PAF 9163
Douglas Muzzio
Spring 2007
135 E. 22nd St, Room 815
Tel: 646.660.6781
Fax: 212. 802.5903
E-mail: dmuzz@aol.com
LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS
“Leadership and Strategy in Public Affairs” examines the personal, institutional and strategic
circumstances that public (and nonprofit and business) leaders confront. The course focuses on the
exercise of leadership, particularly the development and execution of strategy, particularly within the
context of politics and government. Students will explore the strategic calculi employed by leaders as
they attempt to mobilize support, achieve personal influence, and exercise institutional authority to
accomplish objectives. The course provides students will rules, tools, and lessons in the exercise of
leadership and in strategy.
Leadership and strategy are art, science, magic and myth. The course examines theories of
leadership, the types and functions of leadership, and leadership styles. A goal is to assess the
effectiveness of leaders and the sources of that efficacy in the conduct of public affairs. Whatever
the style of a leader, he or she must somehow define problems and solutions, communicate vision to
followers and other audiences, create and manage expectations, engage/motivate his or her potential
followers, develop and implement strategies, confront and overcome obstacles and adversaries, and
assess action, among other things.
The course stresses opportunities and constraints of the manager as organizational leader.
The course offers an introduction to institutional strategic analysis and planning, for institutional
leaders must strategize if they wish to succeed; institutions as entities must strategize or flounder and
die.
This syllabus is a strategy; hence, it will change in response to changing circumstances. And
circumstances will change.
Course Requirements
The course employs a range of written and visual material. Each week, students are expected
to read and view substantial amounts of material. Class sessions will include in-class exercises and
out of class assignments. Grades will be based on 1) involvement in class discussions (giving
evidence of familiarity with/mastery of assigned material), 2) participation in and performance on
individual and group in-class exercises, 3) written or visual products/presentations.
This course will, in part, be delivered through Blackboard. Students should consult Blackboard
daily since the instructor will provide readings, ask questions, provoke discussion, and post
assignments there. Unless otherwise instructed, students should provide hard copy of assignments.
The components for the final grade are:
Strategic planning/management memorandum I
Strategic planning/management memorandum II
NYPD and the Rules of Leadership
Sun Tzu on Strategy and Leadership
Leadership (and Strategy) in Crimson Tide
Ozymandias
Bookstore exercise
In-class exercise/participation
20%
15%
10%
10%
10%
10%
10%
10%
1
Required Readings (will be supplemented)
Readings and viewing of visual material are to be completed for the class session under which
they are listed.
Books
Sun Tzu, (1988). The Art of War. Sambala Publications.
Wren, J. (1995). The Leader’s Companion. Free Press.
Articles/Chapters
Andrews, W. and Bratton, W. 1999. “What We’ve Learned About Policing.” City Journal, Jan.,
Collins, J. 2001. “Level 5 Leadership,” Harvard Business Review, Jan.
DeSantis, V. n.d. “Municipal Management Systems: Administration and Planning,” draft manuscript
<http://webhost.bridgew.edu/vdesantis/Municipal%20Management%20Chap%204.htm>
Doyle, M. and M. Smith, “classical leadership” <www.infed.org/leadership/traditional_leadership.htm>
Drucker, P. 198 . Management . “Strategic Planning: The Entrepreneurial Skill,” pp. 111-129.
Gardner, J. 1990. Leadership. Free Press: 3-4.
Gillon, S. 2000. “That’s Not What We Meant To Do.” New York: W.W. Norton.
Gladwell, M. 2001. The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Difference. Little, Brown.
Goleman, D. 2004. “What Makes a Leader?” Harvard Business Review, Jan. 2004: 82-91.
Goleman, D. 2000. “Leadership That Gets Results,” Harvard Business Review, Mar/Apr.
Goodwin, B. Campaign Strategems: Insights from Ancient Chinese Military Leaders. In Campaigns
and Elections, August: 44-45.
Irwin, R. 1995. “The Strategic Management Process”
http://www.csuchico.edu/mgmt/strategy/module1/sld001.htm
Janis, I. 1982. Groupthink. Houghton Mifflin.
