‘ase Example: Means-End Displacemer When she was promoted to Child Protection Su- pervibor, Arlene set out to do a good job. While Employed as a worker in the same public organi- ation, she frequently had been frustrated when she had to pick up cases from other workers who had been reassigned ot who left the organization. She inherited case records from workers Who ‘were months behind im their recording. As a re Tutt she did not know what work had been done ‘with her elients and she fet that continuity of ser vice suffered badly, She determined that, asa pervisor, this type of irresponsibility would not be tolerated. ‘Arlene received excellent support from the istrict director when, as a new supervisor, she implemented strict new rules sbout case record ing, The director had recently received a call from fan angry and prominent citizen who wanted to now why his brother-in-law was being “ha- assed” by a caseworker about how he disciplined bis child. The dicector called for the case record ‘and was unable to either understand or defend the ccaseworker’s actions because there was no record of an investigation. The district director agreed with Arlene that her new rules were in the best Interest of defending the organization from out~ side etiticism, How eould anyone not support the implementation of rules that promised to provide better elient services while also saving higher level managers from embarrassment? Arlene clearly communicated the new rules to her workers. A minimum of a 100-word sum- mary must be placed in the record for each tele phone contact or in-person interview with clients br other persons contributing relevant informa tion about the alleged abuse incident. All record ing must be completed within 72 hours of ¢! contact. "Adherence to recording rules” would be component of semi-anaual employee evalua ‘Within a short time, most workers in Ar- lene's unit were in compliance with the new cording rules. However, gradually over a period of three years, a means-end displacement 0c wnt in a Bureaucracy curred, New workers had learned the importance Of timely compliance with the rules. One indi- Vidual who provided good services was denied a Inert raise because her records were not up-to Gate and she complained loudly about the amount bf record keeping required. Others, whose records (vere up-to-date but whose client services were of nly marginal quality, were rewarded with good Semi-annual evaluations. Over time, most staff became aware that complete, up-to-date records were perceived as evidence of competence, They {pent a considerable amount of time counting snords in their records. Certain cliché phrases oc~ ‘Gurred regularly to pad a case note to the required 100-word minimum. One very good worker Ie the organization because she felt that she no long fr had time to conduct thorough investigations because of heavy paperwork requirements. Oth fers who were less conscientious simply made fewer collateral calls to avoid having to write notes in the record, Useful calls that contained important information were often described by workers as “providing no relevant information” fo that there was no requirement that a summary be written forthe record, ‘Things got worse. The director expressed pleasure with Arlene's rules. Se now felt that she fas in a much more defensible position when Complaints from the community occurred. She re svarded Arlene with public compliments and high valuations. Other supervisors, perceiving the high value placed on Arlene's methods, imple- mented even more demanding rules for recording ‘within their work units, An implicit message was sent out at all levels of the organization—a good tworker is one whose records are up-to-date; an Incompetent one does not comply with the record- ing rules. Employees who could accept this def inition stayed on and were rewarded for their attention to rules, Those who could not, because they sav other ehild-protection tasks as a higher priority than record keeping, soon left. Before Tong, the professional community learned of the ‘organization's emphasis on record keeping; somevery good potential employees did not bother to apply. Finally, the district director retired. The new director was dismayed to observe thatthe need for record keeping had become an unhealthy obses- sion, What had begua as an appropriate micans to an end had become the end for many workers Record keeping had taken on a higher priority than services themselves. The director moved Auickly to regain an organization focus on profes sional services. Service priorities were outlined and it was made clear that, while timely and com- plete recording is desirable, this should never take precedence over protection and service needs of children, ‘The new director's reminder of the appro priate place of recording as a means to an end Chapter 3 / Historical Origins of Current Management Theories (services) brought relief to some employees and produced anger and anxiety in others. Some of those who had fared well in the earlier environ- ‘meat were able o adjust their priorities, but they feared that their best qualities would no longer be valued. Some simply resigned Arlene, who had belatedly recognized the problem but felt powerless to do anything about it because of lack of higher-level support from her former boss, welcomed the re-focusing on objec: tives. She made a mental note to herself to re member that reminding workers of organizational goals and seeing that they do not lose sight of them were important functions of the manager. She also reminded herself just how easily means- end displacements can occur within bureaucra-