Introduction to Public Management

Instructors

NYBERG Roy

Term / Language / Credits

A1 / English / 2

Objectives

The course is intended to introduce contemporary issues of public management to the students. The course takes our current understanding of organisations as its point of departure, namely how organisations behave, how they are structured, what is involved with managing organisations and how organisations accomplish their objectives. Consistently with the course orientation, these aspects are considered from the perspective of public sector organisations, by using a contrast with private sector organisations as a useful parallel to illustrate how organisations in the public sector operate. The discussion will highlight some of the different ways to structure the civil service that different countries have adopted.

After establishing firm grounding in these aspects of organisational behaviour, the course proceeds to examine public sector organisations’ operations in various sectors of the society. Some of the core sectors are considered as case studies to highlight how public sector organisations attempt to manage the sectors they have been mandated to govern over. As part of this discussion the course will also explore how public sector organisations manage their external relationships and other elements of their environment. The course will keep a contemporary perspective on public sector management by discussing most recent topics and debates, and the students are encouraged to bring their own experiences into the discussion. Aside from the lecturing by the course instructor, a lively class discussion is encouraged. Students make group presentations and write an essay paper. In addition to highlighting a variety of contemporary issues of public management, another objective of the course is to introduce the students to some analytical tools that facilitate a more informed management of public organisations.

Keywords

Management, organisations, public policy, public sector reform, governance, external stakeholders

Schedule

13 course sessions over 7 weeks:

1. Introduction to the course and to the idea of public management
o Short personal introductions (the lecturer and the students)
o Course content
o Teaching format, assignments, expectations, grading
o Essay preparation: how to structure and write good answers/essays
2. Introduction to thinking from the perspective of organisations
o What are organising and organisations, and how to think about their management: concepts, arguments and analysis
o Theories of organising
3. Frameworks for thinking about public management
o Historical development of public administration
o Contemporary approaches and debates
4. Management of public organisations
o Hierarchies
o Divisional structures
o Regulatory framework
5. Structure and functions of the civil service
o Japan
o Other countries
o International regimes of public management
6. Money and the management of public affairs
o Budgeting, accounting and evaluation in public management
o Inflows and outflows of money
o Austerity vs. stimulus: Approaches to government’s role in the economy (Europe and Japan)
7. Case examples: industrial and innovation policy
o Innovation and public management in the economy
8. Case examples: health care policy
o New technologies and shift towards more personalised care
9. Case examples: energy and environmental policy
o Managing stability of energy supply
o Sustainability and climate change
10. Strategies and performance in public organisations, and management of reform
11. Public management in the digital age: e-governance
12. Challenges and paradoxes of 21st century public management
o Ethics and accountability in public management
o Risk management
o Outsourcing
o Relationship between politics and public management
13. Conclusion: what have we learned
o Practical implications of public management ideas
o Question time: open forum for questions

Teaching Methods

For the first introductory lectures the course instructor will lecture, and the class members will be involved in discussion, with references to everyday practice of management in public sector organisations. For those lectures with class presentations, the student presentations will introduce some of the readings, which will lead into further lecturing by the instructor, followed by class discussion.

Students are provided at the beginning of the course a reading list, with specified readings for each lecture. Students are expected to read the core readings in advance of each lecture, in order to be prepared to discuss the issues during lectures.

Students are asked to form small groups that prepare a 15-20 minute presentation on the core readings, to explain to the rest of the class the arguments and evidence of these works. The presentations will serve to bring out own views and thinking of the presenters as well as raise discussion among the class. The students are asked also to relate the readings to their own practical experiences of public management, whether as employees in public organisations or as consumers of public services. All members of the presentation group are expected to work on the presentation in equal amount and same mark will be given to all members of the group.

Grading

Class attendance (30% of final grade); class presentations (30%); term paper (40%).

Term papers will be written individually by each student. The topics are to be chosen from the lecture topics, although a student may make a request to the course instructor for an alternative topic. The students are requested to send a proposal for term paper topic in advance, before the half-way mark of the course. The term paper is due before the final lecture.

Required Textbook

A detailed reading list will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Reference Books

A detailed reading list will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Notes on Taking the Course

The course is aimed at anyone interested in issues of public sector organisations. Students with experience of organisations of the public sector are especially encouraged to attend.

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