What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It - Term Paper Example

 All agencies and organizations that we see today are directly or indirectly associated with public administration. The government develops and implements several programs and policies for the masses and it is the job of public administrators to help the governmental elements in their endeavor. Public Administration being such a multi-faceted subject, it is normal for Public Administration students to wonder certain things about the subject matter. According to DDA there are several questions that students should ask at different levels. At the group level, students should wonder whether the group is functioning effectively or not and whether the team feels motivated to perform. At the organizational level one should wonder whether the structured division is functioning well and whether all management settings are well placed or not. While at the systems level one should ask whether or not the unit is receiving appropriate support and funding. According to Wilsons’s book students who are studying public administration should have question about federal structure and function and the impact it has on federal agencies. Another important question to consider about the structure is the work they do and the reason they do it. IMPACT OF FEDERAL AGENCIES The affect that the structure and operation of federal agencies have on the behavior of different organizational groups has been very appreciably illustrated in the book written by J.Q.Wilson. He presents three organizational groups- army, prison and school. He talks about the Germany’s attack on France by Hitler’s troops who adopted Manstein’s idea who suggested a difficult route, yet the Germans succeeded. He then compares some maximum-high security prisons and finds that the behavior and over all ambience of the Texas prison was much better than that of its counterparts. Lastly he explains the state of the worst school- George Washington Carver School. A school which was not only dirty but was not good in academics either. He gives an account of how the state suddenly changed and the school became much better than most city schools. Wilson explains that the German army, Texas prison and Carver school “did a better job than their rivals because they were, or became better organized.” (Wilson, 620). Wilson explains that the German army in spite of being small in number defeated the French because they drew a different lesson from trench warfare because it could not afford a stalemate and decided to attack the defending French army while wearing bulletproof attire or travelling in armored vehicles. On the other hand the French army that being at an advantageous position they had no need to pay special attention to details of trench warfare. Such tactics on the part of Germans had to involve a certain amount of organization. Germany had adopted tactics and a differential organization for success. On the other hand Texas prison was one of the best because George Beto worked on a “control model”. He made certain things mandatory and some behaviors objectionable and punishable. For example compared to other prisons where the criminals were given a certain extent of freedom, inmates in the Texas prison were treated as potentially dangerous individuals. They were disciplined by implementing compulsory habits like shaving, bathing and changing clothes. In fact every single second of their day was properly planned and regulated. Grouping was broken up. Such detailed structure and organization made Texas prison the best correctional home. Coming to the Carver school which was once a school of mayhem till principal Norris Hogans took charge was turned into one of the best places to study. He banned stereos, introduced a uniform code, ordered cleanliness conduct within the school boundaries and made his presence felt in the school. He brought in order and banished improved the morale of both students and teachers. Hogans structured his school well and changed several things. He gave responsibilities to the teachers and hence his organization functioned really well. Thus it becomes evident that structure and function has an impact on the behavior of organizations. Such organization matters and can make a difference even in government agencies. Values to be maximized by public organizations In the text by Denhardt et al, certain values like “democratic principles and values such as citizenship, community and participation in decision making is paramount” (Denhardt et al, 467). The main values that have been given importance are serving people with a shared interest of responsibility and serving democratically. Public administrators need to need a relation with the valued citizens and value their citizenship at par with public services over entrepreneurship According to Wilson, public organizations should value the time factor which depends on the infrastructure. For example the poor infrastructure of the Watertown Registry being poor makes the process of license allocation really slow. The relationship with the clients should be valued too. This can be achieved by providing better services. Motivation According to DDA motivation is the key to success at both organizational as well as personal level. A motivated person accepts more challenges and performs much better and encourages others in their work. In fact motivation is “one of the most challenging and important part of managing and working with people in organizations” (Denhardt et al, 161). The book approaches motivation based on several psychological theories like Maslow’s “A Theory of Human Motivation” according to which people tend to be motivated and act in ways that satisfies their needs. Bureaucracy believes that motivating people to perform certain tasks is by creating the right organizational culture. “Popular books abound with accounts of how IBM or Hewlett-Packard emphasize teamwork and excellence in ways that gave them a competitive advantage over their more mechanistic and individualistic rivals” (Wilson, 2208). Decision-making, Public administrators have to face different circumstances on a day-to-day basis and take decision some of which may have negligible impact while others may have impact on thousands of citizens. Denhardt et al describe two different types of decision-programmed decisions which are meant for regularly