overview of managing public & nonprofit org

Overview of Managing Public & Nonprofit Org.

Catastrophies such as 9/11 and Katrina underscore the importance of effective organization and management of public organizations

However, we are ambivalent about government…it’s a love-hate relationship often influenced by ideology

What is Management?

Many different perspectives and frameworks for studying management

We will focus on organization theory and behavior from a public perspective

Our basic framework will examining the structures, processes and people of public and nonprofit organizations

See p. 18 of Rainey for a broad definition of an organization

Course Topics

Foundational theories

Environment and networks

Forms of organizing

Leadership, power & org. culture

Motivation

Communication & conflict

“New” governance

The Study of Management is Important!

Consider rise of MPA programs like UNCW

Need to address nonprofits as well as government orgs (QENO)

Management as a second profession

Major Schools of Thought

Purpose of studying management is to build your “conceptual tool kit” – that is, provide multiple frameworks or perspectives for understanding orgs. and situations. Examples:

Scientific Management TheoryAdministrative Management Theory

Major Schools of Thought

Human Relations Theory

Human Resources Theory

Systems Theory

Quality Management Theory

Organizational Culture & Leadership Theory

Learning from Experience

We will learn about management by integrating theory (Rainey & Tompkins) and practice (Ashworth and each other).

Observe your bosses carefully-- learn from both the good and the bad-- importantly, tell them what they need to know, not what they want to hear (tactfully!)


Ethics must be the foundation for practice-- first, trust your instincts (don’t ignore

discomfort)-- second, draw on multiple sources of guidance for how to conduct yourself (upbringing, faith,

loyalty to superiors and organization, history, personal conscience)

-- for public service career, look particularly close to “democratic and constitutional imperative”

(p. 165 in Ashworth)


Develop a persona like an egg with a semi-porous shellThere is a substantial universality of experience in public service that transcends geography or agencyYou are permitted to get frustrated, but never thoroughly discouraged or disenchanted


You can’t learn unless you get into the fray!

Stretch your comfort zone…take on new tasks or challenges that scare you a bit!

Foundational Theories

The Systems Metaphor-- inputs, throughputs, outputs

-- feedback (single vs. double-loop)

-- closed vs. open or adaptive systems

Frederick Taylor and Scientific Management-- each task can be broken down and “one best

way” discovered to attain most efficient process


Max Weber and the Ideal Bureaucracy-- based on legal and rational forms of

authority rather than tradition or charisma-based

-- focus on hierarchical lines of authority, rules, consistency, specialized expertise, stability

-- raised concerns about need for individual freedom, creativity, flexibility


Administrative Management School: Principles of Administration

-- POSDCORB

-- span of control (between 6-10 subordinates)

-- one master for each subordinate

-- clear delegation and accountability

-- task homogeneity – dissimilar tasks should not be grouped together

-- significant contribution, but what about people?


Mary Parker Follett and the Law of the Situation

-- the “giving of orders’ should be based on a shared understanding between superiors and subordinates of the particular situations and

what it requires

Hawthorne Studies: Discovery of Human Beings in the Workplace

-- social situation and psychology matters


Chester Barnard and The Importance of the Executive

-- leaders induce and coordinate key cooperative activities

-- incentives matter, not just money but also power, prestige, fulfillment of ideals

-- leaders are key in shaping organization culture

-- the informal organization is as important to understand as the formal structure


Herbert Simon and Bounded Rationality-- focus on how decisions are made in

organizations

-- strictly rational decisions and choices are impossible in complex situations

-- administrators “satisfice” or choose the best of a limited set of alternatives within the constraints of limited information and time


Kurt Lewin and Organizational Change-- groups and individuals maintain a “quasi-stationary equilibrium” in their attitudes and behaviors

-- equilibrium results from a balance between forces pressing for change and those pressing against change (basis for force field analysis)

-- must unfreeze and refreeze


Organizational Development-- Action research

-- Participative decision making (PDM)

Human Relations School-- Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

-- McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y


Contingency Theory-- organizations are open systems that

respond to social, economic and technological imperatives (Tavistock Institute)

