preview

Case Study : Northern County Legal Services

Decent Essays

Case Study: Northern County Legal Services
It is a late summer morning and without air conditioning the environment at the not-for-profit law center, Northern County Legal Services (NCLS), is reminiscent of an overcrowded Department of Motor Vehicle office. The center does not have a variety of comfortable places to sit as chairs were donated or purchased. The aesthetics of the center, the lack of efficiency, and the frustration of the volunteers surely sets a negative tone for the customers who are already frustrated due to their legal woes. Customers are there to receive assistance with domestic violence, employment, family or housing law. Tempers flare among surly but needy customers who often are forced to wait past their …show more content…

This would allow ample time for triaging the cases, completing documents and discussing possible solutions with the customer. By making an appointment and discussing with the customer beforehand how much time will be allotted them should keep everyone on track and decrease wait times.
Though the legal assistants have a desire to help their ability to do so is caught up in the bureaucracy of a lengthy intake process and by fear of overstepping their limited authority to actually assist the customer. Julie, the director and only full-time employee at the center is the main source of this. This case study examples her lack of management skills and lack of direction which does a great injustice to not only the customer but the volunteers.
Responding to Benevolent-Authoritative Management
In the case study involving Julie, the director at NCLS has management practices conducive to Likert’s System 2: Benevolent-Authoritative. This system is based on managers “occasionally using rewards but also punishment. Information flow is mostly downward. Most decisions are made at highest levels, but some decision making within a narrow set of guidelines is made at lower levels. Some teamwork is present” but the premise of the benevolent-authoritative is a master-servant relationship between management and employees, where rewards are the sole motivators and both teamwork and communication

Get Access