UPADM-GP 103:
Introduction to Managing Public Service Organizations
Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
New York University
Spring 2015
Professor Monte Kurs
Email: mnk210@nyu.edu
Office: Phone: 914-260-5357
Office Hours: by appointment, just ask
Class Location: GCASL 288
Class Time: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 2:00PM-3:15PM
Teaching Assistant: Golnessa Mojtahedi
Email: gm1529@nyu.edu
Course Goals and Objectives
The goal of Introduction to Managing Public Service Organizations (IMPSO) is to enhance your
management and leadership skills for potential service in the public and non-profit sectors. The
course provides you with the tools you will need to diagnose and solve organizational problems,
to influence the actions of individuals, groups, and organizations, and to lead impactful public
service organizations.
You’ve presumably taken this class because you want to have a positive impact in the world.
Your interest could be affordable housing, more bicycle lanes, arts programs for disadvantaged
kids or access to quality pre-natal care. It could be making sure public policies are based on the
best possible evidence, or that nonprofits are financially solvent, or that staff are treated fairly
and respectfully. Whatever your passion, you can only realize that impact by mastering
organizational processes. Organizations are the way work gets organized, coordinated, and
accomplished. Knowing how organizations work – how to work within them – are perhaps the
most powerful tools you can have.
A key management task is to assemble the skills, talents, and resources of individuals and groups
into those combinations that best solve the organizational problems at hand. You must manage
people, information, and processes to accomplish organizational goals; you must make things
happen, and often not under conditions or timeframes of your own choosing; and you must learn
from the challenges you experience. The successful execution of these tasks requires leaders to
understand what skills and abilities they bring to and need from their teams and organizations, to
formulate a mission and strategy, to make effective and ethical decisions, to recruit, influence
and motivate diverse individuals, to optimize the structure of their organization, to measure and
improve performance, and to drive organizational change.
IMPSO prepares you to achieve these objectives by providing you with fundamental frameworks
and tools developed from the behavioral and social sciences and tested by leaders in
organizations representing all sectors of the economy.
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Course Format
Each week we will focus on a particular set of management skills. Our goal will be to distinguish
between effective and ineffective strategies. We will accomplish this by discussing key concepts,
analyzing related cases, engaging in role-play exercises, and completing team projects.
This course reflects a dual focus on practice and conceptual training. The course readings
introduce key concepts and useful ways of thinking about common situations in complex
organizations. Case studies and class exercises provide opportunities to apply theories, concepts,
and research findings to particular situations, sectors, and fields of interest to students and to
hone your skills in problem definition and problem solving. The written assignments, including
the team project, ask you to consolidate your insights and to practice your analytic skills.
Preparing for Class
It is critical that you complete the readings for each session in advance of class. You and your
classmates will not benefit as much from the class sessions if you come unprepared. Take care to
analyze and absorb case studies to prepare for class discussion. Many of the principles and issues
involved in IMPSO are relatively timeless and not limited only to organizations of a public
service nature. Consequently, you should not rely on the copyright dates or specific
organizational applications of either the readings or the cases in evaluating their usefulness.
“Classic” readings and cases are included because they speak to important issues in useful,
interesting, and time-tested ways.
The articles in our readings provide key ideas and theoretical insights into human behavior and
its impact on productivity and performance. To be sure you have grasped the point of each piece,
ask yourself:

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What is the author’s main argument?
What are the key concepts and principles introduced?
How does this matter for an organization?
What are the implications for the kinds of challenges I might face as a leader, a manager, a
policy analyst, an urban planner, or a financial analyst?
 How can I apply this to my organization, my job, and/or my career?
The cases provide concrete situations to which you should apply the concepts introduced in
articles. They provide an opportunity for you to practice diagnosing the nature and causes of
organizational performance and thinking through the potential consequences of decisions.
Required Readings
All except four of the readings are posted on the course NYU Classes website. The other four
readings are case studies available for download via the Harvard Business Review website. If
you use the link below, it will take you to the coursepack created for this course, and the case
studies will cost $3.95 each. The purchased case studies will be used in the classes covering
Managing & Measuring Organizational Performance, Designing Organizational Structure,
Motivating Performance and Power & Strategic Influence, covered weeks 5, 6, 7 & 13.
