Kay 235: Introduction to Management

Lecture 1

Subject: The development of public administration, and its relationship with

management

Reading: Greene, Chapter 2

Notes

The syllabus is available at: http://yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr/~myildiz/

courses

Today’s lecture

Introduction Beginnings of Public Administration (PA)

Woodrow Wilson `Study of Administration` article (1887)

Politics & Administration Dichotomy/Separation PA is similar to Business Administration (BA)

PA is: Managing the affairs of the state Implement a variety of policies

What do governments do In general: Education, Health, Justice, Internal &

External Security More specifically: Establishing speed limits and

enforcing them

How to define PA? It is a social science

Studies social phenomena and human behavior

It is a multidisciplinary field Includes political science, management & law Some says PA has an `identity crisis`

It is both an academic discipline, and a practice/profession. The two are closely linked.

The issues that PA deals with What does government do? How to understand complexities in

public organizations? What is the environment in which

public organizations function? How they function? What they do? Why they do it?

SOME BACKGROUND Thomas Hobbes 17th C.

Leviathan Adam Smith, 18th C.

The Wealth of Nations Invisible hand

Alexis De Tocqueville, 19th C. Democracy in America Power of associations

Degree of Government Involvement in Economy Limited

Involvement Adam Smith,

Wealth of Nations Invisible hand The aggregate of

people’s self interests make up of the public interest

Larger Involvement Hobbes Reasons

Externalities Monopolies Imperfect Information

Examples: Roosevelt, Wilson, FDR

Some Actions Break up monopolies

Primary Objective of PA Multiple criteria/objectives

Effectiveness Achieving stated objectives

Efficiency Achieving objectives with minimum resources (time,

money, personnel…) Responsiveness

To the needs of the society Social Equity

All these things and more… Objective: Better society through better government

PA as a practice/profession PA programs train future public

administrators Training includes courses in:

Management Organizational theory and behavior Personnel administration Budgeting & financial management Administrative History and Law

PA offers new courses as it responds to changes

E-government Ethics

History of PA

PA and bureaucracy is many centuries old, but the PA discipline is new: US PA begins with Wilson`s 1887

article, `The Study of Administration` PA is born out of political science

Still, there is a productive tension between the two.

Development Stages of PA

1. CLASSICAL PERIOD (1900-1940) Politics & administration

dichotomy/separation A generic view of administration

No real difference between PA & BA Universal principles of scientific

management BA techniques may be applied to PA

Stages of PA-21. THE CLASSICAL PERIOD (1900-1940) A mechanistic view of the people and the world

It is thought that money is the primary motivation A strong reaction against corruption in

government Cleaning up government from partisan politics and

favoritism Bringing competence to government by applying

scientific methods Primary Goal

Establishing competent and neutral professional administration

Politics & Administration Dichotomy

Politics Formulating government policies by democratic

processes such as election and the parliamentary processes

Administration Execution of these policies

Powers of government Legislature: Parliaments (Politics) Executive: Central and local government

(Administration) Judiciary: Courts (Both formulate and execute

policies (Both politics and administration)

Politics & Administration Dichotomy

Woodrow Wilson believed that Administration executes the law There is little difference between PA & BA

Government could and should be more businesslike in its operations

Mixing politics & administration is both ineffective & inefficient

Government employees should be selected for their merit

They should be free from political influences and pressures

Scientific Management

Founder: Frederick W. Taylor Universal principles of management There is a `one best way` of

implementing policies. PA was focusing on upper management Taylor focused on lower management

Assembly line workers How to make production/workers more

efficient

Scientific Management

Taylor believed that There was always a `one best way` of

doing things Time and motion studies for workers

Money was thought to be the main motivator

A very mechanistic view of the world

Hawthorne Studies

Conducted by Elton Mayo Beginning in 1927 Examined the relationship between

workers, work environments & productivity His research started the `Human Relations

Movement` Importance of informal groups Beginning of the `behavioralist

movement`

Other Contributors Max Weber

Defined the bureaucratic form of organization

Also known for authority types Traditional, charismatic and legal-rational

Mary Parker Follett Offered a management philosophy based on

Individual motivation and group problem solving Participatory management

Other Contributors Gulick and Urwick

Papers on the Science of Administration (1937)

Famous acronym: POSDCORB Planning Organizing Staffing Directing Coordinating Reporting Budgeting

End of the Classical Period

The rise of the administrative state in 1930s Emerged in response to the problems

of The Great Depression of late 1920s And the World War II

Stages of PA: Stage 2

2. BEHAVIORIST PERIOD (1940-1970) Affected by both political science and

management Disputed the scientific principles

Advocated the study of behavior Application of economics on

bureaucracy Anthony Downs: Forerunner of the public

choice theory

Other Contributors Chester Barnard

The Functions of the Executive (1938) Organization as cooperative systems Managers balance the needs of the individual & the

organization with effective communication Herbert Simon

Administrative Behavior Classic management principles are contradictory Simon argued that there are limits for human

organizations to handle and process information Rational decision-making within limits

Bounded rationality, satisficing People give `good enough` decisions, rather than

pursuing the best course of action

Behavioralism: Multidisciplinary

Behavioralists studied individual behaviors rather than institutions E.g. participatory decision-making

Multidisciplinary character: Systems theory, taken from biology Public Choice Theory, from economics

Self-interested bureaucrats, instead of pursuing the public interest

Comparative PA: In other countries

PA as management

Similar curricula Organizational theory Human resource management Information systems Budgeting

Oriented towards a generic management theory

PA & BA: Similar or Different?

The focus is on similarities & differences Government, private and non-profit

comparisons (Greene, page 58) Graham Allison Article (Next week)

Just a few arguments (More details next week) Short term focus in PA

Budget process and political pressures Limited term leadership

Relatively quick turnover of appointed PA leaders

Some Contributions to PA by Management Scholars

Theory X and Y Douglas McGregor

Process of Motivation Victor Vroom

Managerial Grid Robert Blake and Jane Mouton

Stages of PA: Stage 33. THE NEW PA (1968-1980s) A radical change in the PA discipline

Very normative and activist period Rejected the rationality of the behaviorist

school Foci

Organizational humanism Participatory bureaucracy Representative bureaucracy Bureaucracy should address social

inequalities Concerned more with equity than efficiency

Stages of PA: Stage 4

4. THE REFOUNDING PERIOD (1980--) Challenges to mainstream PA (New

Public Management) Main challenges

Public choice theory Bureaucrats are motivated by self-interest

Privatization Reinventing government movement

The Refounding Period

Oil crises and fiscal stress of late 1970s and early 1980s resulted in Privatization One again, efficiency became very

important Still, efficiency should be balanced

with other competing goals Such as accountability and equity.