Revitalizing public management training in the Americas

The decade of the 1980s signalled major changes within public administration and development-oriented activities. As a consequence of the internationalization of the agendas of practitioners and academics working in these areas, there is today a growing convergence among public policy, public management, public administration and political science. Given the complexity of the public sector cross-nationally, what has become necessary in public management education is the design of programmes that meet specific needs and priorities and which are responsive to very different national settings. This particular case study is centred around one endeavour to achieve more effective interfacing between theory and practice, in the teaching of public management and the design of development programmes in the United States (US). It is based on an assessment of a 10-year co-operative endeavour between the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration and the US Agency for International Development. The outcomes of this project provided not only leverage for important changes in the teaching programmes of schools concerned with international management education but also built a new relationship between government and a non-governmental organization through the contacting out of management development work.     

Oh Ye of Little Faith! A Response to Davis and Wanna

In response to falls in public sector employment and the closure of public management programs in universities, Davis and Wanna (1997) raised the significant question: ‘Does the teaching of public administration have a future?’ A study of the changes in roles, functions and competencies and education needs of ‘new’ public sector managers suggests that universities have a distinctive role in meeting their need for management education.     

The Role of Management and Representation in Improving Performance of Disadvantaged Students: An Application of Bum Phillips's “Don Shula Rule”1

Scholars and practitioners within the U.S. education system have focused considerable attention on developing new programs aimed at raising educational achievement for disadvantaged students. New programs are only one way to improve student performance, however; recent work in public administration suggests that public management and implementation practices might also have a large impact on student performance. Existing research shows that managerial networking, managerial quality, and effective personnel management can significantly improve the quality of the education received by disadvantaged students. Additional work highlights the contribution of representative bureaucracy. Because these research agendas have targeted the public administration literature rather than the education policy literature, this article seeks to bring this research back to education policy. Using data from several hundred Texas public school districts, spanning 1995 to 2002, and focusing on disadvantaged student performance (Latinos, blacks, and low‐income students), this article illustrates how both management and processes to enhance the representativeness of teaching faculty produce benefits for disadvantaged students.     

Is Management Performance a Factor in Municipal Bond Credit Ratings? The Case of Texas School Districts

Municipal bond ratings are an important determinant of interest costs that a bond issuer must pay. The three major bond rating firms profess that economic and management factors are considered in assigning a bond rating. The management component is of particular interest to public administrators because they can exert more direct control over management factors. Management factors have not been studied empirically in the literature because management performance is generally difficult to quantify. However, the public education sector has seen advances in performance measures and at the same time has increasingly relied on municipal bonds to finance construction. The ordered probit estimation provides support that management performance, as measured in the districts performance on standardized test scores and success in student college admission rates, does influence Texas school district bond credit ratings.     

Ethics and education for the public service in a liberal state

Graduate programs in public policy offer a variety of ethics courses focusing on framework theories, topical applications, and duties of office. Brown gives four reasons for making these types of courses an integral part of education for public service: they provide a common civic vocabulary; they give an essential perspective on analytical techniques; they challenge students' own presuppositions about public policy; and they help distinguish between empirical and conceptual issues. He argues that the growing emphasis in the policy programs on public management further enhances the importance of education in ethics, and that the current dearth of such courses in some programs seriously impedes their graduates.     

新世纪政府管理改革的新课题

新世纪的到来给各国政府管理改革带来了新的课题。新世纪是信息通讯技术高度发达,公民参与政府管理及政策制定的机会和期望不断增强的朝代;新世纪将是政府机构改革和组织变革需要不断按照企业精神和再造模式广泛推进的时代;新世纪将是政府官员需要在思想观念和行为方式上革心洗面,脱胎换骨,从而要求行政教育培训目标和模式进行相庆变革的时代。这些新的课题正日益引起各国政府和专家学的关注和兴趣,如何积极主动地迎接新世纪     

公共教育资源配置失衡及其政策补给——以湘南H区2005年的相关教育数据为分析样本

教育公平一直以来是中国公共管理领域重点讨论的话题。公共教育资源分配不均衡和教育服务的不充分与不对等是造成教育不公的主要原因。以2005年湘南H区义务教育状况为样本,运用实地调查和统计分析的研究方法,从教育财政资源、教师资源、学生资源三个方面分析了当前地方公共教育资源配置失衡的状况及其原因。由于长期实行城市偏向的教育政策和重点校制度,形成了农村教育和城市教育以及"重点学校"和"普通学校"的天壤之别,从而导致了公共教育资源配置失衡和公共教育的不平等。因此,要最终促进公共教育的均衡发展和公共教育服务的均等化供给,必须纠正原有的政策偏差,进一步统筹城乡发展,加大农村教育投入力度,确保农村教育投入的优先性;必须打破原有办学特权,实现办学点和生源的均衡配置;必须实施鼓励和优惠政策,避免城乡教育"马太效应"的持续恶化。     

Political Science and Public Administration: The Saga of a Difficult Relationship

This paper is based on 'The perennial ugly duckling — public sector education in tertiary institutions before and after Coombs', an invited contribution on management education delivered at the Sydney Academics Symposium on the Coombs Commission in Retrospect, IPAA National Conference, 28 November 2001.     