These readings are NOT optional.
https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/access/32170907
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Optional
The syllabus indicates a number of optional readings provided on NYUC for students who would
like to read more about a particular topic. For students who want to read a thorough, academic
treatment of many of the topics we will cover in class, reviewing the literature in organizational
theory and organizational behavior, I would recommend the following:
 Rainey, H. G. (2009). Understanding and Managing Public Organizations (4th ed.). San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
 Kahneman, Daniel (2011). Thinking Fast and Slow. New York: Farrar, Straus & Groux.
NYU CLASSES
You must have access to the NYU Classes class site at http://classes.nyu.edu/
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
Many class related documents (extra readings, discussion questions, class handouts,
etc.) and surveys/exercises will be posted here. If you have not activated your NYU
account or have forgotten your password, you can activate or change your password at
http://start.nyu.edu. Your account must be activated to access NYU Classes.
Some class announcements will also be distributed via e-mail. Thus, it is important that
you actively use your NYU e-mail account, or have appropriate forwarding set up on
NYUHome https://home.nyu.edu/
Grading
Your grade for the course will be based on the following elements:
25% Class participation (see guidelines below)
35% Team project (intermediate assignments, final team challenge,
team member evaluations)
20% Two Written assignments (each worth 10%)
20% Final exam
Both exams will be case study analyses, done outside of class.
Class Participation
All class sessions will involve active discussion based on the readings and cases, with an
emphasis on applying theory to practice. You should be prepared to share your ideas and to listen
to and interpret the issues presented by classmates. One of the challenges and interesting aspects
of management in the public sector is that often there is more than one right answer, amidst a
complex set of facts and unknowns, addressing multiple audiences with different agendas. Share
freely, adopt an open-minded stance, entertain new ideas from classmates and consider how your
recommendations might change in light of new insights.
Your class participation is crucial to understanding the complexity of decision-making and the
success of the class session. Participation includes presence, promptness, preparation, and
engagement. Students are expected to attend all classes (with no more than one excused absence
during the semester). Please email your professor and your TC before class if you will be absent.
Most participation will be voluntary; however, to insure that everyone has the opportunity to be
involved, individuals will occasionally be called upon at my discretion. Keep in mind that your
contributions should focus on quality rather than quantity. Questions are welcome and comments
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are encouraged that: are relevant to the current discussion; move the discussion forward;
contribute new insights; offer different perspectives; and bring in related real world experiences
of your own or in the news.
Classroom Etiquette: I will not tolerate impolite behavior from anyone. Period. If I find your
behavior inappropriate, I will ask you to withdraw from the class. This classroom is a safe space
for people to express opinions and ask questions relevant to the topic under discussion.
Cookie Policy: If your cell phone rings or buzzes you will bring cookies in for everyone. If I
catch you texting or wandering the web, the same rule applies.
Team Project
The goals of the team project are (1) to practice using team concepts on a weekly basis,
(2) to connect theory to practice by utilizing the conceptual frameworks, strategies and
analytic and practical tools of the course to create with your teammates a virtual
organization (3) to engage your creativity and passion to design that organization to
effectively address social change you desire.
The team project represents an excellent opportunity to enhance your understanding of
the essential elements of organizations, how they behave and what they require to be
effective and efficient. Your team will work on this project throughout the semester and it
will address and reinforce the material we cover in the course. In addition, the project will
afford students an opportunity to exercise their creativity and passions, addressing social
problems you care about. That may be climate change, homeless housing, after school
activities for disadvantaged children, improved educational performance, improved access
to healthcare, bike lanes or any other topic addressing social or public concerns.
The team will choose the social arena their organization will operate in. This will require
negotiation and compromise for team members and will be the first opportunity for some
to see the benefit of creating a Team Charter as the first team activity. The organizations
missions and goals must be grounded in reality (after all, there are plenty of real problems
to choose from) and the organizations strategy must be similarly realistic in the sense that
it cannot have unrealistic or magical solutions to social problems. The teaching team will
reject submissions not grounded in reality. Having said that, we are looking for creativity.
Social problems that have existed for decades or centuries may be amenable to solution
today, given the advances in knowledge, technology and global awareness. If you see
opportunities go for it.
To improve the team’s performance, particularly as the work requires many decisions that
involve negotiation and compromise, including assigning project tasks and meeting project
deadlines, a Team Charter is the team’s first assignment. A Team Charter defines the rules
you establish about how you will work together, including rules for decision-making (i.e.
consensus or majority rule), a process to resolve potential disputes among team members,
and establishing time(s) outside of class when all the team members can be available for
meeting together. Specific instructions for the Team Charter can be found on NYU Classes /
Resources / Team Project.
