A participative approach to organisation restructuring: a case study from the Silver Chain Nursing Association (Inc)

This case study examines the review of the corporate structure of the Silver Chain Nursing Association. The design and conduct of the review process and the issues are discussed in the context of recent research and the published experiences of other organisations undergoing similar changes. The review was pro-active in that the restructuring was carried out in anticipation of changes in the external environment (eg: increased service demand and decreased funding) and issues in the internal environment (eg: decreased flexibility of labour and a dilution of the service ethos). The significant feature of the review design was allowing employees to have an opportunity to define the issues requiring change; generate and evaluate opportunities for improvement; and recommend a new organisation structure. It is concluded that in a properly designed and managed process and provided with adequate information, employees are quite capable of making objective and well informed contributions about how their organisations can best operate. Participation appears to have facilitated better quality decisions and timely, acceptable implementation plans.