Reconstruct Political Appointments

Week 4

Political Influences

Political influences are operational standards that influence decision making. Within public

organizations, politics often plays a crucial role in how routine tasks are accomplished. The nature of the

work and mission of certain organizations might create political climates that have long lasting impacts

on the agency’s image, work ethics, work results, and the type of people who work for these

organizations. Managers and senior leadership within these organizations must make a serious choice

concerning the organization’s public image. Public image is of critical importance in any form of

business. Customers pay attention to the places where they spend their hard earned dollars. Therefore,

companies and organizations spend a lot of money on marketing, advertising, and public relations to

ensure the public view their particular brand in a positive manner. This also translates to the public

sector.

For example, adequate efforts should be made to ensure federal funding appropriated to the public

education system, including public higher education institutions, which are spent in accordance with its

intended purpose and within federal and state regulations and guidelines. Leadership in the public

school system, therefore must take precautions in how the organization is represented. There should be

efforts to demonstrate that these programs are providing efficient services to the public as intended

when federally funded. For example, administrators and executives must demonstrate to the

government that funds given to their public state universities are used to benefit students and the

general public. This can be achieved through groundbreaking scientific research, training, grants,

financial aid programs, on-campus food pantries, and other services offered to students.

Politics also has a significant impact on inter-organizational activities. The political climate often shapes

an organization’s culture, and at times, can hinder transparency. Public agencies with rough political

climates sometimes put severe strain on employees who struggle in those situations to do their jobs

with lack of clarity and direction. Having a healthy organization requires setting systems and processes

in place that provide the necessary tools for employees to complete their jobs. Without proper

leadership, guidance, sound direction, and adequate resources, employees are limited in reaching goals

and objectives management set in place. Poor direction will often lead to confusion. When employees

are confused, the mission is stalled.

When an organization’s climate is very political, lower-level managers can receive delayed notifications

regarding direction. Some public agencies are uniquely political, which can cause delays or work

stoppage due to the sensitive nature of an environment. For example, some agencies produce sensitive

information at the Top Secret, Secret, of Confidential levels that require clandestine operations, which

usually means to only share information on a need-to-know basis. The idea behind the need-to-know

principle is based on sensitivity levels of information. However, at times this approach can cripple

operations if managers are not careful. In these cases, employees still need to know at least some

information in order to finish a job.

Be sure to review this week's resources carefully. You are expected to apply the information from these

resources when you prepare your assignments.

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Books and Resources for this Week

Barton, M. A., Sutcliffe, K. M., Vogus, T. J., & DeWitt, T. (2015). Performing under uncertainty:

Contextualized engagement in wildland...

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GovLeaders.org. (2014). Management challenges: Government vs. private sector [Web resource].

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Karo, E., & Kattel, R. (2014). Public management, policy capacity, innovation and development. Brazilian

Journal of Political Economy/ Revista De...

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Management Study HQ. (2018). Bureaucracy [Web resource].

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