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 The Value of ResearchA Key to CIL Success By Ron House, Ph. D. Nothing is more important to an organization’s success than the ability to set, manage and achieve its goals. Understanding how your organization functions can help you understand your role in making it successful and achieving the goals you set. What are the major organizational functions that must be addressed to achieve Center for Independence Living goals? Although this remains a confusing question for many non-profits, it is no longer ambiguous for CIL executive directors. The Rehabilitation Research & Training Center on Independent Living Management, under the direction of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, recently addressed this question. In “Stakeholder Perceptions of an Effective CIL” in the 2004 Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation, researchers attempted to construct the profile of an effective CIL grounded in stakeholder perceptions. The RRTC research study “conceptualized the CIL organization as an open system of organized elements (organizational structure) which interact (practice) and achieve desired (idealized) outcomes." The research survey obtained data on how CIL stakeholders (board members, executive directors, staff and consumers) defined outcomes and the corresponding structural elements that enabled CILs to deliver them. The nationwide study, conducted at the University at Buffalo, involved 582 stakeholders in the sample population. The major findings of the study identified nine categories of management in the structure of a CIL as perceived by stakeholders. Consumer involvement emerged as a distinct category, as did program and services, IL philosophy, physical plant, personnel, financial management, community relations, governance and board affairs, and administration management. Research data from the RRTC-ILM study of CILs suggests that information on organizational structure, elements defining effectiveness and the process of establishing 725 standards and assurances would be most useful for current executive directors and new managers. The nine functional areas are of paramount importance in understanding the functions of a service delivery model. Knowledge of the nine functional areas is important in the management development of CIL executive directors for defining the content of orientation programs for board members, staff and government officials on the functioning of CILs, and for designing evaluation and accountability standards. In future columns, each of the nine areas will be explored as to their importance in the management of a CIL. NOTE: The research article cited above may be found at www.RRTCILM.org Ronald B. House, Ph.D., is a researcher, educator and consultant on non-profit organizations and was on the faculty of two colleges at Cornell University, NYSILR and NYS Human Ecology. He is the author of several management simulations on Independent Living. He has been involved in IL issues since 1980. © Copyright 2006 PLEASE NOTE: PORTIONS OF THIS WEB SITE ARE UNDER CONSTRUCTION! |
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