of Baxter’s twenty-eight years of service in the Welfare system had been spent at
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