occurring problems and hence been permanently established and non-programmed decisions which are meant for irregular problems.”The defining characteristic of a high-performing organization is its ability to make good decisions in a timely manner” (Denhardt et al, 130). The main approach towards the decision making process is firstly understanding the problem and all the associated elements and then analyze the involvement of others in the process of decision making following one of the three models- Rationale model, organization model and Government politics model. On the other hand decision making as mentioned in Wilson’s book depended not on any model but on a particular executive head solely. Robert McNamara took a decision that defense budgets are based on the costing to get a mix of troops and he used “rationale” and quantitative analyses. Another example shows John Gardner, a secretary of HEW was a decision maker whose favorite decision tool was reorganization. Organizational politics Organizational politics is an eminent part of public management. A keen understanding of organizational politics is rudimentary in understanding organizational behavior, and thereby contributes to the success of the organization as a whole. Most organizations are founded on legal-rationale grounds where “laws and constitutional processes create legitimate authority” (Denhardt et al, 241). However, Wilson’s organizational politics is a not similar because the “federal government are staffed with bureaucrats who are more liberal than the population at large” (Wilson, 1674). The bureaucrats were liberalism differed between the activist’s agencies and the traditional agencies. There here organizational politics is largely based on bureaucratic ideology. Conflict Management Denhardt et al describe conflict as being an extremely important part of any organization group. Conflicts tend to “negative force and dysfunctional- that it makes people feel uncomfortable and consequently, makes them less productive” (Denhardt et al, 354). According to the book healthy conflicts are actually beneficial, because, they stabilize relations, stimulates motivation, enhances innovation etc. however excess of it can be detrimental. Wilson’s account of managing conflict is not really smooth. He gives example of a police officer whose real goal of managing conflict but managing them “as we have seen , order is a matter of opinion and the methods of maintaining it is a matter of art, not science “ (Wilson,1069). Organizational change DDA describes organizational change as a necessary evil and points out that “those organizations that develop the creativity and flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances will be those that will thrive during the coming decades” (Denhardt et al, 382). Since change is not appreciated by some people it is the task of the leaders to successfully implement the change. The approach to organizational change is by making people understand the need for a change and clarify all doubts. Next the managers should try and involve everyone in the changing process keeping in mind that people need time to absorb the change. Wilson agrees with the fact that leaders are responsible for the change and it “the executives who should understand their organizations” (Wilson, 7830). Representing the organization to other stake-holders Denhardt et al believe that “a significant and increasing part of the success of any particular public organization will depend on the effectiveness of members in working with others” (Denhardt et al, 429). The role of public administrators is changing and it is becoming important for them to involve in external relations of any type and develop appropriate skills to be able to mange operations effectively. A natural way to represent the organization to outsiders or stake-holders is by firstly gaining trust and confidence and developing a standard protocol for dealing with legislative relations. It is crucial to understand the features of the legislative procedures as well. Wilson’s account of organization representation to clients and stake-holders is fairly different because in this case the organization’s dependence is formalized and structured. Managing in the public interest Managing organizational behavior in public interest according to Denhardt et al is crucially important because here one needs to manage one’s own behavior while influencing behavior of others around in a manner that complies with the general public interest. DDA describes three important things that need to be looked into. Firstly, it calls for involvement of all types of people with a wide array of opinions. Secondly ethical factors must be considered that are critical in the “efforts to realize and reflect the values of democracy and the public interest in public organizations” (DDA, 466). Thirdly, redefining the role of public servants and public organization. Therefore a new public management approaches have been implemented using which many “public organizations and jurisdictions have succeeded in making important and positive changes “(Denhardt et al, 467). In a gist, organizational behavior in the public sector is based on democratic values and public service ideals. However, in Wilson’s book the organization behavior in public interest is mostly entrepreneurial in nature. The Government agencies cannot handle their clientele numbers and the infrastructure meant to serve people is not good at all. “No computers or word processors were available to handle the preparation of licenses and registrations “(Wilson, 2660); hence it becomes evident that there is no public management system in play. Both the books i.e. Managing Human Behavior in Public and Nonprofit Organizations and Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do And Why They Do It (Basic Books Classics)  provide us with a deep and valued into the working, structure and function of varied organizations. Both the books present individual points from slightly different angles, however, the ultimate derivation is somewhat similar to each other. REFERENCES Denhardt, R. B., Denhardt, J. V., & Aristigueta, M. P. (2002). Managing human behavior in public & nonprofit organizations. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage. Wilson, J. Q. (1989). Bureaucracy: What government agencies do and why they do it. New York: Basic Books. Read More