ALTHOUGH SOME CLASS TIME WILL BE DESIGNATED FOR TEAM WORK, TO COMPLETE THE
PROJECT STUDENTS WILL HAVE TO MEET ADDITIONALLY, OUTSIDE OF CLASS HOURS.
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Teams should anticipate class time being available for the team assignment during weeks
we cover Team, Organizational Structure, and Motivation. During week 12 there will be two
sessions for preparation of the final team assignment and teams will be paired at that time.
Paired teams will brief each other about their organizations so the paired team can lead the
questions when we conduct Q & A after presentations the last week of classes.
Each team assignment will be due after the class has covered the topic with readings and
lecture. BEFORE SUBMITTING THE TEAM ASSIGNMENT ON MISSION, TEAMS ARE
REQUIRED TO SHARE THEIR DRAFT WITH THE TC (by email, by one designated member
of the team), for her advice and counsel on choice of organization and creation of mission.
After the Mission assignment, students are welcome to consult the TC on other assignments
or any course related questions they have.
All assignments should be submitted on NYU Classes, and for team assignments, only one
member of the team should submit the assignment. Assignments will be reviewed and
returned to teams as either approved or with instructions for additional work. Teams are
encouraged to continue work on the next assignment and not wait until their prior
assignment is approved.
The specific Team deliverables are:
Organization Charter
See NYU Classes / Assignments for instructions on drafting a team charter.
For each written assignment creating the organization, the team should: 1. Describe how
their organization will function (i.e. create a mission statement, design a specific strategy)
and 2. Explain how what the team designed is consistent with academic readings covered
for class.
Organization Mission
The team will write a Mission Statement for the organization, defining their organizations
Purpose, Core Values and Primary Goals. The team will use course readings to design an
effective mission statement that is motivational, identifies the scope of work and provides a
way to measure success. The goals should be specific so that the strategy you next design
can accomplish goals that are feasible. The team should carefully review course readings on
Mission and may do independent research on this and all other topics. (If independent
research is used it must be specifically cited.).
Organization Strategy
The team will design a strategy for the organization to effect the change or service desired.
Based on the organization mission, a strategy will:
 Assess the internal and external environments, including potential competition
 Identify challenges facing the organization (found in similar real world
organizations)
 Formulate strategies, methods to achieve goals in the Mission Statement. The
strategy must address the goals, and the need to raise revenue.
The team should consider how to create competitive advantage (what will the organization
do to demonstrate it is worthy of grants and donations, and what will it do to effect the
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change it’s mission identifies?). The strategy should not mistake goals for strategy.
Developing the strategy will require the team to establish priorities and make choices, as
realistically, organizations cannot due more than they can raise revenue to achieve.
Team / Individual Status Reports
The team status report is the teaching team’s method of making sure we are aware of the
accomplishments, and trials and tribulations of teams. Share them all. This will enable us
to help you more effectively. Teams are never penalized for problems they experience, if
they report them.
Individual reports are confidential and should express your individual opinions of any
challenges / concerns / issues that you have had working on the team and/or executing
the project.
The Individual report gives students who don’t agree, fully or otherwise, with the team
report, an opportunity to share their opinion. Sort of like minority opinions submitted by
Supreme Court Justices, in cases where they don’t agree with the majority opinion.
Reports should include team name and membership.
Organization Measurement Tools
The team will develop performance measures appropriate to the specific purpose of each
goal. The team must identify the outcomes you want to achieve by the activities of the
organization, to enable meaningful measures of impact. Meaningful performance measures
serve to evaluate, control, motivate and teach. Measures should be sufficiently clear to
effectively inform managers who need to make program improvement decisions, to either
change methods or expand the service. They will also be used to solicit additional funding
from donors, so they need to be meaningful and tied to desired outcomes. An important
test of the viability of performance measures is the feasibility and difficulty involved in
collecting the data required to measure performance.
An example. For a program to address delinquency prevention the organization would
measure program activities that count the number of:
 Parenting education classes established
 Parents completing the program
 Families referred to outside services
 Parents providing student encouragement
 Children with improved attendance at school
 Behavior problems at school
 Improvement in grades
The team should distinguish between short and long term goals. Assigned readings,
particularly the material from Robert Behn should be helpful.
