Public Administration Exam 2

Question 1

Strategic management

Answer 1

Management of resources to attain the goal in its entirety.

Question 2

Benchmarking

Answer 2

Hard Measurable Outputs. Objective Baselines…. In accordance to other organizations

Question 3

Management Scorecards

Answer 3

Act as report cards for entire organizations regarding their ability to fulfill their functions.

Question 4

Brainstorming

Answer 4

Solution to groupthink. Unearth creative alternatives via the brainstorming process.

Question 5

Groupthink

Answer 5

Strict adherence to group norms lead to over-conformity and rigidity.

Question 6

Organizational Development

Answer 6

Planned Organizational Change. All organizations need constant change. OD is a strategy for increasing organizational effectiveness. Large scale and is not art or science.

Question 7

Bureaucratic Impersonality

Answer 7

Bureaucracy and its dehumanization. Elimination of emotion from official business. Increases efficiency and the ability to do the right thing under moral controversy.

Question 8

E-Government

Answer 8

Embrace emerging technologies in order to interact electronically with citizens. Benefits- cost reduction, quality, improvement of services, and speed in delivery

Question 9

Performance Management

Answer 9

Feature of managing for performance that strategically integrates all aspects of the enterprise with a view to performance outcomes

Question 10

Management Control

Answer 10

Kind of performance management. Control systems monitor how well the organization is responding to or deviating from its goals. Find out what is going on in an organization and to respond to the need of external groups

Question 11

Learning Organizations

Answer 11

Peter Senge’s theory is that organizations adapt and learn from their environments and survive as organic entities by making better adjustments.

Question 12

Cybernetics

Answer 12

Organizations strive for conditions of dynamic equilibrium. Leadership is instrumental in keeping the organization in that state. Norbert Weiner’s basic idea was to self-identify problems and receive feedback on how to fix them.

Question 13

Reengineering

Answer 13

Radical and sophisticated change. Employs greater use of technological and behavioral sciences to achieve its objectives… Steps Include Process mapping, customer assessments, process visioning

Question 14

Process Mapping

Answer 14

Flowcharting of how and organization delivers its services and products as a process

Question 15

Customer Assessments

Answer 15

Evaluation of the organizations customers’ needs both presently and in the future by focus groups and surveys

Question 16

Process Visioning

Answer 16

Total rethinking of how the work processes ought to function, keeping in mind the latest available technology.

Question 17

Organic Systems

Answer 17

Less rigidity, more participation, more reliance on workers to define and redefine their positions and relationships. . Need environment that is supportive of innovation

Question 18

Mechanistic Systems

Answer 18

Traditional pattern of hierarchy, reliance on formal rules, vertical communications, structured decision making. Supervisors believe it gives more security

Question 19

New Public Management

Answer 19

Bolder supports large scale use of market like mechanisms for parts of public sector that could not be transferred to private ownership. Intensified decentralization of management. Constant emphasis on improving service. Greater attention to individual.

Question 20

Bureaucratic Dysfunction

Answer 20

Stresses de-personalized relationships and power gained by position not innovation. Trained incapacities to deal with certain situations because of past training and tasks. Too rule based.

Question 21

Bureaucratic Bashing

Answer 21

Government was blamed for poor performance and waste during the Reagan years. Support for hurting public administrators even more through policies.

Question 22

Butterfly Effect

Answer 22

A metaphor for this system is the butterfly effect and how one butterfly can cause ripple effects in a system if it does the right thing.

Question 23

Government Regulations

Answer 23

Local Zoning- Local government can designate the types of structures and activities for a particular area. Building Codes- What insides and outsides must look like. Sin Taxes State- Occupational Licensing

Question 24

Organizational Dynamics

Answer 24

How group behavior unearthed a subfield showing how groups interact within organizations. How norms and values can create group cohesion and stability. Grouped by specialized functions or to accomplish a task(formal groups). Informal- Spontaneously developed relationships.

Question 25

Max Weber

Answer 25

Bureaucrats must be free as individuals and can only be bossed around at their jobs. Supported hierarchies. Functions of office are clearly specified. Accept and maintain appointments without duress. Merit based exams. Salaries and pensions. Major Occupation. Career System. No property or resource rights based on office. Bureaucrats conduct must be subject to systematic control and strict discipline.

