Public Management Test 1

What system does meritocracy replace?

Patronage

What are the stages of the policy cycle?

Agenda Setting - formulation - adoption - implementation - evaluation

According to Lasswell, why is politics mainly about?

Who gets what, when, and how

What is the hold up problem?

A party makes a significant, relationship - specific investment, and the other party then exploits that dependence to demand better terms

What is asset specificity?

a role or asset is so specific that there is little to no transferability (cupboards cut for your kitchen)

How does asset specificity relate to the make or buy decision

high asset specificity can make an org more likely to make internally rather than buy through the market

How does the hold up problem relate to asset specificity

greater asset specificity increased the risk of hold up

What is the politics-administration dichotomy?

The idea that politics and administration should be separate (political actors make policy and administration neutrally implement it)

Can public organizations be divorced from politics?

No orgs operate within political environments and are effected by officials, oversight, etc.

What public management idea connects to Dewey’s conception of a public

calling a public into existence

Who are the ultimate principals in the U.S. political system?

The people

Who is the principal with respect to an agency head?

The executive

The more vague a piece of information, the more likely it is to pass

True

What is an Iron Triangle?

interest groups + admin agencies + congressional/ legislative oversight

What problem can an iron triangle create

it can make agencies resistant to change and reinforce existing policies/structures

What was Moe dissatisfied with in traditional org theory

it largely ignored politics when explaining org structure

According to Moe, what is the real goal when interest groups help design a new agency

Protect favored policies (designed to make preferred policies difficult for opponents to change)

If Iron Triangle produces stability, how does change happen?

Multiple Streams Framework (problem, policy, politics) or Punctuated Equilibrium Theory (short periods of major change)

Which reform agenda is associated with New Public Management

Reinventing Government

Which problem is especially critical in public-sector networks

Accountability

What is New Public Management?

Movement that argues that government should adopt private sector/ business style management practices

What is patronage?

A system of political favoritism based on relationships/nepotism

What is a meritocracy?

A political system that prioritizes competence and qualifications

How does Weber define Bureaucracy?

an efficient model of organization based on professional administration and formal procedures

What is span of control?

the number of subordinates directly supervised by one manager

What happens within a narrow span of control?

there a fewer employees per supervisor and more levels of hierarchy

What is division of work?

breaking work into seprarate tasks

What is specialization?

assigning workers to particular tasks or functions to develop expertise

What problem does specialization create?

interdependent taska and a need for coordination

What does the "P" in POSDCORB stand for

Planning

What does the "O" in POSDCORB stand for

Organizing

What does the "S" in POSDCORB stand for

Staffing

What does the "CO" in POSDCORB stand for

Coordinating

What does the "R" in POSDCORB stand for

Reporting

What does the "B" in POSDCORB stand for

Budgeting

What theoretical tradition does POSDCORB belong to (Gulick) ?

Mechanistic

What was Frederick Taylor (scientific management) trying to improve?

wanted to improve worker efficiency and performance of tasks through scientific analysis

What metaphor describes the classical view of organizations?

Mechanistic - an organization is like a machine or clockwork

Briefly describe the evolution of public management from classical principles to the contingency theory

mechanistic-human-open systems-contingency

What was Simon's solution to the Proverbs of Administration?

Administrative Science - make the concepts more operational / identify under which the conditions the organizational arrangements work

What is bounded rationality?

human rationality is limited by information

What is satisficing?

choosing a satisfactory option rather than finding the absolute optimal option (ties into bounded rationality)

What did the Hawthorne Studies identify?

The observer effect/ Hawthorne effect

What is the Hawthorne Effect?