-- successful firms must have internal structures as complex as their environments (Lawrence & Lorsch)

-- organizations tend to be organic or mechanistic (Burns & Stalker)

Distinctive Context of Public Management

Fragmented Authority-- multiple masters

Open and Responsive Decision Process

-- operating in a “goldfish bowl”

Ambiguous and Intangible Goals-- difficult to define and control success

Distinctive Context of Public Management

Procedural Constraints-- emphasis on accountability restrains

managerial discretion

Political Constraints-- numerous stakeholders with varying levels

of influence depending on the issue

-- places premium on negotiating, conflict resolution and coalition-building skills

Distinctive Context of Nonprofit Management

Working With/Under a Board

Funding Constraints-- grants, foundations, donors

Mission-Driven vs. Money-Driven

Competition vs. Collaboration

Managing volunteers

Distinctiveness of Public Management

Working with Politicians-- very current-issue oriented

-- they are on top

-- a manager must keep professional distance and avoid inserting personal views

-- their world is trade-offs, swapping, making deals, comprising

-- you must be focused when you need them

-- you must be willing to “be the fireplug”

Distinctiveness of Public Management

Working with the Press-- consider them another branch of government

-- be very careful about “off the record” comments (the recorder is always on!)

-- consider their point of view

-- be brief; try to boil down complex issues

-- don’t make assumptions about what they know

-- don’t let them control the interview…know the one or two points you want to make and bore in

Environment of Public Organizations

Environmental scanning can be an effective tool for understanding organizational structure & behavior:

-- technological conditions

-- legal conditions

-- political conditions

-- economic conditions

Environment of Public Organizations

Environmental scanning (cont’d):-- demographic conditions

-- ecological conditions

-- cultural conditions

Organizations are impacted by their environments but can enact their own environment as well

Environment: Key Concepts

Turbulence and interconnectedness characterize the environments of most public organizations.

Organizations can adapt their structures in response to their environment, or they can change their niches.

-- huge issue with nonprofits!

Environment: Key Concepts

Efficiency not necessarily the highest priority in the design of U.S. government

-- external authorities, the media, interest groups and citizens also demand effectiveness,

timeliness, reliability, and reasonableness

-- remember the three E’s: efficiency, effectiveness and equity; sometimes uncomfortable bedfellows!

Competing Values Framework

How to make sense out of all the different org. theories and perspectives in a way that us useful toward understanding org. and org. behavior?

Quinn & Rohrbaugh suggest it boils down to the specific criteria or values being used to assess…and they all are important depending on the context.

Competing Values: Focus

Internal concern with well-being of employees

External concern for the well-being of the organization

Competing Values:Structure

Concern for flexibility and change

Concern for stability and control


Parsons: to be a viable “social system” an organization is subject to “functional imperatives”:

Adaptive Function-- acquire resources and adjust to forces in

external environment

Goal Attainment Function-- develop plans and direct their accomplishment


Integrative Function-- coordinate the work activities toward goals

Pattern Maintenance Function-- ensure continued commitment of members

Tension Management Function-- iron out tensions that inevitably arise


Means-oriented values-- cohesion, morale, communication, planning, goal-setting

Ends-oriented values-- growth, resource acquisition, productivity


When these three dimensions are juxtaposed, they reveal four competing models of org. effectiveness:

-- human relations model (Quadrant 1)

-- open systems model (Quadrant 2)

-- rational goal model (Quadrant 3)

-- internal process model (Quadrant 4)


Contradictions abound between different values and frameworks

However, organizations face such competition among values

Successful managers must balance or concurrently manage competing values

Consider how Blast in Centralia case illustrates…

Focus on Goal Attainment (Q3)

Rational Goal Model

Importance of planning & goal setting

Focus on productivity & efficiency

Leadership role is Director & Producer


Organizations are goal-directed, purposive entities.

A basic assumption is that public organizations will perform better if the people in them clarify their goals and measure progress against them.

Reflects the huge investment in stating goals and performance measures.