THE CONCEPT OF PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND THE AUSTRALIAN STATE IN THE 1980s

Abstract: The adoption of the discourse of management by Australian public services in the 1980s can be seen as a cultural revolution. Results-oriented management, subordinated to economic considerations, is the dominant approach. The upper levels of the public services have been remodelled in the form of a technically-oriented elite recruited on merit, defined in terms of higher education credentials, drawing a technical intelligentsia, or "new class", into public employment. Although "people and process" approaches, espoused in particular by women, find a place in the new culture, they are subordinated to the demands of scientific management. While the technical intelligentsia is resistant to traditional forms of bureaucratic authority and open to rational debate and new ideas, its members are not well equipped to take account of the substantive concerns of public policy and service provision. The distinctiveness of public management is submerged by inappropriate private sector models, and issues tend to be reduced to economic ones. The paradox that this culture has risen to prominence under Labor governments is explored and the developments are placed in the context of contemporary demands placed on the Australian state by private capital.     

The Synthetic Control Method for Comparative Case Studies: An Application Estimating the Effect of Managerial Discretion Under Performance Management

Public management researchers are often interested in estimating the effects of aggregate-level management reforms and policy changes, but they frequently rely on observational data that pose a number of threats to internal validity. The synthetic control method for comparative case studies (SCM) has great potential for advancing public management scholarship by addressing some of the methodological challenges associated with observational data and providing intuitive graphical results that help researchers communicate their findings to audiences unfamiliar with quantitative methods. SCM uses a transparent, data-driven algorithm for selecting a weighted combination of control units that act as a plausible counterfactual for estimating causal effects. This article demonstrates SCM by investigating the effect of enhancing managerial discretion under performance accountability systems in the context of public education. The article also provides a number of possible avenues for future public management research using SCM and practical guidance for applying the method.     

Seeking Quality in Training Public Financial Managers: The Place for Certification

The search for quality in public management has been provoked in recent years, mainly by the decline in the public's trust of government and by the growing interest in the development of performance measures. A general assumption that certification of public financial managers will enhance the quality of public management and will thus return public trust in government and the respect for its servants underlies the issues discussed in this article. It focuses on the endeavors to link certification and credentialing of financial managers to broader alternative strategies for assuring quality. The strengths and weaknesses of three major strategies and the available resources for their implementation are discussed: (1) promoting quality within public management education and training; (2) promoting quality within the environment where managers work; and (3) promoting quality of skills held by individual managers themselves.     

The challenge of evaluating systemic change: the case of public management reform

At what stage of reform in the public sector does it become possible to conduct a thorough appraisal of results and how does one know when this stage has been reached? How should such an assessment be undertaken? By what methods can comprehensive and far-reaching systemic reforms be evaluated in the arena of public management during recent decades, particularly in countries like Australia, Britain and New Zealand? Most assessments have focused upon specific changes in management practice including the introduction of performance pay, the move to accrual accounting, the growth of contracting-out, the separation of policy and operations or the devolution of human resource management responsibilities. Alternatively, they have dealt with management changes in particular policy domains –such as health care, education, community services or criminal justice –or within a particular organization (department, agency or private provider). By contrast, there have been relatively few macro evaluations –comprehensive assessments of the impact of root-and-branch changes to the system. The problems of evaluation in the arena of public management are inherently complex and the way ahead is by no means clear. This article offers some broad reflections on the limitations to policy evaluation in the field of public management, and more particularly explores the obstacles confronted when assessing the consequences of systemic management reforms. It focuses on recent changes in the New Zealand public sector to illustrate the general themes because these reforms constitute one of best examples of systemic change anywhere in the world.     

DEVELOPING A FRAMEWORK FOR MANAGEMENT EDUCATION IN THE VICTORIAN PUBLIC SERVICE

Abstract: The Public Service Board of Victoria initiated a project in March 1989 to plan a framework for the development of competent managers. The methodology involved an examination of the current practices of 23 organisations, together with a worldwide literature search. The major findings were that the managerial task is similar across sectors, but the manager level and the environment are qualifying variables; that training, management education and development in private sector organisations and statutory bodies has total commitment from the chief executive, is closely linked to the business plan, forms part of an integrated human resource management system, and is continually reinforced by the organisation's culture and values; and that there is no strategic and focused approach to developing managers across the Victorian Public Service. The 21 recommendations covered the areas of investment and commitment, the development of a systematic approach by providing quality management programs based on core managerial competencies and the integration of training, education and development with performance management processes.
The implementation plan calls for pump-priming funds for resourcing and delivering high quality programs, a change in the culture, the adoption of a set of principles, the establishment of a management education unit, acceptance of a common language of competence for managers, and an integration of education and development needs with corporate plans through the performance improvement system. Commitment to implementation should result in a systematic approach to the formation of competent managers with the benefits flowing to the community through improved services, the government gaining by increased performance of the agencies, and public servants being able to reach their full potential.     

