P11.0010
INTRODUCTIONTOMANAGINGPUBLICSERVICEORGANIZATIONS
ROBERTF.WAGNERGRADUATESCHOOLOFPUBLICSERVICE
NEWYORKUNIVERSITY
SPRING2011
Instructor
MonteKurs
phone:212‐204‐7089
email:mnk210@nyu.edu
officehours:AtthePuckBuilding,Thursday,12:30pm–1:30pm,
orbyappointment
ClassmeetsTuesday&Thursday2:00pm–3:15pm
Room:MyersHall157
CourseOverview:
Thegoalofthiscourseistoenhanceyourunderstandingofmanagementin
governmentagenciesandnonprofitorganizations.Thecourseprovidesyouwithan
understandingofthetoolsyouneedtodiagnoseandsolveorganizationalproblems,
toinfluencetheactionsofindividuals,teamsandorganizations,andtoleadhigh
performing,effectiveorganizations.Wewillexaminethekeyvariablesinan
organizationthatmustbeconsideredandmanaged,includingpowerrelationships,
culture,communication,leadershipandethics.Wewillusecasestudiestoenhance
yourunderstandingofthepracticalrealitiesthatdrivemanagerialeffectiveness.
RequiredCourseMaterials:
PublicAdministrationConceptsandCases
9thEdition,2010
ByRichardJ.StillmanII
WadsworthCengageLearning
AllotherreadingswillbepostedonBlackboard.
CourseExpectations:
ReadtheCasesandAssignedReadings
Itisimportantthatyoucompletethereadingsforeachsessioninadvanceofclass.
Youandyourclassmateswillnotbenefitasmuchfromtheclasssessionandyouwill
notbeabletocontributetotheclassdiscussionifyouhavenotreadinadvance.
ParticipateinClassDiscussions
Youshouldbepreparedtoshareyourideasandtolistentoandinterprettheissues
presentedbyothers.Oneofthechallengesandinterestingaspectsofmanagement
inthepublicsectorishowfewissueshaveright,orwronganswers.Mostofthe
time,thereismorethanonerightanswerandoftenmanagersareinpursuitofthe
bestanswer,amidstacomplexanddifficultsetoffactsandunknowns.Acaseisa
problem‐solvingsituationandmanagerialeffectivenessoftendependsonseeing
differentsolutions.
Adoptanopen‐mindedstance,entertainnewideasfromothersandconsiderhow
yourrecommendationsmightchangeinlightofthesenewinsights.
Yourclassparticipationiscrucialtounderstandingthecomplexityofdecision‐
makingandthesuccessoftheclasssession.Mostparticipationwillbevoluntary;
however,toensurethateveryonehastheopportunitytobeinvolved,individuals
willoccasionallybecalleduponatmydiscretion.Alsokeepinmindthatyourgoal
shouldbetocontributecommentsofqualityratherthanmerequantity.
Icannothelpresolveyourproblemsunlessyoutellmeaboutthem.Sopleasestopby
myofficeduringmyofficehourstodiscussanyacademictroubles.Ifmyhoursdon’t
workforyou,wewillscheduletimethataccommodatesbothourschedules.
Readwithaneyetowardlinkingtheoryandpractice
ThecasesinthetextbookandarticlesonBlackboardprovidekeyideasand
theoreticalinsightsintohumanbehavioranditsimpactonproductivityand
effectiveness.Tobesureyouhavegraspedthepointofeachpiece,askyourself:
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Whatistheauthor’smainargument?
Whatarethekeyconceptsandprinciplesintroduced?
Inthecontextofthecasestudies,howcouldIimprovethe
outcome?
Applytheorytopractice
Thecasesprovideconcretesituationstowhichyoushouldapplythe
conceptsintroducedinthearticles.Asyoureadthecasespractice
diagnosingthenatureandcausesoforganizationalperformanceand
thinkingthroughthepotentialconsequencesofdifferentaction
strategies.
ReviewtheSyllabusAddendumonReadingCases.
ExperientialTeamProject
Atthebeginningofthesemester,studentswillbedividedintoteamsof4students.
Eachteamwillbeassignedafieldwithintheworldofpublicserviceandtheteams
firstassignmentwillbetochooseagovernmentornonprofitagencytheteamwill
focusonforthesemester(itmaybeanorganizationoneormoreteammembers
haveexperiencewith,butallteammembersmustagreetheyhaveaninterestinits
work).Theteamwillresearchthatorganizationoverthecourseofthesemester,
focusingonthoseaspectsofmanagementwecoverinclass.Yourteamresearchwill
beginontheweb,andcontinuewithinterview(s)withtheorganization’s
management.Theteamswillbecreatedbythesecondweek,theteamswillchoose
anorganizationbythethirdweekandmeetwiththeorganizationbythetimeyou
returnfromSpringBreak.Aminimumofthreetimesduringthesemestereach
individualteammemberwillwriteaone‐pagepaperaddressinganissueIassign
fromthesyllabus,presentinghowyourorganizationhasconfrontedasimilarissue.
Inaddition,therewillbeateamproject.Theteamwillchooseatopiccoveredinthe
syllabus(approvedbyme)thathaspresentedaparticularchallengeforyour
organization.Thatchallengewillhavebeenuncoveredintheteam’sresearch,and
hopefullyconfirmedandelucidatedbymeetingwiththeorganization.Itwillbe
particularlyrewardingifthechallengechosenisonetheorganizationiswillingto
freelydiscusswithyou.Theteamwillproduceawrittenreportandmakea
presentationtoclassandtogetherthatwillconstitutetheFinalExam.
ThespecificsandorganizationoftheFinalReportarelefttoyourdiscretion;
however,itshouldcontainthefollowing:
‐ashortdescriptionoftheproblemunderstudy ‐anoverviewofthepresentsituationinregardtotheproblem
‐theresourcesandconstraints(forexample,social,political,oreconomic)in
dealingwiththeproblem
‐anoutlineofthealternativecoursesofrecommendedactiontosolvetheproblem
‐anevaluationofeachalternative
‐theteam’sspecificrecommendationfordealingwiththeproblemat handand
whyitisthebestavailableoption(political,budgetetc)
‐adissentingteamopinion,ifnecessary
Theoralreportswillbepresentedduringthelasttwoclassesofthesemesterand
eachteam’sreportshouldbelimitedto20minutesandwillbeopentoquestions.
Visualaidsmaybeusedintheoralpresentation.Thewrittenreport(limitedto20
pages)shouldreflectteameffortandbefootnotedwhereappropriate.
Youwillbegivensomeclasstimeforteamorganization,workloaddistributionand
research.Anyproblemsthatarisewithintheteamsmustbebroughttomyattention
immediately.
Lateassignmentswillbeacceptedbutpointswillbededucted.Allwritten
assignmentsaretobetyped,withnumberedpages,double‐spacedin12‐pointfont.
Emailsubmissionencouraged.
Blackboardandemail

YoumusthaveaccesstotheBlackboardsiteathttp://classes.nyu.edu/.Your
NYUaccountmustbeactivatedtoaccessBlackboard.Ifyouhavenotactivatedyour
NYUnetaccountorhaveforgottenyourpassword,youcanactivateitorchange
yourpasswordathttp://start.nyu.edu.
•
Someclassannouncementswillalsobedistributedviae‐mail.Thus,itis
importantthatyouactivelyuseyourNYUe‐mailaccount,orhaveappropriate
forwardingsetuponNYUHomehttps://home.nyu.edu/.
•
YouwillneedAdobeAcrobatReadertoviewandprintthematerialson
Blackboard.Ifyoudonotalreadyhavethis(free)softwareinstalledonyour
computer,gotohttp://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.htmland
followthedownloadinstructions.
Phones should be turned off during class.
Grading
30% Class Participation
25% Experiential Project / Teamwork & Written Assignments
20% Midterm Exam
25% Final Exam
StatementofAcademicIntegrity
AsmembersoftheNYUcommunity,weareallexpectedtoadheretohighstandards
ofintellectualandacademicintegrity.YoucanviewourAcademicCodeatthe
following
URL:http://wagner.nyu.edu/current/policies
COURSEOUTLINEANDSESSIONSCHEDULE
ASSIGNEDREADINGSSHOULDALLBEDONEBEFORECLASS.Theassigned
readingsareinthetextbookorfoundonBlackboard(BB).Inthetextbook,always
readtheintroductionstoarticlesandcases.
January25IntroductiontoCourse/DiscussReadingCaseStudies Effectively
January27TheScopeandPurposeofPublicAdministration Read:1)Stillman,R.J.TheStudyofPublic
AdministrationintheUnitedStates,
pages1‐6and16‐30
2)CaseStudy:Martin,J.B.TheBlastin
Centralia#5
February1TheScopeandPurposeofPublicAdministration
Read:Wilson,Woodrow,TheStudyofAdministration
Teamswillbecreated.
