Rethinking organizational effectiveness: Theoretical and methodological issues in the study of organizational effectiveness for social welfare organizations

The author examines the theoretical and methodological issues in studying organizational effectiveness for social welfare organizations. He argues that the controversies surrounding the topic have a lot to do with the subjective and complex nature of the concept as well as the unique characteristics of social welfare organizations. Because of this, it is the author's opinion that attempts to develop general theories about social welfare administration in terms of organizational effectiveness would most likely be unsuccessful, and that alternative ways to conceptualize and study the concept may thus be needed.