Organization Culture
A great workplace is where people are engaged (motivated) in their work, and involves
mutual respect, particularly people being treated fairly, and results in high retention of
employees. Describe the features of your organization that will establish a healthy,
motivational environment. How will you communicate with, motivate and manage your
employees? What are the features of your culture that will achieve these outcomes? Keep in
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mind your nonprofit status so money is a limited motivator. Also consider Expectancy
Theory and potential unanticipated consequences of your plan.
Organizational Grant Request
The Team Final Presentation will be an opportunity to secure seed funding for your
organization. This effort is similar to Echoing Green “whose cornerstone is providing seed
funding to social entrepreneurs who are launching bold new ideas to generate positive systemic
change.” Echoing Green “believes investing in and supporting the right people to the ideas and
ability to execute, rather than specific business plans, …”
Or, think “Shark Tank,” the reality television series in which “The Sharks - tough, self-made
multi-millionaire and billionaire tycoons – give budding entrepreneurs the chance to make their
dreams come true and potentially secure business deals that could make them millionaires,” or,
as in your case, achieve meaningful and significant social change.
Your Team Final Presentation should seek to demonstrate the ability of your organization to
achieve effective, impactful social change that can be scaled and sustained over a considerable
period of time. You should address: Who you are? Why should we care? Explain your
organizational culture; identify how you will motivate and measure performance, to build funder
confidence in your ability to deliver promised results. Your Team Final Presentation should be
creative, compelling, and convincing, since you will be competing for funding with your
colleagues.
Prepare and deliver a persuasive presentation as if you were presenting to a group of potential
funders, such as Acumen Fund, Echoing Green, and/or Gates Foundation. The presentation
should be no more than eight minutes in length, with an additional four minutes allotted for
questions and answers. This is a formal presentation so you should prepare visual aids to
complement your verbal delivery. All team members should speak, at some point, during the
presentation. It is acceptable if one or two team members focus solely on the question and
answer section of your presentation.
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Assignments, Grading and Outside-of-Class Exercises
To facilitate application of the class concepts and your project team development, you will be
asked to complete some individual and team exercises, reflections, and written assignments,
outside of class in addition to the team assignments. The instructions for all assignments can be
found on NYUC / Assignments. The exercises, reflections, and assignments and their due dates
are listed below (individual assignments are bold):
Assignments
Due Date
Class Participation
Writing Assignment #1
Team Charter
February 14
February 19
Team – Organization
Mission
Writing Assignment # 2
Implicit Association
Exercise & Reflection
Team- Organization
Strategy
Team & Individual Status
Reports
Decision Making &
Ethics Exercise
Team- Organization
Measurement Tools
Team- Organization
Culture
Team Grant Request
Team Member & Self
Evaluations
Final Exam
March 5
Maximum Length &
Graded?
Method of Submission
Yes- 25%
5 pgs / NYUC
Yes- 10%
2 pgs / NYUC / Final
No
hard copy signed to
professor after appvd
3 pgs / NYUC
Yes– 5%
March 13
March 22
5 pgs / NYUC
1 pg/ NYUC
Yes- 10%
No
March 26
Yes- 10%
April 6
5 pgs / NYUC
Individual-email to TC
3 pgs / NYUC
Individual- email to TC
N/A
April 9
3 pgs / NYUC
Yes- 5%
April 23
3 pgs / NYUC
Yes- 5%
May 7
May 7
Oral Presentation
1 page form / NYUC
Yes- 10%
No
Posted April 25
Due May 14
8 pgs / NYUC
Yes- 20%
March 27
No
No
All assignments are due at 2:00PM on the due date. All assignments should be submitted doublespaced with 12-point font, preferably inside the text box on NYUC/ Assignments.
All written work will be evaluated using the following criteria:
Theory: How well can you apply the conceptual material offered in readings and lectures?
Data: How well do you utilize descriptive data to support your argument?
Analysis: How well do you integrate theory and data to create a coherent and logical
argument?
Organization: How clear and well-organized is your presentation?
Writing: How well do you reflect professional quality in spelling, grammar, and writing
style? (see section “Writing Resources” for writing assistance)
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Formatting: Written assignments, including the team paper, should be submitted in 14point font, left justified, with 1-inch margins, numbered pages, and no longer than the
page limit specified for the assignment.
One general guideline to consider is to favor depth over breadth. That is, papers and memos
covering fewer topics tend to also display more thorough analysis than assignments trying to
cover more topics.
Exams
Both exams will be analyses of case studies covered in the readings and will be done
outside of class and submitted on NYU Classes. Students are reminded that these are
individual assignments and rules covering academic integrity apply.
