title: Assessing organizational functioning as a step toward innovation.
abstract: Innovate and adapt are watchwords for substance abuse treatment programs in today's environment of legislative mandates, effective new interventions, and competition. Organizations are having to evolve - ready or not - and those that are ready have superior chances for success and survival. The Texas Christian University Organizational Readiness for Change (ORC) survey is a free instrument, with supporting materials, that substance abuse treatment programs use to assess organizational traits that can facilitate or hinder efforts at transition. This article presents organizational change as a three-stage process of adopting, implementing, and routinizing new procedures; describes the use of the ORC; and outlines a step-by-step procedure for clearing away potential obstacles before setting forth on the road to improved practices and outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Behavioral Research, Texas Christian University, TCU Box 298740, Fort Worth, TX 76129, USA. ibr@tcu.edu
authors.forename: D Dwayne
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.forename: Donald F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Dansereau
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008330:Management Audit / Q000379:methods*; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000379:methods; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires