midterm

PUB 407MT Summer Midterm MIDTERM

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The Midterm Exam is due by midnight on Sunday June 17. This gives you approximately 17

days. The exam must be emailed to me as a Word document.

Please take the time to read these instructions.

Answer 3 of the following case studies. Each essay answer for each case study must be a

minimum of 250 words (double spaced). In other words, between the 3 case studies you will

have at least 750 words (250 x 3). You can certainly write more than the 250 minimum. Include

the title of the case study at the beginning of each response. Your actual response is what

counts towards the 250-word minimum for each response. Please cite all your information.

There is no single right or wrong answers but it is important to back up your responses

with a citation of where you got the information.

Your name and Barry Student number are too be placed on the cover page. A 5-point penalty if

your name is not on the paper. A 5-point penalty for each essay if the actual question is not at the

top of each essay answer (ex: question, then answer. question, then answer, etc). A minimum of

a 10-point penalty for each essay if you write 200-249 words. A minimum of a 20-point penalty

for each essay if you write 150-199 words. A minimum of a 30-point penalty if you write 100-

149 words. No credit for less than 100 words. Late exams will not be accepted. The exam must

be double spaced, with times new roman 12 .

Be sure to appropriately cite using APA. Always cite when you use the words, thoughts, or

ideas of others. All exams will be submitted to Turnitin.com. You must work alone. This is not

a group exam.

Use the textbook for each answer, and at least one academic source from the Barry library

(or any academic library).

Please include a cover page using APA format.

Prepare one reference page at the end for all your references.

This is an Open Book mid-term. Call, text, or email me if you have any questions.

PUB 407MT Summer Midterm MIDTERM

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Select 3 of the following 5 case studies (At least 250 words for each essay)

Case Study 1 From Chapter1

Case Study: Solyndra and Subsidies

Solar cell maker Solyndra went bankrupt despite receiving $528 million in federal loan

guarantees. The company took out a loan directly from the Federal Financing Bank, which is part

of the Treasury Department, so when the company filed for bankruptcy and it became evident

that it would not be able to repay its loan, the Obama administration was attacked by its critics

for participating in the deal. This incident brought the entire Obama clean energy program under

scrutiny, although only two out of about forty projects that received loans through the program

defaulted.

As an employee for the Department of Energy, you have been tasked with writing a report

analyzing the issues associated with Solyndra and with the image of the clean energy program.

You are to draft a response to summarize your results and providing recommendations for future

improvements to the program. Consider the following to assist you in drafting the response:

1. Could this incident have been prevented? How could the government have better

managed the fallout from the bankruptcy? What factors contributed to the situation?

2. Why has this one failure had such an impact on the public’s confidence in the

government’s ability to spur economic development? How can the government get the

public to focus on the many successes of the program?

3. How much risk should the government take on in programs such as this one? How can

that risk be mitigated?

4. What changes could be introduced to the program in the future? How will these changes

affect the program’s effectiveness?

Use your textbook and at least one academic source from the Barry online library. Full

APA citations required.

PUB 407MT Summer Midterm MIDTERM

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Case Study 2 From Chapter 2

Case: U.S. Postal Service and the Internet

The rapid expansion of the Internet caused a decline in the U.S. Postal Service’s core business:

first-class mail. The USPS was slow to adapt its business practices to the new market, failing to

offer Internet-based services quick enough to be competitive with private sector companies. An

attempt in 1999 to provide online stamp and parcel-postage purchasing failed due to the

organization’s inflexibility and inertia. The USPS has since caught up to its private sector

competitors and offers many web-based services, but has been unable to increase its share of the

market.

You work in the marketing department of the United States Postal Service. You have been asked

to examine the existing public image of the USPS and provide suggestions for improving that

image. Prepare a memorandum or response detailing your analysis and suggestions while

considering the following to assist you in drafting the response:

1. Is there a discrepancy between the services USPS offers and the services that its

competitors offer? If so, which services might be worth developing and why?

2. Is the public aware of the services available to them? If so, is there a way to create

customer preference for USPS services? If not, how can these services be advertised?

3. What are the key drivers of innovation in the postal service? What obstacles in the

organization currently prevent timely innovation?

Use your textbook and at least one academic source from the Barry online library. Full

APA citations required.

PUB 407MT Summer Midterm MIDTERM

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Case Study 3 From Chapter 3

Case Study: Pay-for-Performance Incentives in NYC Schools

School districts across the country adopted pay-for-performance incentives in the early 2000s in

the hopes of improving student outcomes. However, a Rand Corporation study of two hundred

New York City Schools between 2007 and 2010 found that programs offering annual bonuses to

teachers for school performances had no measurable effect on student outcomes.

You work for the New York City Department of Education and have been tasked with filing a

report on the lack of success of pay-for-performance incentives. You are expected to come up

with alternative incentives for the department to try. Prepare a response, which considers the

following questions to help you draft your response:

1. What caused the failure of these programs? How were they developed and

implemented?

2. How were the results of the programs measured? Were they measured effectively?

3. What are some other possible ways to incentivize teachers? How can these plans be

implemented? How might they be measured?

4. Who would implement these programs? Is there a need for additional staff to

implement them?

Use your textbook and at least one academic source from the Barry online library. Full

APA citations required.

PUB 407MT Summer Midterm MIDTERM

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Case study 4 From Chapter 5

Case Study: Organizational Structures of the U.S. Department of Energy and the EPA

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is organized by program, management function, and

geography. It also has a geographic substructure, but most staff people are in program units. In

contrast, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is geographically based; it is divided

into ten regional offices headed by regional administrators who report directly to the national

EPA administrator in Washington.

You work as an internal consultant for the state of New York. You have been asked to analyze

the structure of two major U.S. organizations: the DOE and the EPA. Prepare a response

describing and analyzing the two organizations’ structures. This memo will be used to evaluate

the structure of state agencies. Consider the following to assist you in drafting the response:

1. Why were these organizations created? How did this affect the way they are

structured?

2. What trade-offs did each organization have to make when choosing the particular

structure, they chose?

3. What criteria could be used to evaluate an organization’s structural needs? Is there a

way to standardize the process of structuring an organization?

4. How might a state agency approach structure differently from the way a federal

agency would?

Use your textbook and at least one academic source from the Barry online library. Full

APA citations required.

PUB 407MT Summer Midterm MIDTERM

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Case Study 5 From Chapter 6

Case Study: New York City’s 311 Call System

In 2002 Mayor Bloomberg introduced a call system to track citizens’ complaints and concerns.

The system allowed citizens to report potholes that needed to be filled, neighborhoods that

needed policing, and other issues. Citizen use of the system led the city to realize that it needed

to develop a new system of responding to complaints, because many of the reported problems

crossed the boundaries of various city departments. The system was later expanded to allow

citizens to submit concerns using the Internet and text messaging.

Memo:

You work for the City of Boston and have been asked to evaluate the New York City 311 Call

system, as your boss would like to implement a similar program in Boston. Prepare a

memorandum describing how the system works and analyzing its success while considering the

following to assist you in preparing the response:

1. What system was previously used to discover areas of concern for citizens of New

York?

2. How is the 311-call system innovative? How has it been adapted to remain relevant

and useful?

3. What other innovation strategies were used in conjunction with this program? How

did these strategies enhance the already successful program?

4. How might you ensure that a similar system has similar success in Boston? How

would the new system be advertised to citizens?

5. Would the program originally be implemented as a pilot program? What agency

would be responsible for processing the information gathered using the system?

Use your textbook and at least one academic source from the Barry online library. Full

APA citations required.