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Seminar in Effective Public Sector Management
MPA623A
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KALYAN CHAKRAVARTY
FALL 2010
October 27 – December 15 2010
Location: DMH 550 S. Vermont Avenue Los Angeles CA 90020 Cohort 27
6 - 9:45p
SYLLABUS

SEMINAR IN EFFECTIVE PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT
MPA623A
Email: kalyan.chakravarty@csun.edu
Telephone: (818) 677-2435
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to introduce seminar participants to the effective functioning and management of organizations in the public sector.
The course will attempt to analyze current management issues in the public sector while providing key inputs to function in leadership roles more effectively.
The participants are encouraged to relate work-life issues to theoretical perspectives and to bring in examples from their professional experiences to seminar discussions.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
At the end of the course, the participants will……
1. acquire the knowledge needed to understand the distinctive character and
responsibilities of public sector administration in a diverse democratic society.
2. understand the continuum relationship among needs assessment, strategic
planning, program development, and evaluation, in support of the organization’s stated missions and goals.
3. recognize the importance of interdependence of strategy formulation and
strategy implementation processes in a public sector organization.
4. be able to conduct a strategic analysis of his/her own organizational unit.
5. enhance ethical reasoning and decision-making skills.
6. improve leadership capabilities required to manage people, finances and and information in the complex political public sector environment.
COURSE PHILOSOPHY
The stakeholders (participants and the instructor) in this course will be working towards creating a learning community where a group of people would come together regularly to learn collaboratively, based upon their common purposes, interests and values. This community will promote the creation of a learning culture in which effective decision making and interactions with one another shall be emphasized. Since the members of a learning community are responsible for ensuring quality learning, class preparation, attendance and citizenship are of paramount importance throughout the course.
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This course looks at both pieces of the local government manager’s work: leadership and management, with the emphasis on the manager’s role as standard bearer for high performance and ethical conduct. It is intended for all local government managers and all professionals whose aim is one day to serve as a city, village, town or township manager, as a county manager, as a director of a council of governments or in one of many other executive positions in local government.
Each participant must come to class both able and willing to discuss the course materials and contribute to the learning community. While this may seem little difficult initially, one of the objectives of this course is to increase your effectiveness in leading and managing others. Ability to articulate your ideas and engage in effective dialogue is, in any case, a basic prerequisite of both leadership and management.
REQUIRED TEXTS o The Effective Local Government Manager , Third Edition ,
Edited by Charldean Newell,
International City/County Management Association, 2008 (Required) o Classic Drucker, Essential Wisdom of Peter Drucker from the Pages of Harvard Business Review, HBS 2008 (Required) o Managing Local Government: Cases in Effectiveness
Edited by Charldean Newell
ISBN: 978-0-87326-179-1
ICMA Press, 2009 (Required)
CRITERIA APPLIED IN GRADING WRITTEN WORK
MOST IMPORTANT CRITERIA
DEPTH. Analyze with astute insight, comprehension and intelligence.
SUBSTANCE. Give significant information. Validate, authenticate
consistently
THOROUGHNESS & PROPORTION. Develop a balanced, comprehensive
report
PRECISION. Be exact; include specific examples and details.
SECONDARY CRITERIA
PERTINENCE. Preserve relevance throughout.
COHERENCE. Maintain connectedness, cohesion. use of headings, etc.
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FORMAT, CORRECTNESS, ETC.
Demonstrate a clear, easy-to-follow style of writing.
Introduce and conclude your reports meaningfully.
Express ideas in a vigorous, absorbing way.
Be concise. Get to the point directly.
Write with accurate grammar and spelling.
Number the pages
Double space (about 22-25 lines per page).
The following assignments will be evaluated:
Individual Assignments:
Case Analysis/Application Exercises (2),
Concept Area Project (Paper)
Team Assignment:
Team Organizational Culture Project (Paper and Presentation),
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENTS
Case Analysis/Application Exercises (comprises 40% of grade)
Throughout the course, there will be two case analyses/application exercises of
20% weightage to each to be prepared in advance of the class. They are intended to provide an opportunity to actively experience the reality and complexity of the issues facing practicing local government managers today.
Among other benefits, they would help the participants sharpen their analytical and problem-solving skills.
Each participant will be required to submit a written report on each case, on those days scheduled in the timetable, presenting a coherent and defensible analysis of the situation based on essential management practices learnt.
The report should be an individual effort and any attempt to share analyses and ideas should be avoided. More details shall be provided later in the course.
