Using organizational assessment as a tool for program change

Organizational functioning within substance abuse treatment organizations is important to the transfer of research innovations into practice. Programs should be performing well for new interventions to be implemented successfully. This study examined the characteristics of treatment programs that participated in an assessment and training workshop designed to improve organizational functioning. The workshop was attended by directors and clinical supervisors from 53 community-based treatment units in a single state in the Southwest. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine attributes related to program-level decisions to engage in a structured process for making organizational changes. Findings showed that programs with higher needs and pressures, more limited institutional resources, and poorer ratings on staff attributes and organizational climate were the most likely to engage in a change strategy. Furthermore, organizations with greater staff consensus (i.e., smaller standard deviations) on ratings of organizational climate were also more likely to engage in change.