Continuity and change: The organizational culture of Jewish Family and Children\u27s Service of Philadelphia, 1822-1995

Recently, several demographic factors, including increasing rates of intermarriage, a declining Jewish birth rate, decreased giving to Jewish causes, and low levels of affiliation with Jewish organizations, have been of great concern to the Jewish community. The response in the community has been fear for Jewish continuity and survival and a subsequent search for the Jewish character of Jewish communal organizations to both legitimate their existence and facilitate their role in perpetuating and enhancing Jewish culture. Jewish character can be defined as any actions done which serve to ensure Jewish continuity. These actions entail both the transmission of Jewish knowledge and traditions and the transmission of Jewish values. Evidence of Jewish character can be found within an agency\u27s organizational culture. Thus, this dissertation sought to examine the organizational culture of Jewish Family and Children\u27s Service of Philadelphia (JFCS) from an historical perspective, in part, to trace the agency\u27s Jewish character from 1822 to 1995. Organizational culture can be seen as a matrix of beliefs, values, norms, and expectations held by an organization\u27s members in relation to the organization, manifested in its artifacts, values, and underlying assumptions. The organizational culture of JFCS was explored through content analysis of historical documents from JFCS and its predecessor organizations as well as 108 years of the newspaper The Jewish Exponent. A composite of Monson\u27s (1992) typology dealing with What is Jewish about the constitutional documents of American Jewry? and Sarna\u27s (1992) typology examining the American influence found in Jewish documents was used. This study revealed the organizational culture of JFCS to be characterized by an adaptive nature, a professional orientation, and a decidedly Jewish character. Further, the Jewish character was present throughout every phase of the agency\u27s development. Findings demonstrate ways in which JFCS has maintained its cultural heritage in the face of assimilation which can be useful for other ethnic groups facing the same dilemma