Roots of rational goal model are in the Scientific Management, Administrative Management, and Bureaucratic Theories

Critical managerial task of a Director is to set clear goals, plan, measure against them, and hold people accountable for the results


However, in the public and nonprofit sectors, goal setting is a huge challenge

-- no “bottom line” like private sector

For example, goals can be ambiguous, multiple, and conflicting

-- result can be debilitating for employees


Major tool for addressing the goal challenge is Strategic Planning & Management

Key elements:-- establishing clear vision and mission

-- conducting SWOT analysis

-- identifying key strategic issues

-- identifying short & long-term goals in support

Focus on Internal Processes (Q4)

Importance of information management and communication

Focus on stability and control

Leadership role is Coordinator & Monitor


Roots of internal processes model is bureaucratic theory

Basic assumption is that organizational performance is enhanced by maximizing rationality through

-- fixed official duties, hierarchy of authority, system of rules, task specialization and written documentation


Critical managerial task as a Coordinator & Monitor is to supervise in a top-down manner, ensure the standardization of work processes & skills, integrate the efforts of work groups, and ensure legal compliance with rules and regulations.


The focus on internal processes is critical, but the bureaucratic model presents serious challenges:

-- emphasis on impersonal application of rules & procedures (creates alienation or anomie)

-- dehumanizing impact on workers

-- specialization & hierarchy creates communication obstacles & narrow sense of responsibility

-- institutional rigidity and goal displacement


Tools that address the challenges of bureaucracy are adjusting organizational structures and organizing through work groups or teams

Different org. structures include:-- by function

-- by program, product or service-- by matrix, client or process (see Graham &

Hays reading)


Focus on groups or teams came about because they influence communication and conflicts among their members and between themselves and other groups.

Groups & teams also seen as a way of dealing with the problems created by bureaucracy


Group participation in decision making can enhance the quality of decisions and acceptance of change within an organization (SNF stages)

Groups can bring more knowledge, info, and approaches than individuals

Groups can provide sense of belonging or cohesion within an impersonal bureaucracy


A well-documented problem with groups is Groupthink, or tendency towards unconscious conformity by members…symptoms are:

-- stereotyping the opposition, overestimating one’s own position, stifling dissent

See Rainey (p. 338) for tips to avoid this phenomenon

Focus on Human Relations (Q1)

Importance of cohesion and morale

Focus on human resource development

Leadership role is Mentor & Facilitator


Roots of human relations model in work of Mary Parker Follett, Fritz Roethlisberger, and Elton Mayo.

Basic assumption is that the human side of organizations matter…focusing on goals, structure and processes tells us nothing about how to manage people effectively.


Follett believed that humans have an inherent need to associate with others, develop social bonds, and participate in collective life.

Humans have a need for self-expression and for self-realization through groups.


Follett was a pioneer in modern conflict resolution through her concept of integration…a useful conceptual tool.

She argued that conflict is typically resolved through either domination or compromise. Both techniques are flawed…why?


Integration is achieved by intermingling the ideas and perspectives of each party as concerns are discussed (called interpenetration).

As mutual understanding and a sense of interdependence are created, new ways of thinking about the situation emerge that integrate interests (instead of positions).


Another useful concept from Follett is the “law of the situation.”

One person should not give orders to another person, but both should agree to take their orders from the situation.

Implications for management?


Mayo focused on adverse effects of social disorganization and irrational tendencies of otherwise normal individuals in the workplace.

Roethlisberger focused on organizations as social systems and significance of aligning the formal and informal organization.


Classic research studies fueled the human relations model.

Hawthorne studies showed that higher morale improved productivity by:

-- relaxed supervision (less fear & anxiety)

-- social cohesion or solidarity-- personal attention/sympathetic treatment

-- participative decision making


Bank Wiring Observation Room-- output can be determined by group norms rather than individual effort and skill (“rate busters” or :chiselers” socially ostracized)

-- social cliques within the organization established informal status levels and addressed

problems outside of the formal structure and hierarchy

overview of managing public & nonprofit org

Documents