John F. Kennedy School of Government, “The NYPD Takes on Crime in New York City” (A,B,C)
Kelling, G. and J. Q. Wilson. 1982. “Broken Windows,” Atlantic, Mar.
Levitt, S. and Dubner, S. 2005. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of
Everything. New York: Harper-Collins
Lewis, M. 2003. “The Trading Desk,” New York Times Magazine,
Merton, T. 1936. “The Unanticipated Consequences of Purposive Social Action,” American Sociological
Review (Dec.): 894-904.
New York City Police Department, “The Compstat Process,” n.d.
New York City Police Department. 1995. “Reengineering the New York City Police Department,”
Osborne, D. and Gaebler, T. 1993. Reinventing Government: How The Entrepreneurial Spirit Is
Transforming The Public Sector. Penguin, Chap. 5
Riordon, W. 2000. Plunkitt of Tammany Hall. Bedford Books.
Swenson, D. “How to Evaluate a Theory,” www.css.edu/users/dswenson/web/theoryeval.html
U.S. Department of Energy. 1996. “Guidelines for Strategic Planning” Jan.
Wade, N. 1999. “What’s It All About, Alpha,” New York Times, Nov. 7.
Walter, S. and P. Choate. 1984. Thinking Strategically. Council of State Planning Agencies.
Willhoite, F. 1976. “Primates and Political Authority: A Biobehavioral Perspective,” American Political
Science Review 70: 1110-1126.
Wilson, J. 1989. Bureaucracy. Basic.
Zaleznik,A.1992.“Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?”Harvard Business Review (Mar/Apr)
Visual Materials
13 Days
A Bronx Tale
Braveheart
Norma Rae
2
COURSE OUTLINE
Class 1
Jan. 31
LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY: CONCEPTS, CONCERNS, CASES
Topics:
In-class exercise:
Assignments 1&2:
Class 2
Feb. 7
introduction to syllabus and class procedures
introduction of instructor and students
Not Gilligan’s Island
Ozymandias (due Feb. 7)
Leadership and management on the bookshelves (due Feb. 7)
NATURE OF LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY
Topics:
Ozymandias and leadership lessons
key questions on leadership
ubiquity and complexity of leadership
necessity for strategy
power
In-class exercise: Ozymandias Redux
CASE STUDY IN LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGY/STRATEGIC PLANNING CASE
Topic:
Reading:
overview of course case: “NYPD Fights Crime: Bratton, Broken
Windows, CompStat”
overview of strategic planning exercise/final assignment
“The NYPD Takes on Crime in New York City,” Kennedy School
Andrews and Bratton, “What We’ve Learned about Policing”
RULEBOOKS, TOOLBOXES, LESSON PADS
Topics:
the craft of leadership: rules, tools, and lesson pads
the rulebook
rules as strategies
tools of leadership
keeping a lesson pad
Lesson Pad: Gandhi and the Salt March
Rulebook:
Murphy’s many laws and their corollaries
Assignment 3: “NYPD Fights Crime” rules (due Feb. 14)
Class 3
Feb. 14
THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP
Topics:
Readings:
NYPD case rules review
nature and evaluation of theory
Weber on authority
“great man”/trait theory
“eventful” vs. “event-making”
behavioral theories
psychological approaches
situational/contingency leadership
“How to Evaluate a Theory,” Swenson
3
Toolbox:
Rulebook:
Class 4
Feb. 28
“Classical Leadership,” Doyle and Smith
Kirkpatrick and Locke, Hersey and Blanchard, Carlyle,Tolstoy in Wren
Occam’s Razor
Rumsfeld’s Rules
<www.opinionjournal.com/wsj/?id=85000505>
rules are made to be broken: Rumsfeld’s vilation of his rules
www.heatherwokush.com/columns/column46.html
THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP (II)
Topics:
Readings:
Lesson Pad:
biological/evolutionary approaches
transformational vs transactional leadership
gender and leadership
strategic leadership
Leadership (excerpt), Burns
Rosener and Schein in Wren
“What’s It All About, Alpha?” Wade
