English Abstract:Administrative turbulence in social work: the challenge of pluralist coalition-formation As elsewhere in Europe, social work in the Netherlands is facing ever more administrative changes. This article analyzes the administrative changes that local social work institutions are currently facing and how representatives of these institutions are reacting to these changes. The article is divided into three sections. The first section describes four administrative changes that organizations in the field of social work are currently facing. The second section is based on the results of four studies in local social work, and analyzes how social workers and managers from these organizations are experiencing and handling these administrative changes. We group the reactions into four different clusters: the confused reaction, the introvert reaction, the extravert reaction and the binding reaction. The third section zooms in on what we see as the most beneficial strategy: the binding reaction. We argue that these turbulent times call for organizations that are able to create strong coalitions, both internally and externally. These are necessary to guarantee service provision as well as innovation in a meaningful way.--Dutch Abstract:Bestuurlijk turbulentie in het sociaal werk: de uitdaging van meervoudige coalitievorming Net als elders in Europa wordt het sociaal werk in Nederland geconfronteerd met indringende bestuurlijke veranderingen. In dit artikel analyseren wij met welke bestuurlijke veranderingen instellingen in het lokaal sociaal werk te maken hebben en hoe representanten van deze instellingen op deze veranderingen reageren. Het artikel bestaat uit drie delen. In het eerste deel beschrijven we vier in het oog springende bestuurlijke veranderingen waarmee organisaties in dit veld geconfronteerd worden. In het tweede deel analyseren we op basis van verschillende onderzoeken in het lokaal sociaal werk hoe representanten van deze organisaties – sociaal werkers en managers – deze veranderingen ervaren en hoe zij hiermee omgaan. We onderscheiden vier clusters reacties: de verwarde reactie, de introverte reactie, de extraverte reactie en de verbindende reactie. In het derde deel zoomen we in op de ons inziens meest vruchtbare reactiewijze: de verbindende reactie. We betogen dat deze turbulente tijd vraagt om organisaties die erin slagen om zowel sterke interne als krachtige externe coalities te creëren, nodig om de kwaliteit van de dienstverlening te waarborgen en betekenisvol te innoveren.
In dynamic business environments, the ability to adapt is highly important for organizations in order to best their competition. This is necessary because throughout the years of doing business, organizations have experienced but one constant factor: change. The concept of enterprise agility is designed to counter this phenomenon. In this regard, IT is perceived to play a vital role in enterprise agility, most often viewed as an enabler. However, IT can be an inhibitor of enterprise agility as well because of its potentially restricting nature, structural thinking, bureaucracy, rigor, etc. This especially becomes apparent in information systems (IS) that have been operational in organizations for several years. This research aims at discovering processes of IT management that empower or obstruct enterprise agility. We identify processes on the one hand and aspects of enterprise agility on the other and relate them to each other using propositions. We conclude with the identified contribution of IT management to enterprise agility, propose directions for optimization as well as offer suggestions for additional research.