Writing Resources
The school provides a writing consultant (free) and a writing workshop (not free) for
assistance with written work. More information is available at the URL below:
http://wagner.nyu.edu/students/services/tutoring
Memo writing guidelines can be found at the URL below:
http://wagner.nyu.edu/files/students/WritingMemos.pdf
Statement of Academic Integrity
As members of the NYU Wagner community, we are all expected to adhere to high
standards of intellectual and academic integrity. You can view our Academic Code at the
following URL: http://wagner.nyu.edu/students/policies/academic-code
This is a good resource for issues of academic integrity, especially regarding writing. For
this particular course, there are some specific behaviors required to meet our standards of
academic integrity:
Team Project & Individual Assignments: Team projects should be completed by teams
working together. Individual written assignments should be the sole work of the
individual student.
Exams: All exams must be the sole work of the individual student.
Violations of these standards will automatically result in all participating students failing
the course and being remanded to the discipline committee for further action.
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COURSE OUTLINE AND SESSION SCHEDULE
Week 1: January 27, 29
Developing a Public Service Mission
Course Introduction
Objectives
 Introduction to syllabus, team project and class participants
 Reading, analyzing and discussing case studies effectively
 Understand the logic behind organization mission
Readings
1. Phills, J. A. (2005). Introduction: The Role of Mission and Strategy in Enhancing the
Performance of Nonprofit Organizations, & Mission: The Psychological and Emotional
Logic. In Integrating Mission and Strategy for Nonprofit Organizations, pp. 3-47. New
York, NY: Oxford University Press.
2. Moore, M. H. (1995). Managerial Imagination, & Defining Public Value. In Creating
Public Value: Strategic Management in Government, pp. 13-56. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
3. CASE: Martin, J.B. (1975). The Blast in Centralia No. 5: A Mine Disaster No One
Stopped. Harold Ober Associates, pp. 31-44.
4. Behn, R. D. (1998). What Right Do Public Managers Have to Lead? Public
Administration Review, 58, pp. 209-224.
In Class
 Review the syllabus, course requirements
 Discuss effective ways to read and analyze case studies
 Meet each other
 Discuss the value of an organizations mission
 CASE: Blast at Centralia No. 5
1. What does this case study tell us about the central problems and issues facing public
administrators in their work? Why is governmental administration such a complex and
difficult task, according to this study?
2. What does the case say about any special public obligations of public administrators
compared to the obligations of those engaged in private administration?
3. If you had actually been one of the leading administrative officials in the case—
Driscoll O. Scanlan, Dwight Green, or Robert Medill-- what would have been your
view of public administration, and how might such a perspective on administration
have helped shape the outcome of the story?
Week 2: February 3, 5
Team Formation and Team Process
Impact of Social Media on Nonprofit Sector
Objectives
 Explore the concepts of division of labor and coordination in teamwork
 Exploring potential for social media to impact the nonprofit world
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Readings
1. Hill, L. A., & Farkas, M. T. (2001). A Note on Team Process. Harvard Business School,
pp. 1-17.
2. Whetten, D. A., & Cameron, K. S. (2005). Conducting Meetings. In Developing
Management Skills (6th ed.), pp. 583-591. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
3. Aranda, E.K., Aranda, L., & Conlon, K. (1998). Developing a Team Process. In Teams:
Structure, Process, Culture, and Politics, pp. 53-58. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
4. Covio Social Media Group (2014). Going Social: Tapping Into Social Media for Nonprofit
Success.
5. Gast, A. & Zarini, M. (2012). The Social Side of Strategy. McKinsey Quarterly, pp. 1-11.
The attached article that follows on Collaborative Strategic Planning is optional reading.
In Class
 EXERCISE: Team Exercise
MODEL OF TEAM PERFORMANCE
INPUTS
DYNAMICS
OUTPUTS
Effects on
Individuals
Attitudes (job
satisfaction)
Knowledge
Personal Characteristics
Attitudes
Ability
Performance
Background
Knowledge
Group Structure
Roles, Division of Labor
Equality vs. Hierarchy
Homogeneity vs.