Willhoite
Class 5
March 7
DEFINITION AND FRAMING
Topics:
Definition, Vision and Communication
(re)defining the vision, critical task
frames and framing
Readings:
Bureaucracy, Wilson (pp. 23-27)
“Broken Windows,” Kelling and Wilson
Bolman and Deal
Toolbox:
elements of definition
Lesson Pad: Martin Luther King: vision, not dream
G.O.P. (re)defines the Environment
Columbus and Vespucci
Bill Clinton and framing the issue
In-class exercise: (re)definition and communication in Braveheart and Norma Rae
Assignment 5: Definition, Vision, Communication in “NYPD Fights Crime”(due March )
Class 6
March 14
LEADERS AND MANAGERS
Topics:
types of leadership/ executive styles
leaders vs. managers
Readings:
On Leadership, Gardner (pp. 3-4)
“Leaders and Managers: Are They Different?” Zalesnik
“What Makes a Leader?” Goleman
“Leadership That Gets Results,” Goleman
“Level 5 Leadership,” Collins
Class 7
March 21
PUBLIC AFFAIRS WEEK
CLASS 8
LEADERS AND FOLLOWERS
Topic: “The Immigration Debate”
Guests:
Readings: E-reserve
4
March 28
Topics:
Readings:
Lesson pad:
Rulebook:
RESONANCE
Topics:
Readings:
Lesson Pad:
Rulebook:
Class 9
April 11
democratic leadership
followers vs subordinates
teams and team-building
Rost, Kelley in Wren
Wisdom of the Geese
Geese vs. Buffaloes
Full Metal Jacket (excerpts)
Julius Caesar (Brutus and Marc Antony speeches)
Empowerment
making connections
“Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
“Hicks” speech, All the King’s Men
“Study Human Nature and Act Accordin’’’
THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
Lesson Pad: Billy Beane and “Moneyball”
Thomas Kuhn and the structure of scientific revolutions
A Man, A Wife, and His Money
Hanging out and taking off
Reading:
“The Trading Desk,” Lewis
Rulebook:
Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership
Proust on reimagining
Toolbox:
Aids to thinking outside the box
In-class exercises: Connect the Dots
The ?
GROUPTHINK
Topic: dangers of group decision making
Readings: Janis
Lesson pad: Cuban Missile Crisis
Iraq War?
Assignment : Sun Tzu on Strategy and Leadership (due March )
Assignment: Leadership in Crimson Tide
Class 10
April 18
THE STRATEGIC IMPERATIVE
key questions of strategy
strategic thinking
Reading:
E.E. Schattschneider, “The Displacement of Conflicts”
Topics:
CLASSIC STRATEGY
Topic:
Leadership and Strategy in Crimson Tide
Sun Tzu on strategy and leadership
Machiavelli on leadership and strategy
drawing circles/drawing lines
Readings:
Sun Tzu, Art of War
“Campaign Strategems,” Goodwin
In-class video: A Bronx Tale
5
Assignment:
CLASS 11
April 25
Richard III: Machiavellian? (due
TURNING AND TIPPING POINTS
Topic:
The Epidemiology of Crime in New York City
Readings:
The Tipping Point, Gladwell (chap. 4)
“Tipping Point Leadership,” Kim and Mauborgne
UNEXPECTED CONSEQUENCES
law of unintended & law of perverse consequences
irony of reform
Readings:
Merton
Levitt and Dubner
Gillon
Lesson pad: abortion and crime rates
Topic:
Class 13/14 THE STRATEGIC LEADER/MANAGER
Topics:
key questions on strategic management
developing and implementing organizational strategy
Readings:
“Strategic Planning: The Entrepreneurial Skill,” Drucker
“The Strategic Management Process,” Irwin
“Municipal Management Systems,” DeSantis
“The Compstat Process,” NYPD
“Results-Oriented Government,” Osborne and Gaebler
U.S. Dept. of Energy, “Guidelines for Strategic Planning”
Lesson Pad: “Reengineering the New York City Police Department,” NYPD
Rulebook:
Sam Walton’s Rules
Osborne and Gaebler’s seven laws of measurement
Toolbox:
SWOT
Nine-Cell Decision Matrix
Assignments 7&8: Strategic Planning/Management Memorandum I (due May )
Strategic Planning/Management Memorandum II (due May )
6