ORGANIZATIONAL THEORY

Organizational Theory - Environmental Protection Agency

Organizational Theory - Environmental Protection Agency

Introduction

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was formed in 1970 and is a federal agency that is designated with the task of developing and implementing legislature-driven measures to protect the environment and to ensure the health and safety of human health. In order to do so, the EPA plays a major role in the development of rules and regulations that pertain to the protection of the environment. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the EPA has around ten regional offices that are known for extensive and active coordination. In light of the demanding nature of the EPA's responsibilities, it comes as no surprise that the EPA has continued to expand steadily in terms of human resource in the last few years; particularly in the right direction. This brief discussion will attempt to shed light on the organizational structure, behavior, processes and functions of the EPA. The purpose of the conduction of this study is to acquire an insight into the concepts of organizational theory; in order to develop opinions on functional practicalities pertaining to the organizational structure, behavior, processes and functions of the EPA.

Discussion & Analyses

The budget planning and result cycle utilized in the EPA constitutes four phases. The first phase is Strategic Planning in which high level stakeholders are involved in the development of strategies based on information and data (Arnold & Whitford, 2005; Murray, et. al., 2009). This is followed by the development of drafts for annual planning and budgeting; with the objective of finalizing a plan and a budged for the period of the coming year. The third phase is the implementation of the budget and the actual spending process; after which the fourth phase calls for the collection of data and the reporting of results so that the foundation for the coming year's budget, planning and results cycle can be set (Murphy & Krimsky, 2003; Thorneloe, Weitz & Jambeck, 2007). In the process of doing so, the EPA also ensures the continued reporting of the agency's financial performance in order to keep a close eye on the ground realities. This brings the EPA organizational structure into the scope of the discussion. The office of the administrator serves as the EPA's headquarter (Duke & Augustenborg, 2006; Schulze, 2001). The Office of the Administrator exercises authority on two categories of operations: the first being headquarters offices and the second being regional offices.

Headquarters offices include the Office of Administration and Resources Management, the Office of Air and Radiation, the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, the Office of Environmental Information, the Office of General Counsel, the Office of Inspector General, the Office of International and Tribal Affairs, the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response , the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, the Office of Water and, the Office Research and Development (Emery, Jung, Downey, Johnson, Jimenez, Yarwood & Morris, 2012; Cooter, Cunningham, Rineer, Bergenroth & Lin, ...