Heterogeneity
Group Process
Communication
Norms
Influence
Patterns
Situational
Characteristics
Space
Task type
Group size
Rewards
Effects on Group
Cohesion
Productivity
- Quality
- Creativity
- Efficiency
Effects on
Organization
Sustainability
Growth
McGrath, 1984
Strategic Analysis
Week 3: February 10, 12
Objectives
 Learn the key features of an organizational strategy
 Learn how to perform a strategic analysis of an organization
Readings
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1. Phills, J. A. (2005). Strategy: The Economic Logic. In Integrating Mission and Strategy
for Nonprofit Organizations, pp. 48-70. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
2. Moore, M. H. (2000). Managing for Value: Organizational Strategy in For-Profit,
Nonprofit, and Governmental Organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly,
29, pp. 183-204.
3. Colby, S., Stone, N., & Carttar, P. (2004). Zeroing in on Impact. Stanford Social
Innovation Review, Fall, pp. 24-33.
4. *OPTIONAL (for students interested in international development): Brown, L. D., &
Moore, M. H. (2001). Accountability, Strategy, and International Nongovernmental
Organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 30, pp. 569-587.
5. *OPTIONAL: Bryson, J. M. (1988). A Strategic Planning Process for Public and Nonprofit Organizations. Long Range Planning, 21, pp. 73-81.
Week 4: February 17, 19
Managing and Measuring Organizational Performance
Objectives
 Develop an understanding of the reasons for measuring performance
 Learn how performance measurement translates into effective resource allocation
Readings
1. Lipsky, M. (2010). Goals and Performance Measures. In Street-Level Bureaucracy:
Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services, pp. 40-53. New York: Russell Sage
Foundation.
2. Behn, R. D. (2003). Why Measure Performance? Different Purposes Require Different
Measures. Public Administration Review, 63, pp. 586-606.
3. Sawhill, J. C., & Williamson, D. (2001). Mission Impossible? Measuring Success in
Nonprofit Organizations. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 11, pp. 371-386.
4. CASE: Grossman, A., & Curran, D. (2004). The Harlem Children’s Zone: Driving
Performance with Measurement and Evaluation. Harvard Business School, pp. 1-29.
(Acquire HBR)
5. *OPTIONAL: Lampkin, L. M., & Hatry, H. P. (2003). Key Steps in Outcome
Management. In Series on Outcome Management for Nonprofit Organizations.
Washington, DC: Urban Institute.
In Class
 CASE: Harlem Children’s Zone discussion
1. What are the crucial success factors for Rheedlin before the strategic planning process?
2. What are HCZ’s goals? Are there any conflicting goals?
3. What is HCZ’s theory of the problem? Does the focus on neighborhood and
concentration make sense?
4. What outcomes does HCZ emphasize? Is there more emphasis on process or impact?
5. What do you think of HCZ’s evaluation strategy?
6. What impact has the business plan and the focus on measurement had on the staff?
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Week 5: February 24, 26
Designing Organizational Structure
Objectives
 Understand how structure can solve coordination problems
 Discuss the impact of structure on other aspects of the organization
Readings
1. Hodge, B. J., Anthony, W. P., & Gales, L. M. (2003). Structure and Design—Basic
Organizational Building Blocks. In Organizational Theory: A Strategic Approach (6th
ed.), pp. 30-46. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
2. Lipsky, M. (2010). Street-Level Bureaucrats as Policy Makers. In Street-Level
Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services, pp. 13-25. New York:
Russell Sage Foundation.
3. CASE: Khagram, S., & Lalwani, T. (2007). Hurricane Katrina: A Man-Made Crisis? The
Electronic Hallway, pp. 1-20. Required: pp. 12-15. Optional: rest of case.
4. CASE: Grossman, A. S., & King, C. (2007). Mercy Corps: Positioning the Organization
to Reach New Heights. Harvard Business School, pp. 1-25. (Acquire HBR)
5. *OPTIONAL: Scearce, D., Kasper, G., & McLeod Grant, H. (2010). Working Wikily.
Stanford Social Innovation Review, Summer, pp. 31-37.
In Class
 CASE: Mercy Corps discussion
1. What are the strengths and concerns of a highly entrepreneurial organization?
2. How much of a challenge is it for Mercy Corps to achieve consistent quality across all
of its sites? What are they doing well in this pursuit and what concerns you?
3. How does Mercy Corps’ headquarters provide the needed support for each of its
operating units? What are the variables they need to consider in designing and
implementing this support?
4. How should Mercy Corps decide which functions should be performed at the operating
unit and which functions should be the responsibility of headquarters?
5. How important is the regional program director for success? If you were a country
director, what is the one thing you would want from your regional program director?
