Scholarship and Biography
Dr. Jeffrey Prottas, Ph.D. is a Professor at Brandeis University and a member of the senior staff of the Institute for Health Policy. Dr. Prottas has specialized in research on organizational behavior and change, especially in service delivery programs. Taking an implementation viewpoint, his work has focused on how organizations adapt to changes in their organizational and technical environments. This research has been concentrated in the health care field and has been concerned with program and policy evaluation and the impact of organizational and political factors in the implementation of public policy. Methodologically his research has depended on a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques, including case studies and survey methodologies. Dr. Prottas has extensive experience using comparative case studies of organizational decision-making and in the management of multi-site data collection efforts. This has included studies of the impact of organizational structure and decision-making processes on effectiveness in such diverse organizations as substance abuse treatment facilities, hospitals and Community Health Centers. During the last several years Dr. Prottas has extended his work into the community's role in policy development and implementation. This approach focuses on the importance of partnerships with community-based organizations. Dr. Prottas has written extensively on issue of organ transplantation and procurement and has taught courses on negotiation and mediation at Harvard University and Brandeis University.