Concept Area Project Paper (max 7pages, comprises 25% of grade)
You will choose and review an article of Peter F Drucker, from his landmark articles published in Harvard Business Review since 1967 onwards .
We recognize the essential wisdom of Drucker is as fruitful today as they ever were .
This is an individual assignment to reinforce the learning of a few of those
priceless ideas and concepts needed to help heighten our individual and organizational effectiveness.
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You will carry out an in-depth analysis of a few article related (to ensure they are contextual) management policies and practices of public sector organizations in general, their implications in public sector management, key issues or roadblocks faced in the application of those time tested concepts and reviewing the results achieved thus far. It may be pertinent to share success stories of a few such local governments across the nation.
While doing so, you may like to use a training model as the guide for your preparation, thus ensuring your report does not turn into a writing exercise word for word from the article. It is important to internalize the learnt ideas first before you get down to the act of writing around an executive summary example in a ‘real life’ organizational context. More details shall be provided later in the course.
TEAM ASSIGNMENT
Team Organizational Culture Paper (30-minute presentation, max 10pages, comprises 25% of grade)
This assignment provides each learning team, groups of 5 or less, an opportunity to integrate the major concepts that shall be studied by applying them to the analysis of a work setting. Select an organization in which one of your team members is currently employed OR a not-for-profit agency in which a team member has served. It is important to keep the focus of your study to a unit of the organization you select (e.g. division, department or work team).
The outcome of this field research is a presentation and paper that should be a thoughtful, in-depth analysis of the culture of the organization that you are studying. If your team wants to compare two sub-units of an organization that may represent different subcultures, this is fine. Each team will need to specify the organization in which it will conduct the analysis and the issue/s that will be studied no later than week 3 of the course.
Choose an issue or problem to study after you have talked to key members of the organizations you are considering. There are many possibilities for focus, including organization satisfaction or commitment, employee turnover, communication, change efforts, team dynamics and leadership style/transition.
The overall format of the paper, grading and presentation format are as follows:
Background: Do research on the type of organization you have selected and some of the organizational culture-related problems associated with this type of organization. In your paper briefly describe the historical development of the organization (founders, milestones), key players, its apparent strategy, how it is structured, etc. Include a contextual understanding of the issue/s you have selected; why is this issue important in this setting right now? You can examine
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best practices or research particular cases which demonstrate some problem areas in this type of organization and how they are managed.
Research methodology: For your study determine what data needs to be collected and from whom. DESCRIBE YOUR RESEARCH APPROACH.
Carefully assess your sample and consider the effect that your study will have on the organizational members who participate. For example, if you only use information from management, you will probably hear their “espoused” theories rather than their “theories in action”, or, what is really going on.
Be sure that your approach will provide you with the information you need.
Research methods include: interviews, focus groups, questionnaires/surveys, direct observation, archival data, internet search and personal experiences.
Using multiple methods will elicit a deeper understanding of the issue.
Research Findings, Implications and Recommendations: This is the most significant part of the presentation. Be sure to include your raw data and how you analyzed your data in an index of your paper.
Tabulate and report your results before making inferences from them. Given your analysis, what can you say about the issue you were studying? Present all questionnaire and/or interview results clearly and graphically. Use your intuition to reach beyond the
"hard findings". Include illustrations, anecdotes, direct quotations, and behavioral observations to support and enrich your conclusions. Point out the implications of what you found for the future of the organizational unit.
Your recommendations need to be feasible and directly flow from your analysis.
Provide detailed action steps, if you can, that organization members may want to take. Who in the organization should be involved in implementing the recommendations you make? What outcomes do you predict if there is followthrough?
Process : What did the team learn about the process of conducting research from this project? What would you like to do differently if you were to conduct this study again?
OVERALL GUIDELINES FOR THE TEAM PROJECT
1. Key goals
Acquire and share knowledge and skills that enhance success in public sector management.
Comprehend and appreciate other cultures including global trends.
Better understand the assumptions and values that underlie cultural customs,
Perceive the USA in a cross-cultural context.
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2. Criteria
Analyze in depth.
Go far beyond a mere compilation of statistical or encyclopedic data.
Follow all the criteria for course-related written work provided.
Relate to relevant theories, to our course content, to state-of-the-art business information pertinent for the organization selected.
Organize your report coherently; use headings and sub-headings skillfully.
Document sources and quotations. Provide a well-organized and thorough Table of Contents, a substantive Introduction and a Bibliography.