February3TheScopeandPurposeofPublicAdministration
Teamswillbegivenclasstimetobeginwork
February8TheEcologyofPublicAdministration
Read:Gaus,J.TheEcologyofPublicAdministration
pages78‐85
February10TheEcologyofPublicAdministration
Read:Casestudy:Cooper,T.&Breyer,T.,WilliamRobertson:
ExemplarofPoliticsandPublicManagement
Teamswillannouncetheirchoiceoforganization
February15ThePoliticalEnvironmentofPublicAdministration
Read:CaseStudy:Casamayou,M.H.
TheColumbiaAccident
February17ThePoliticalEnvironmentofPublicAdministration
Read:Pfeffer,J.UnderstandingPowerinOrganizations
(BB)
February22DecisionMaking/IncrementalChoice
Read:CourseTextpages212‐215
CaseStudy:Grunwald,M.&Glasser,S. HowaCitySlowlyDrowned
February24DecisionMaking/IncrementalChoice
Read:Lindbloom,C.TheScienceof“MuddlingThrough”
March1
TheCriticalityofGoodCommunication
Read:Garnett,J.L.AdministrativeCommunication,
pages239‐257(CourseText)
Tannen,D.ThePowerofTalk(BB)
Cartwright,T.&Baldwin,D.SeeingYourWay: WhyLeadersMustCommunicateTheirVision(BB)
March3TheCriticalityofGoodCommunication
Read:CaseStudy:Rosengrant,S.TheShootingsat
ColumbineHighSchool:TheLawEnforcementResponse
March8BudgetingAsPoliticalChoice
Read:Rubin,I.ThePoliticsOfPublicBudgets
CaseStudy:Taubman,P.DeathofaSpySatellite
Program
March10MidtermExam
March15,17SpringBreak
March22&24Leadership
Read:DuBrin,A,EssentialsofManagement,Ch10
Suroweiecki,J.,StatusQuoAnxiety(BB)
Kotter,J.P.,LeadingChange(BB)
Teamswillreportontheirorganizationmeeting(s)
March29PersonnelandAPublicServiceCulture
Read:CaseStudy:Sontag,D.WhoBroughtBernadineHealy Down?
Wise,L.ThePublicServiceCulture
March31&April5ManagerialRolesandSkills
Read:DuBrin,A.,EssentialsofManagement,Ch1(BB)
Pfeffer,J.,PuttingPeopleFirst(BB)
April7&12StrategicPlanninginNonprofitOrganizations
Read:Phills,J.A.Introduction:TheRoleofMissionand StrategyinEnhancingthePerformanceof NonprofitOrganizations(All3onBB)
Bryson,J.M.AStrategicPlanningProcessforPublicand
NonprofitOrganizations
Bryson,J.M.TheStrategyChangeCycle:AnEffective
StrategicPlanningApproachforNonprofitOrganizations
April14&19OrganizationalStructureandCulture
Read:DuBrin,A.EssentialsofManagement,Ch8(BB)
Scearce,D.,KasperG,&McLeod,Grant,H.,
WorkingWikily(BB)
Chatman,J.A.,&Cha,S.E.,LeadingbyLeveraging(BB)
April21ExecutingonthePlan
Read:Bradach,J.L.,Tierney,T.J.,Stone,N.,Deliveringonthe
PromiseofNonprofits(BB)
OPTIONAL:LIGHT,P.C.TheSpiralofSustainableExcellence(BB)
April26EthicsandPublicAdministration
Read:DuBrin,A.,EssentialsofManagement,Ch3(BB)
April28ThePoliticsofDoingGood
Read:1)Nye,J.S.,NewModelsofPublicLeadership(BB)
2)Lenkowsky,L.,ThePoliticsofDoingGood:Philanthropic
LeadershipfortheTwenty‐FirstCentury(BB)
3)Dionne,E.J.,WhyCivilSociety?WhyNow?(BB)
OPTIONAL:Light,P.C.,InSearchofPublicService(BB)
May3FinalPresentations
FinalTeamWrittenReportsaredue
May5FinalPresentations
Appendix
OverviewofCaseAnalysis
Manystudentsfindcaseanalysistobedifficultduetotherelativelackofstructure
ofmostmanagementproblems.Nocorrectlyansweredlistofquestionsor
mechanicalprocesswillleadtothe“right”answer.Whenanalyzingacase,
rememberthattherearemanypossibleapproachesandsolutions.Thegoalisnotto
figureout“theanswer”buttosharpenyouranalytic,problem‐solving,decision‐
making,andleadershipskills.Thefollowingstepsoutlinethebasicapproachthat
youshouldfollowwhenanalyzingacase,whetherforclassdiscussionorin
preparationforawrittenanalysis.
