Is bad management inevitable?

A survey conducted jointly by Community Care and Southend-on-Sea Council has found that senior social work managers are perceived as being:

• Too focused on targets and savings 
• Not focused enough on services 
• Out of touch with front-line social work 
• Inclined to make important decisions, such as restructuring, without proper consultation with staff 

We should not be fatalistic about this type of bad news. There is no reason, other than inertia, why social work organisations in Britain have to be badly managed.

For years we have been too accepting of hierarchical culture and ham-fisted administration; and too ready to ignore the positive lessons that can be learned from the study of management.