When local participation helps

Programs for the delivery of public goods and services are often more effective if the public participates in their planning and execution. Not all such activities benefit from public participation, however. Activities whose effectiveness most benefits from such participation are those whose local effects are variable; those that have to be made frequently but not routinely; those that require quick responses from the public; and those whose impact calls for major changes in the behavior of the public. Experience with irrigation projects in developing countries is consistent with this “sensitivity hypothesis,” but the hypothesis is probably applicable to the management of other goods and services such as social welfare, education, public health, and transportation.     

The Big Questions of Public Administration Education

Following Behn's observation that scientists in other fields understand the big questions of their disciplines and focus attention and their discussions on those questions, public administration scholars have attempted to identify the “big questions” in public management and public administration. In this article, I suggest that scholars in public administration should also be attentive to the big questions of public administration education, those timeless and enduring concerns that speak to the basic perspectives that we bring to the educational process. Specifically, I identify four big questions: Do we seek to educate our students with respect to theory or to practice? Do we prepare students for their first jobs or for those to which they might aspire later? What are the appropriate delivery mechanisms for MPA courses and curricula? What personal commitments do we make as public administration educators? I argue that these big questions in public administration education are far more connected than we usually think, and by posing these questions in terms of processes of human development we can at least provide a framework through which we might develop more coherent answers to these big questions, answers that recognize and build on the diversity of our students and our faculty.     

"I SPEAK FOR THE TREES…"

This article concentrates on the need for greater information resources management (IRM) education in public administration programs. The author argues that current management information systems training is much too limited in its approach, concentrating only on the technology of information transfers. A more comprehensive technique, emphasizing all of the issues of data handling from collection to distribution, is put forward. Because policy decisions are affected by critical information, public administrators must be keenly aware of their information resources. In concluding the article, the author offers a possible IRM curriculum that would prepare students of the discipline to be lucid practitioners.     

澳门公职人员廉政教育的形式与特点

廉政教育是澳门廉政建设的重要内容,澳门廉政公署将宣传教育工作视为廉政建设的治本之道,并将对公务人员的廉政教育摆在首要位置。澳门公务人员廉政教育采用了廉政讲座、入职培训、座谈会、工作坊等不同形式,并表现出以下特点:对公务人员进行廉政教育的时机比较恰当,有助于教育目标的落实;廉政教育的内容符合实际需要,能做到有的放矢;廉政教育的主体采用了廉署主导、各方配合的方式,既能将教育工作落到实处,又可以发挥政府各个部门的积极性;将廉政教育放在澳门廉政建设的整体框架内来进行,与其他廉政策略相互支持,共同推动澳门廉洁社会的建设。     

Representation and Collaboration: Exploring the Role of Shared Identity in the Collaborative Process

Public managers must regularly engage and interact with stakeholders in the external environment to deliver meaningful policy outcomes. Examining the motivations behind such behavior is a critical component of understanding management in the modern era. Some studies suggest that actors with similar interests are more likely to form collaborative partnerships. Using an original mail survey of 150 American Indian education directors in public school districts, this article examines how shared identity and individual attitudes affect levels of interaction with Native American communities. Findings suggest that public school officials who share both a racial and a tribal/co‐ethnic identity with Native American nations in their service area have higher levels of interaction with these groups than public school officials who are either members of Native American nations outside their service area or non‐Indian. This research has broad implications for incorporating theories of representation and social construction into our understanding of collaboration.     

Private and public choices in public education: An investigation of trustee effects

The paper applies the concepts of the horizon problem, agency costs, monitoring, and special interest incentives to trustee management of public schools and higher education. We examine whether South Carolina's 1984 Education Improvement Act, a major restructuring of educational organization and spending in South Carolina, is related to the ratio of pupils in private versus public schools. We employ 30 years of county level data in South Carolina, and we uncover several things. There is no statistically credible relation between public school expenditures per pupil and the private school/public school enrollment ratio. However, we do find that the directed changes in rules, organizational structure, and incentives mandated by the 1984 Educational Improvement Act are associated with a reduction in the relative number of children attending private school. We interpret this to mean that the features of the law requiring better accountability and the like were perceived by parents to make for better education while the increased money spent was only a transfer to teachers or some other groups; we find that organization matters more than money.     

Governing Interlocal Cooperation: City Council Interests and the Implications for Public Management

Local government managers are described as key participants in the development of interlocal cooperation, but the interests of city councils in this process have gone largely unstudied. Here, the author addresses the theoretical importance of council-manager relations in interlocal public service cooperation. Three propositions identify areas of shared council-manager responsibility. Evidence from in-depth interviews with city council members is used to assess each proposition. While interlocal partnership has been described as a managerial activity, council members take an interest in network development and agreement assessment. Managers, on the other hand, give greater attention to public participation and education. The evidence refines assumptions about council-manager roles in the formation of cooperative agreements, with important implications for local government management.