Organizational Structure and the Department of Homeland Security Term Paper

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Abstract

The Department of Homeland Security was created in 2002 as a response to September 11. The goal of the creation of the new department was to centralize all decision-making authority under the rubric of homeland security, ensuring a common mission and philosophy for all the departments that come under the rubric of the Department of Homeland Security. The organizational structure of the DHS perfectly reflects its overall mission, goals, and culture.

Introduction

Created in the aftermath of September 11, with the goal of centralizing national security procedures and protocols for maximum efficiency, the Department of Homeland Security comprises several previously independent or disparate government organizations. The mission of the Department of Homeland Security is “to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards,” (DHS “Our Mission,” 2016). For example, customs and border security are housed under the rubric of the Department of Homeland Security, as is the Coast Guard and the Secret Service. All of the core organizations under the guidance of the Department of Homeland Security can then have a cohesive mission upon which to base their unique policies, agendas, and protocols. The Department of Homeland Security bases its organizational structure on strong centralization, departmentalization, specialization, authority, and unity of command.

Centralization

The Department of Homeland Security epitomizes the concept of centralization in organizations, as it projects an “overarching vision” onto its various departments (DHS “Our Mission,” 2016). The history of the Department of Homeland Security reveals how it was a cabinet department “designed to consolidate U.S. defenses against terrorist attack and to better coordinate counterterrorism intelligence,” (Council on Foreign Relations, 2006). Although the cluster of federal agencies that are grouped under the DHS now seem to perform vastly different duties, their main mission now defers to matters of domestic defense. Centralization helps to promote the mission of the Department of Homeland Security because of the need to coordinate efforts in the interests of national defense.

Seven main agencies fall under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security, including Customs and Border Protection, Citizenship and Immigration Services, Coast Guard, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Secret Service, and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) (DHS “Organizational Chart,” n.d.).

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Although FEMA botched its response to Hurricane Katrina, the centralization of these various government agencies does generally promote the DHS vision of being dedicated to the ideals of national security (Council on Foreign Relations, 2006). The Department of Homeland Security lists five central visions that are shared by all of its main agencies. Those five central visions include preventing terrorism by enhancing security, securing borders, enforcing immigration laws, safeguarding cyberspace, and ensuring resilience to disasters (DHS, “Our Mission,” 2016).

Departmentalization and Work Specialization

Also integral to the organizational structure of the Department of Homeland Security is departmentalization. Before the Department of Homeland Security was formed, the agencies that comprise it were self-contained government departments. Each department also has its own subdivisions, creating a classic bureaucratic organizational structure. Now that the Department of Homeland Security amalgamated several disparate agencies, its departmentalization strategy helps to retain the independence of each agency without sacrificing the core vision of preserving national security. The complex, five-part mission of the DHS requires strong departmentalization because otherwise, it would be impossible to effectively address things like border security, natural disaster response, and cyberterrorism all at the same time. Departmentalization ensures that each area of specialization, such as intelligence analysis or coast guard patrolling, is in the hands of respectively trained professionals. In other words, the Department of Homeland Security has a “functional structure,” in which departments are grouped by their functions (“Outline Organizational Structure and Design”).

Just as the Department of Homeland Security has a functional structure, its individual departments demonstrate the concept of work specialization. Work specialization ensures division of labor, that each person has a specific and well-defined task and role. The Department of Homeland Security (n.d.) points out its jobs “jrange from aviation and border security to emergency response, from cybersecurity analyst to chemical facility inspector,” (“About Us”). The work specialization parallels departmentalization on the macro level, which is why the Department of Homeland Security is designed to function not organically but mechanistically. Generally, the division of labor and….....

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