Week 6: March 3, 5
Motivating Performance
Objectives
 Understand how to motivate people
 Understand how to set goals and incentives to induce productive behavior
Readings
1. Nadler, D. A., & Lawler, E. E. III (1977). Motivation: A Diagnostic Approach. In J. R.
Hackman, E. E. Lawler, & L. W. Porter (Eds.), Perspectives on Behavior in
Organizations (2nd ed.), pp. 27-37. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
2. Kerr, S. (1995). On the Folly of Rewarding A, while Hoping for B. Academy of
Management Executive, 9, pp. 7-16.
3. CASE: Barro, J. R., Bozic, K. J., & Zimmerman, A. M. G. (2003). Performance Pay for
MGOA Physicians (A). Harvard Business School, pp. 1-12. (Acquire HBR)
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4. *OPTIONAL: Eisner, D., Grimm, R. T., Jr., Maynard, S., & Washburn, S. (2009). The New
Volunteer Workforce. Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter, pp. 32-37.
In Class
 Lecture on concepts that are essential for your Second Writing Assignment, the
Performance Pay for MGOA Physicians case analysis
Communicating Effectively
Week 7: March 10, 12
Objectives
 Provide strategies for communicating feedback up and down the hierarchy
 Learn how to structure meetings effectively
Readings
1. Tannen, D. (1995). The Power of Talk. Harvard Business Review, Sept/Oct, pp. 138-148.
2. Gabarro, J. J., & Hill, L. A. (2002). Managing Performance. Harvard Business School,
pp. 1-6.
3. CASE: Rosegrant, S. The Shootings at Columbine High School: The Law Enforcement
Response, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. pp. 256-282
In Class
 EXERCISE
Reflection Due Sunday, March 22, 6 p.m.
 Complete one Implicit Association Exercise, preferably the one on race
[NYUC/Assignments for link]. Note: You may have to take the assessment several times as
it occasionally times out, leave yourself ample time to complete the exercise
 Implicit Association and Stereotyping Reflection [NYUC/Assignments for instructions]
(post Reflection on NYUC). This assignment should enrich our discussion of diversity in
our next class.
March 16 – March 22
Spring Recess
Week 10: March 24, 26
Managing Diversity
Objectives
 Understand stereotyping and diversity-related issues
 Develop strategies to address issues of diversity in organizations
 Provide mid-semester feedback
Readings
1. Thomas, D. A., & Ely, R. J. (1996). Making Differences Matter: A New Paradigm for
Managing Diversity. Harvard Business Review, Sept/Oct, pp. 79-90.
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2. Dovidio, J. F., & Gaertner, S. L. (2005). Color Blind or Just Plain Blind? The Pernicious
Nature of Contemporary Racism. Nonprofit Quarterly, Winter.
3. Dobbin, F., Kalev, A., & Kelly, E. (2007). Diversity Management in Corporate America.
Contexts, 6, pp. 21-27. [NYUC]
4. Bennett, D. (2010). Who’s Still Biased? Boston Globe, Mar 7.
5. CASE: Puckett, G., & Dobel, J. P. (Date NA). Seattle Community Association: Undoing
Institutional Racism. Electronic Hallway, pp. 1-11 & Appendices.
In Class
 Implicit Association Exercise & Reflections discussion
 CASE: Seattle Community Association discussion
1. What do you like about what SCA is trying to do? What are the problems with, and
unintended effects of, the anti-racism initiative?
2. What is the SCA leadership trying to achieve in the short-term? In the long-term?
Which diversity paradigm (from Thomas & Ely’s article) is motivating the anti-racism
initiative?
3. Do you feel that there is a problem with diversity at SCA? How could you collect and
use evidence to determine whether SCA’s hiring process could be called institutionally
racist?
4. What does the leadership’s thinking reveal about which constituents they feel most
accountable to?
5. Why did the anti-racism initiative and the new hiring policy adopted in 2003 meet so
much resistance?
Week 9: March 31, April 2
Organizational Culture
Objectives
 Develop strategies for creating an effective culture
 Understand how culture provides an advantage for employee selection and retention
Readings
1. Chatman, J. A., & Cha, S. E. (2003). Leading by Leveraging Culture. California
Management Review, Summer, pp. 20-34.
2. Pfeffer, J. (2005). Putting People First: How Nonprofits that Value their Employees Reap
the Benefits in Service Quality, Morale, and Funding. Stanford Social Innovation Review,
Spring, pp. 27-33.
3. Milway, K. S., & Saxton, A. (2011). The Challenge of Organizational Learning. Stanford
Social Innovation Review, Summer, pp. 44-49.