First,readtheassignedreadingmaterialandreviewtherelevantdocumentsifany
havebeenposted.Thematerialinthereadingandaccompanyingdocumentswill
likelyplaysomeroleinyouranalysisofthecase.Rememberthatcaseanalysisin
thiscourseiscumulative.Thusmaterialfromearlierclassesmayberelevantand
shouldbeappliedevenifitmeansusingconceptsthatwerenotdiscussedfor
severalweeks.
Second,readthecaseandtheassignmentquestionsinthetext.Asyouread,take
notestokeeptrackoftheplayers,theimportantissuesthecasemayraiseandthe
textmaterialthatseemstoapply.Thequestionsprovidedshouldbeconsidereda
guidetoissuesthatyoumustconsider(butyouwillneedtogobeyondmerely
answeringthequestions).
Third,analyzethecase.Youshouldbeabletoidentifyoutcomesinthecaseand/or
issuesthattheorganizationfaces.Theseoutcomesmaybebad(e.g.,shrinking
marketshare,hostileemployees,conflictamongdepartments,inabilitytocontrol
operations),ortheymaybegood.Theremaybenumerousproblemsandissues.The
goalofanalysisistoexplaintheunderlyingmechanismsthatareproducingthe
outcomesorproblemsthatyouseeinthesituation.Thisprocesswillrequireyouto
distinguishbetweensymptomsandcausalmechanisms.Considerthefollowing
example:Yougotothedoctorwiththe“problem”ofacoughorafever.Itmaybe
easyforthephysiciantotreatthecoughorfeverwithanumberofmedicinesmuch
likewecouldtreatworkerdissatisfactionbypayinghigherwages.However,itis
importantforthephysiciantodeterminethecausesoftheproblem.Ifthecauseof
thecoughistuberculosisthenonlytreatingthecoughisapttoleadtoseriouslong‐
runconsequencesbecausetheunderlyingdiseaseprocesswillstillbeatwork.
Clearlythecoughisjustasymptomofadeeperunderlyingproblem,thediseaseof
tuberculosis.Goodanalysiscleverlyweavessymptomsintoacausalmapthatgetsto
theunderlyingrootofthesituation.WhatIlookforinthecaseanalysisisthe
cogencyofyourexplanationoftheprocessleadingtothepotentialcausal
mechanisms.Attheoutsetyouarelikelytostrugglewiththis.Itisadifficultand
time‐consumingprocesstodevelopclinicalskills.
Takethesituationforwhatitisratherthanapproachingitwithapointofview.Be
alertforthedangerthatsomeinformationinsomecasesiscomingfrombiased
participantsandthereforemustbetakenwithagrainofsalt.
Acharacteristicofcases(andmanagement!)isthatyouneverhaveallthe
informationthatyouwantandthereisoftenconsiderableinformationthatis
irrelevant,trivialorevenobfuscating.Theabsenceofessentialinformationmay
forceyoutomakeoneormoreassumptions.Assumptionsshouldalwaysbeclearly
labeledandexplicitlystatedassuch,theymustbenecessaryandtheymustbe
realistic.
Iftheassignmentisawrittenanalysis,donotdescribeevents.Thisismerelyawaste
ofspace.AssumethatIhavereadthecaseandthatIamawareofallthefacts.
Rather,youshouldusematerialinthecasetosupportyouranalysisortoprovide
examplestobackupyourarguments.Remember,yourobjectiveistoexplain,not
describeorreport.
Finally,ifyouareworkingonawrittenanalysis,makesurethatyourpaperiswell
written,clearlyorganized,andhasalogicalflow.Itusuallyhelpstoprovideabrief
summarystatementand“roadmap”atthebeginningoftheanalysistoorientand
guidethereader.Alsomakesurethatanyrecommendationsyouprovidefollow
directlyfromyouranalysisoftheproblem,andthatyouroverallconclusionsare
consistentwithyouranalysis.
PARTICIPATINGINCASEDISCUSSIONS
1)Keepinmindthatthereisusuallymorethanonerightanswer.Acaseisa
problem‐solvingsituation,andmanagerialeffectivenessoftendependsupon
seeingdifferentsolutions.
2)Offeryourideas,substantiatingthemwithfactsfromthecaseandcourse
material.
3)Adoptanopen‐mindedstance,entertainnewideasfromothersand
considerhowyourrecommendationsmightchangeinlightofthesenew
insights.
4)Listentoyourclassmatesandbuildonwhattheyhavetosay.Resistthe
impulsetofocussostronglyonwhatyouwanttosaynextthatyoulosetrack
ofwherethediscussionhasmoved.