Explore why criminal justice organizations may be more willing to invest monies into publicly accessible programs, such as DARE than to allocate resources for leadership development training.
The mandate of the criminal justice administration is to ensure national security and justice, a process that entails the provision of multiple services to the community. Service provision comes at a cost, and as such a resource efficiency is paramount. Various strategies and projects may be pursued in an effort to ensure efficiency and effectiveness. This, therefore, translates to focusing on resource efficiency while maximizing on positive outcomes within the community. By choosing to fund accessible public programs over leadership training, an organization is often focused on ensuring sustainability in its approaches (Ganson, 2013). In other words, while enhancing the leadership skills of an organization’s management team might go a long way in improving the overall efficiency of the organization, such programs are highly unsustainable. Firstly off, managers often move around in search of better opportunities and as such an organization has to train staff to take over management positions continually. Secondly, natural attrition through death and retirement demands continuous training programs.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
However, by focusing on programs that target victims or individuals who are at risk of incarceration. This approach minimizes the rate of incarceration and thus allowing for greater resource efficiency within the criminal justice system by eliminating unnecessary costs (Ganson, 2013). It is also worth noting that leaders can be encouraged to enhance their skills by helping them understand the overall societal impact that their roles possess. Ideally, policies and decision-making have to be based on the overall impact, cost of implementation and sustainability. In the event that a program fits into those particular confines, it highly advisable that it be operationalized for the benefit of the society (Ganson, 2013). In this case, therefore, they can find alternatives to fund their skill enhancement costs with the aim of attaining skills to serve their communities better.
Given the nature of criminal justice organizations, is the traditional model of employee supervision the best possible choice? State the advantages and disadvantages. Do the critics of the model overstate their case?
Supervision is an integral component of any organization system or structure. It comes in handy in the management of diversity and conflict that arises within systems. The goal of supervision is to minimize contradiction of roles and responsibilities and thus allow for the realization of organizational goals. The nature of the criminal justice system is highly centralized, tends to rely on rules and specialization, as well as the aspect of the unity of command. In this case, therefore, the traditional model of supervision becomes the best fit (Stojkovic, Kalinich and Klofas, 2015). The conventional model of supervision comes with a simple structure, which means it can be easily designed and operationalized. It is also associated with a degree of discipline since individuals adhere to a clear chain of command. This tends to enhance the sense of accountability and reduces the prevalence of conflict. The element of the unity of command introduces the aspect of fixed responsibility ensuring greater efficiency in organizational processes and operations.
On the downside, however, this model of supervision is considered to be highly unstable. In other words, by relying on top leaders for organizational decision-making, they become crucial determinants in the innovation and creative component of the organization has gained considerable knowledge in organizational processes. The occurrence of any change among the top executives tends to destabilize an organization significantly. Another significant disadvantage that is linked to this particular model is that it piles pressure on the managers through work overload (Stojkovic, Kalinich and Klofas, 2015). In the traditional model of supervision, managers tend to take charge of multiple departments, and as such, they are forced to deal with a wide range of functions. Such kind of responsibility tends to drain considerable resources and time for creative purposes as well as proper supervision thus causing significant inefficiency.
How can communication be improved in an organization that is structured in a traditional bureaucratic form? How might computerized communication be utilized to enhance the effectiveness of communication in a bureaucratic organization?
Communication efficiency is the very core of organizational efficiency. Its importance is to be found in the fact that information is a vital tenet in decision-making. Communication efficiency tends to change with shifts in organizational structure. A traditional bureaucratic structure relies on a well-established hierarchy. This particular system, therefore, the top management has absolute control of organizational processes and procedures. The communication channels in such a system tend to be unidirectional, with the top-level employees being the source of information and low-level employees as sole receivers.
For the criminal investigation system, this particular system is preferred because it allows for information security by limiting the amount of information that is disclosed. On the downside, however, this approach translates to ineffective decision-making for the low-level employees who lack the overall concept of the information provided (Miller, 2014). Overcoming the challenges of communication in the traditional bureaucratic structure requires elaborate communication of the intended purpose or goal. In other words, it is vital to communicate the importance of the information that is provided for employees. This can be achieved without necessarily compromising information security.
Technology comes in handy in the realization of this particular goal. Through computer technologies, for instance, communication barriers can be bridged through the use of emails. The integration of computer technology into day-to-day living means that they are not only convenient but also efficient in facilitating real-time interactions within an organization (Miller, 2014). For an organization, this translates to the effectiveness of communication which significantly influences decision-making at the organizational level. Technology-mediated communications tend to come with considerable disadvantages as well. More crucially, is the fact that the receiver can easily misinterpret it. The efficiency and convenience of the electronic communication process are thus downplayed by the lack of objectivity that arises from possibilities of incorrect interpretation.
Examine transformational leadership. How does it differ from other models of leadership? Explain some of the issues involved in implement transformational leadership into criminal justice organizations
Transformational leadership is founded on the establishment of unity of purpose within an organization through employee motivation and inspiration. Inspiration and motivation tend to establish an environment that fosters efficiency and effectiveness for the realization of a shared vision (Cockcroft, 2014). The basis of this model is to be found in its inclusivity which takes into account the employee needs, motivations and skills are considered in role and responsibility distribution. When compared to the transactional leadership, it becomes clear that the inspiration and motivation of transformational leaders are replaced authoritativeness alongside a reward system. A further distinction of leadership approaches is to be found in the authoritative style that emphasizes on rules and procedures above anything else (Cockcroft, 2014). While this approach may seem fit for the criminal justice system, it is essential to consider its unique organizational setting the possible impact it is likely to create. Firstly off, the criminal justice system is not universal. In other words, it comes with a great deal of diversity, and as such, a transformational leader has to contend with cultural diversity in management duties.
It is also important to note the fact that the criminal justice system is multifaceted, which means its interactions with the community is multi-levelled. Reforms and changes, in this case, therefore, tend to span across various sectors of society resulting in a significant influence on the impact of a transformational leader (Cockcroft, 2014). It is essential to eliminate a common misconception that some leadership styles are more negative or less efficient than others. The crucial point worth noting is that efficiency and effectiveness can only be attained when a leader does not rigidly rely on a single style for all situations. It is imperative to adopt the use of appropriate leadership approaches based on a detailed and accurate assessment of a given situation.
References
Cockcroft, T. (2014). Police culture and transformational leadership: outlining the contours of a troubled relationship. Policing: a journal of policy and practice , 8 (1), 5-13.
Ganson, B. (2013). Management in Complex Environments: Questions for Leaders . Stockholm: Näringslivets Internationella Råd.
Miller, K. (2014). Organizational Communication . Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.
Stojkovic, S., Kalinich, D., & Klofas, J. (2015). Criminal justice organizations: Administration and management . (1st Ed.). Cengage Learning.
