Management and Information Systems in Human Services: Implications for the Distribution of Authority and Decision Making

Aimed at human services managers and students of administration, this highly challenging book demonstrates how computer use and information systems can alter the bases of power and decision-making authority as they currently exist in an organization. Author Richard Caputo explores the changes in the availability, nature, and use of information that have had important implications not only for administrators but for direct service professionals as well. Management and Information Systems in Human Services examines the kinds of organizational problems likely to result from the implementation of automated information systems and identifies effective solutions. It will further challenge your thinking by elaborating the operational premises that the distribution of the “decision load” reflects the organizational structure of an agency and that the introduction of an information system in any organization challenges the legitimacy upon which that structure rests. This important textbook is an ideal core or supplementary text for students in the human services, including education, social welfare, public administration, and public policy programs.