People may change their behavior or performance because they know they are being observed

What is Ashby's Law of Requisite Variety

an organizations internal complexity must match its external complexity

Why is the Hawthorne Effect important?

it helped launch the Human Relations by showing that psycho/social factors effect worker performance

What is a closed system view?

focuses primarily on the organization's internal structure and processed (classical and early human relations approached were largely internal)

What changes around the middle of the 20th century?

organizational theory increasingly incorporates the external environment (Open System)

What is an open system view?

focuses on the organization's interaction with the external environment

What is the external environement?

conditions and actors outside the organization that influence its internal operation

What are some examples of actors in the external environment?

executive branch

What are the General Environmental Conditions?

Cultural , Legal, Economic, Ecological, Political, Demographic

What is one important environmental force that distinguishes public from private organizations?

Politics

What is the opposite of a mechanistic organizational structure?

Organic

What structure fits a stable environment?

Mechanistic (specialization

What structure fits an unstable/dynamic environment?

Organic (flexible

What is Contingency Theory?

The appropriate organizational structure DEPENDS on the environmental conditions. (no "best" structure)

What did Lawrence and Lorsch argue?

successful organizations match their internal complexity to external complexity

What is differentiation? (Lawrence & Lorsch)

different units specializes to handle different environmental demands

What is integration? (Lawrence & Lorsch)

coordinating differentiated units

What is the technical core? (Thompson)

an organization's central activities or technologies used to accomplish its primary tasks

What is Buffering? (Thompson)

Protecting the technical core from environmental fluctuations by absorbing uncertainty elsewhere (smaller supporting units or teams

What is the purpose of buffering?

Looks inefficient but the purpose is to absorb external instability so the technical core can remain stable.

What is Smoothing? (Thompson)

reducing predictable fluctuations before they reach the technical core (changing prices or schedules)

What is adaptation? (Thompson)

changing the technical core when environmental uncertainty cannot be buffered or smoothes

What do orgs do when they cant control the environment (thompson )

rationing (limits access when demand exceeds organizational capacity)

Resource dependence suggests that cooperation leads to..

Power imbalances

Co optation refers to..

Opposition — specifically incorporating opposition/ stakeholders to neutralize threats

Which transaction cost is higher in public orgs

probity

Which transaction cost refers to on going exchanges

frequency

Which type of isomorphism deals with copying?

mimetic

Simon characterizes hierarchies as ..

modular

Which concept means "whole is more than the sum"?

emergence

What describes the tech that provides a service to connect orgs that want to interact?

mediating

Modularity achieves what?

Resilience (modularity ensures only one component is lost) (localized failure)

Which technology provides a service by linking clients or groups?

Mediating technologies

Which technology is sequential like an assembly line? A-B-C-D

Long linked Technologies

What is intensive technology?

Multiple techniques are selected and combined depending on the needs of a particular case. (hospital treatment)

What makes a system complex? (Simon)

Numerosity, Interdependence, Emergence

How does Simon characterize complex hierarchies?

As systems composed of nested subsystems (Subsystems are strongly connected internally but only weakly connected to other subsystems.)

What is co-optation?

Absorbing outside/oppositional actors into the organization or its decision-making structure to reduce threats and gain support.

What are the dangers of Co-opting

you can be co-opted in return (brought to the other side) (dancing with the devil)

What is a mechanistic organization?

A rigid highly structured org characterized by hierarchy, specialization, centralization, formal rules, and a strong chain of command

Who is the late 19th- early 20th century classical mechanistic view associated with?

Weber, Taylor (classical / mechanistic)

Who is associated with the mid-late 20th century?

Burns & Stalker, Lawrence and Lorsch, Thompson (Open Systems, Contingency)

What is an organic organization?

A flexible, decentralized organization characterized by flatter hierarchy, broader roles, horizontal communication, and adaptability

Who is the mechanistic vs. organic distinction associated with?

Burns & Stalker

Who is associated with the mid 20th century

Simon, Maslow, McGregor (Behavioral/ decision making)

What is probity?

integrity, loyalty, trustworthiness in carrying out public responsibility (ex. loyalty to constitution or country).

What is modularity? (Simon)

Organizing a complex system into smaller semi independent units or modules