Question 26

Luther Gulick

Answer 26

Supported One Best Way. PODSCORB Planning- What needs to be done and the methods for doing them. Organizing- Establishment of the formal structure of authority through which work subdivisions are arranged and defined. Directing- Making decisions, providing specific and general orders and instructions and serving as the leader. Coordinating- Interrelating the various parts of the work. Reporting- Keeping the executive informed as to what’s going on. Budgeting- Fiscal Planning

Question 27

Chris Argyris

Answer 27

Inherent conflict between the mature adult personality and the needs of modern organizations. Most organizations treated adults like children. This led to job dissatisfaction and ineffectiveness. Supported giving workers as much responsibility as they could handle.

Question 28

Maslow

Answer 28

Hierarchy of needs- Physiological- Food, Water, Shelter. Safety- Clothes. Love- Affiliation and friends. Esteem- Self Worth. Only after fulfilling these can they reach Self-actualization and become everything they are supposed to be.

Question 29

Systems Theory

Answer 29

Systems theory shows that the world is made up of interrelated organic and dynamic systems. It shows that organizations are constantly reacting with their environment. Any change in this system from the external or internal environment will affect change regarding the rest of the system. A metaphor for this system is the butterfly effect and how one butterfly can cause ripple effects in a system if it does the right thing. Peter Senge (Learning Organization) believed that organizations adapt from these changing environments by making adjustments to account for these changes. While Norbert Weiner argued that organizations strive for conditions of dynamic equilibrium, and that leadership is instrumental in keeping the organization in that state.

Question 30

Zone of indifference

Answer 30

Communicating with an individual to get you to do something, not to force someone to do something

Question 31

Self-directed Teams

Answer 31

work group that will accept responsibility for its processes and products and accept responsibility for other group members coordinate your own schedules independently.

Question 32

Best Practices

Answer 32

Industry Standards. Copy other organizations to use what practice is best for your industry.

Question 33

Bureaucratic Structure

Answer 33

Max Weber and his ideals… Bureaucracy is inherently conservative and slow to change. Lack of responsiveness. Slow because of legislative checks and balances.

Question 34

Reinvention

Answer 34

Creating entrepreneurial organizations and cutting red tape. Puts customers first empower employees to get results and produce better government for less.

Question 35

Productivity Improvement

Answer 35

Productivity is the measure of the work efficiency of an individual, unit, or organization. Improvement is focused on increasing productivity

Question 36

Productivity Measurement

Answer 36

Measuring productivity can be difficult because of the problems with defining output and qualifying measures of efficiency

Question 37

Work Measurement Standards

Answer 37

Numerical value applied to the units of work and employee or group can be expected to produce in a given period of time

Question 38

Social Indicators

Answer 38

Statistical measures that aid in the description of conditions in the social environment.

Question 39

Empowerment

Answer 39

Must be able to give more power to individuals and workgroups. Be able to delegate and trust your workgroups with more responsibility.

Question 40

Managerialism

Answer 40

Entrepreneurial Management

Question 41

Management by Objectives

Answer 41

measurable goals have to be established and accomplished by both membership and leadership of the organization to be realized over a period of time.

Question 42

The Public-Private Paradox

Answer 42

Work of government has the mandate of political legitimacy. Must be legitimate because it is owned by all and has support of the law

Question 43

Importance of being close to center

Answer 43

Steering rather than rowing – Governments should direct their attention more to shaping and ensuring outcomes than delivery.

Question 44

Organizational Language and Culture

Answer 44

The special language of strategic management does not always fit with the culture of public organizations.

Question 45

Organizational Place

Answer 45

The closer an organization is to the center of national decision-making, the less likely strategic management is to be adopted.

Question 46

Theory x and Theory Y

Answer 46

McGregor’s Theory X and Y of organizational and leadership styles shows that managers holding a Theory X vision tend to be authoritarian, believing that people are lazy and irresponsible. Theory Y managers believe in the goodness of human beings and that it is natural for people to work hard and creatively, if there is meaning in work.

Question 47

Hawthorne Studies

Answer 47

The results of these experiments  work showed that workplaces are social situations: workers are motivated by peer pressure, attention by leaders, and other complex factors unrelated to remuneration.