Give a presentation in which every team member must speak.
3. Behavioral Emphasis
In this report, focus on the topics assigned in the syllabus (e.g., don’t write lengthy descriptions of the economic issues that apply to a nation and then neglect the cultural norms, underlying assumptions, motivations, lifestyle issues, etc., that pertain).
Punctuality, Attendance and Class Participation (comprises 10% of grade)
You are expected to attend each class meeting. In the unlikely event that you must miss a meeting, you are accountable for the course material and class activities missed. Missing class-meetings could result in an adverse effect on your grade. You must attend at least 80% of the class meetings in order to receive credit for the course.
Please come to each class prepared to discuss the readings and assignments and to play an active role in contributing to class discussions. Those making insightful comments that increase the level of energy and interest in the topics discussed would definitely make a discernible impact than others. A superior participation score is given to one who demonstrates the ability to comment upon the content and the process of our discussions.
Some questions to help illustrate the preferred mode are:
 Does the group become more energized after this person contributes? Is this person more focused?
 Does this person listen to others and build upon their ideas?
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lectures.
Grading Summary
Your final grade will be based upon the following:
40% Case Analyses/Application Exercises (2) (Individual Class Assignment)
25% Concept Area Project: Paper (Individual Assignment)
25% Organizational Culture: Paper and Presentation (Team Assignment)
10% Punctuality, Attendance and Class Participation
Grading Scale:
The final letter grade assigned to each participant will be determined by the participants’ performance on the course components mentioned above.
Note:
The reading and homework schedule is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor. Should any changes be necessary, every effort will be made to communicate them quickly to current participants. It is the participant’s responsibility to ensure he or she has the current schedule.
All participants must respect confidentiality of class discussions.
You will be expected to read all assignments before class and be prepared to participate during the lecture portion each week. The book contains information critical to the class. Assigned readings will be supplemented with supporting
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MPA623A FALL2010 - TIMETABLE
SESSIONS TOPICS, TASKS, READINGS
1 (10/27) Housekeeping; Course Introduction; Syllabus Review;
Clarifying Mutual Expectations;
The Ten Roles in a Manager’s Job
Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?
The Profession of Local Government Manager
Understanding the Role of Local Government Managers
Readings: Chapter 1, pgs 1-15,
Appendix A: ICMA Code of Ethics with Guidelines, pgs 233-236
Appendix B: Practices for Effective Local Government Management, pgs 237-239
2 (11/3)
Establish Presentation Teams
Structured Guidelines for the Team Assignment
Building Managerial Commitments
– Towards Achieving Managerial
Excellence in Local Government Management
Achieving Effective Community Leadership;
Role of Power and Politics in Public Administration;
Readings: Chapter 2, pgs 21-54,
Case: No Easy Road to Recovery
3 (11/10)
Enhancing the Governing Body’s Effectiveness;
Dual Responsibilities: Networking with Citizens/Groups and Orienting
Staff/Organization: Importance of Transparency and Responsiveness to help shape the Policy Agenda
Readings: Chapter 3, pgs 57-78
Case: Managing without Fear or Favor
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MPA623A FALL2010 - TIMETABLE
SESSIONS TOPICS, TASKS, READINGS
4 (11/17)
5 (12/1)
Environmental Scanning: Towards Promoting the Community’s Future
The General Environment, The Local County/City Environment and
The Internal Environment (Staff & Organization)
Philosophy and Purpose of Strategic Planning: Strategic Inputs,
Strategic Actions and Strategic Outcomes
Readings: Chapter 4, pgs 83-110
Case Analysis/Application Exercise 1:
Cartgate
Essential Management Practices: Human Resource Management,
Financial Management and Budget Development, Management of
Information Infrastructure
Readings: Chapter 5, pgs 113-149
Preparatory Work for the Team Assignment: An Update
Case: Ethics and Internal Hiring
6. (12/8)
7 (12/15)
Concept Area Project Paper due at the start of the class
Policy Implementation, Productivity and Program Evaluation:
Agenda Setting; Policy Formulation;
Program Implementation; Performance Measures and Evaluation
Readings: Chapter 6, pgs 153-176
Final Preparatory Work for Team Assignment
Case Analysis/Application Exercise 2:
Performance Measurement Sea Change
Organizational Culture Paper (Team Assignment) due at the start of the class
Team Presentations and Discussions:
Organizational Culture in the Public Sector
30 minutes each
Wrap up
1
The timetable is subject to change
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