4. CASE: Sontag, Deborah. What Brought Bernadine Healy Down? pp. 330-342
Week 10: April 7, 9
Decision Making and Ethics
Objectives
 Demonstrate the sources of systematic decision-making biases
 Understand the sources of and solutions for ethical dilemmas in organizations
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Readings
1. Bazerman, M. H. (2006). Introduction (selected pages); Common Biases. In Judgment in
Managerial Decision Making (6th ed.), pp. 6-9, 13-40. New York: Wiley & Sons.
Required: Introduction, Biases 1, 2, 3, 9, 11. Recommended: entire chapter.
2. Kidder, R. M. (1995). Overview: The Ethics of Right versus Right. In How Good People
Make Tough Choices, pp. 13-29. New York: Simon & Schuster.
3. Edmonson, A. C. (2011). Strategies for Learning from Failure. Harvard Business Review,
April, pp. 48-55.
4. CASE: Vandivier, K. (2002). Why Should My Conscience Bother Me? Hiding Aircraft
Brake Hazards. In M.D. Erdmann & R.J. Lundman (eds.) Corporate and Governmental
Deviance: Problems of Organizational Behavior in Contemporary Society (6th ed.) pp.
146-166. New York: Oxford University Press.
5. *OPTIONAL: Rundall, T. G. et al. (2007). The Informed Decisions Toolbox: Tools for
Knowledge Transfer and Performance Improvement. Journal of Healthcare
Management, 52(5), pp. 325-341.
In Class
 CASE: Why Should My Conscience Bother Me? Discussion
1. Who is to blame for the unethical behavior?
2. What factors increased B.F. Goodrich’s commitment to the flawed brake design?
3. What could Lawson have done differently to prevent the production of a flawed brake?
4. How would you go about blowing the whistle on unethical behavior in this situation?
5. What would you do to improve the organization if you were hired at Goodrich
immediately after these incidents occurred?
Week 11: April 14, 16
Values and Justice in the Allocation of Resources
Objectives
 Explore decision-making in resource-constrained environments
 Understand the role of values in ethical dilemmas in organizations
Readings
1. Lipsky, M. (2010). The Problem of Resources. In Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of
the Individual in Public Services, pp. 29-39. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
2. Brockner, J. (2006). Why it’s So Hard to be Fair. Harvard Business Review, March, 122129.
In Class
 Allocation Exercise
Week 12: April 21, 23
Team Work
Teams will have concentrated class time to prepare their final oral presentation of the grant
request.
Teams will be paired to understand each other’s organizations, and the paired team will lead
questions during the Q & A after each presentation.
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Professor and TC will meet with each team to guide and advise on the presentation.
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Week 13: April 28, 30
Power and Strategic Influence
Objectives
 Learn how to identify important political players and their sources of power
 Develop strategies for influencing up and down the hierarchy
Readings
1. Pfeffer, J. (1992). Understanding Power in Organizations. California Management
Review, Winter, pp. 29-50.
2. Cialdini, R. B. (2003). The Power of Persuasion. Stanford Social Innovation Review,
Summer, pp. 18-27.
3. CASE: Mokinn, K. & Gendron, A. (2001) Reverend Jeffrey Brown: Cops, Kids and
Ministers. Harvard Business School, pp. 1-20. (Acquire HBR)
4. *OPTIONAL: Wholey, J.S. (1986). The Job Corps: Congressional Uses of Evaluation
Findings. In J. S. Wholey, M. A. Abramson, & C. Bellivita (Eds.), Performance and
Credibility: Developing Excellence in Public and Nonprofit Organizations, pp.245-255.
Lexington, MA: Heath & Co.
Week 14: May 5, 7
Leading Change
Objectives
 Understand sources of resistance to change
 Provide strategies for championing and leading change
Readings
1. Kotter, J. (2007). Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail. Harvard Business
Review, January, pp. 96-103.
2. Surowiecki, J. (2009). Status-Quo Anxiety. The New Yorker, August 31. [NYUC]
3. CASE: DeLong, T. J., & Ager, D. L. (2004). Utah Symphony and Utah Opera: A Merger
Proposal. Harvard Business School, pp. 1-17.
4. *OPTIONAL: La Piana, D. (2010). Merging Wisely. Stanford Social Innovation Review,
Summer, pp. 21-33.
In Class
May 5- Discussion about implementing change in organizations
May 7- Team Presentations- Grant Requests for seed funding of their organization
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