Today's correctional environment is fluid and turbulent and requires an open system perspective, one where the organization's boundaries are permeable and in constant interaction with the environment, allowing the organization to register and adapt to changing external conditions and circumstances. The major concerns for managerial responsiveness center around the desire to decrease the organization's internal fragmentation and increase the organization's ability to adapt to community or environmental demands. In the first instance, acknowledging the significance of custodial personnel and their impact on inmates is essential, with emphasis on determining a proper role concept, developing recruitment and selection criteria, and ensuring training required for the job. Managerial policies and practices should be oriented toward a 'collaborative' institutional model, wherein methods for increasing communication, participation in decisionmaking, and community involvement are necessary. In the final analysis, if any substantive changes are to occur, the manner in which change is implemented becomes crucial. Sixty-one references are provided. (Author abstract modified)