Strategic Management in Government: Lee Brown and Harry Spence - Case Study Example

Lee Brown and Harry Spence Analysis Lee Brown and Houston Police Department In the month of April, 1982 Lee Brown became the chief of the Houston Police Department (HPD). He became the seventh chief in the department in eight years. Rigorous turnover reflected various changes within the city itself as well as a continuing debate regarding the type of policing the sprawling, ambitious as well as increasingly diverse the city required. Within less than two decades Houston had been changed from a mere city to a large growing metropolis. When Lee was appointed crime in Houston reached mammoth levels. For learning properly the functioning of the organization, Brown commissioned a report on the state of department and ended up with the result of self assessment that the department was in a really messed up situation. The key limitations that were identified were namely inadequate mission statement and transparent objectives to the provision of the organization. There was also lack of procedures for the purpose of ensuring consistency in performance throughout the organization. And finally the inefficient management system which showed that there was lack in especially in areas of planning, budgeting, career development as well as internal communication and development. Among the various steps which Brown incorporated is that of community policing which depended highly on the involvement of matters that infuse safety as well as quality of life of the neighborhood. He has made the culture of the police department towards not only recognizing the merits of community involvement but also that of organizing as well as managing various departmental affairs. Brown also contributed to the decentralization of authority as well as that of the structure of the community policing. There have been changes in the roles with the authority of participating in the process of decision making with a significant expansion. The responsibility for the process of decision making is matter of sharing by the community as well as the police which not only has enabled but has also encouraged active involvement of the citizen. There was also active participation as the citizens possess a vast information base which the police can utilize as well as prevent crime. There has been implementation of power sharing which directed that the community is allowed towards participating in the process of decision making. Thus it can be stated that there should be application of reengineering by the operational manager which should be directing towards increasing the quantity, quality of public activities, reducing the costs, making public organizations operate in a smooth manner as well as enhance continuing capacity as well as responding towards innovation (Moore, 1995, p.211). 2. Harry Spence and the Boston Housing Authority In the year 1979, the Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Paul Garrity being intolerable regarding the inefficiency of the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) for meeting obligations it has assumed under a negotiated settlement to a class action suit brought by its tenants and there was a frantic decision taken. Through gross mismanagement, incompetence as well as vehement irresponsibility led to the declaration that BHA was bankrupt. There has been suspension of the BHA board and there was appointment of Harry Spence as the receiver. Task of Spence was to take any and all the necessary, desirable as well as appropriate decisions for the purpose of bringing the housing unit of BHA into compliance with the sanitary code as well as other applicable federal, state as well as local housing authority regulations. For Spence there was a requirement of a well structured as highly motivated and operationally focused enterprise. The extensive period of litigation which led to the appointment of Spence had produced deep divisions at the top as well as there was vehement jeopardy at the bottom level of organization ( p. 186). In this respect, the statement of James Q. Wilson can be stated which is as follows: “ “When goals are vague, circumstances become important” (Wilson, 1989, p. 36). In the real world the application of various policies is associated with the circumstances which the operator find himself or herself into. Wilson stated that more than the policies, the circumstances direct the ways in which the operator will be resolving an issue. As soon as Spence was appointed as the receiver, Spence informed all the stakeholders about the information of appointment in the BHA receiver and he looked forwarded with productive working with them. This reflects initially Spence’s character of punctuality. In the early morning, Spence walked into his first senior staff meeting as the receiver of BHA. He asked the senior staff for preparing reports which would be describing the work of their offices as well as also giving their assessments of the key staff members. This also reflects Spence’s tremendous eagerness towards penetrating within the organization for gaining support. After conducting meeting, Spence infiltrated deeply within the operations of BHA. He rigorously analyzed heaps of important documents that have been accumulated for so long time and have been neglected to great extents. Spence’s presence in the field was omnipotent. Spence visited at least twice in a week at any arbitrary housing project for an unannounced tour. There has been regular conduction of semimonthly senior staff conference wherein the managers were asked towards reporting on their activities, issues as well as accomplishments. These spontaneous activities executed by Spence added to an aggressive engagement with both work as well as the people of the BHA. The engagement in turn also warned Spence to be just about every issue within the authority. It also helped Spence in the process of assessing the competence, energy as well as orientation of the staff of BHA. These encounters allowed Spence for establishing as well as enforcing various standards of performance. Spence explained by saying that, “By two days I was doing things like taking letters back and saying, ‘This has a typo in it” (Moore, 1995, p.241). Spence was also able to break down the bureaucratic structure present with the BHA. Through his strict measures, Spence was able to terminate inefficient officials and paved the way towards focusing on the attention of the organization on one of it’s key tasks as well as also in exploiting the talents of his key subordinates. In one of the strategic move Spence also lifted the Construction Management Bureau out of the Division of Planning and Redevelopment and also chalked out a separate division reporting directly towards him. Spence also singled out for long term emphasis on the dimensions of security as well as maintenance. According to Spence, these issues were highly important which an organization faces. Rather than tenant selection Spence appointed his principal assistant for starting the work in an immediate manner for avoiding any type of distractions. Although this can be regarded as a negative point which focuses on the personal choice of Spence in executing the job but it was a judicious move towards neutralizing the bureaucratic control of the organization. The subsequent changes within the organization helped Spence in directing his focus for the purpose of mobilization of external support for the BHA. External support was taken towards improving the agency’s performance as it will act as a spillover effect towards the other individuals working. There was infusion of legislative as well as political support with confidence boost. With the leadership qualities of Spence there was effective lobbying at the federal level. Within six months of his appointment, there was announcement of Spence for a special award of $ 13.5 million in the modernization funds towards stabilizing the authority’s six most distressed developments (Moore, 1995, p.243). Thus leadership qualities and judicious implementation reflects an instance of positive management style which the organizations have to incorporate into their system of operations. References Moore, M. H. (1995). Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.Books Wilson, J, Q, (1989), Bureaucracy, Basic Read More