exam

Organizational  Strategy Public  Sector

Elements  of  Strategy (The  Strategic  Triangle)

1. The  strategy  must  be  substantively  valuable  in  that  the  organization   produces  things  to  overseers,  clients,  and  beneficiaries   at  low  cost  in  terms   of  money  and  authority,

2. It  must  be  legitimate  and  politically  sustainable,  and 3. It  must  be  operationally   and  administratively  feasible  in  that  the  

authorized  valuable  activities  can  actually  be  accomplished

Ruckleshaus and  Miller  Plans Similarities

• Provided  no  detailed  plans;  just  broad  goals  that  defined  the  directions  in   which  they  intended  to  move  their  respective  agencies:  for  Ruckleshaus – abating  pollution,  for  Miller  – humanizing  the  treatment  of  kids.

• Lessons  learned:  the  more  detailed  the  plans;  the  more  opportunities  for   critics  to  take  pot  shots  and  muddle  the  issues.

• Both  defined  conceptions  that  are  at  once,  substantively  valuable,   politically  sustainable  and  operationally  and  administratively  feasible.

Politics  and  Policy (Moore  book  – Page  98)

• “We  cannot  expect  public  sector  enterprises  that  are  the  focus  of  intense,   shifting  political  conflicts  to  be  precise  about  what  they  are  trying  to   accomplish,  for  the  very  precision  will  invite  constant  destabilizing   intervention  by  political  overseers.”

• Political  overseers  (who  are  they?)  as  critics.  Examples?

Political  Management

Why  Pay  Attention  to  Politics?

1. To  identify  what  purposes  are  deemed  publicly  valuable  and  can  therefore   be  practically   and  normatively  sustained,

2. Political  institutions  grant  the  resources  (money  and  authority)  public   managers  need  to  accomplish  operational  purposes,

3. Public  manager  performance  is  graded  within  the  realm  of  politics  and  the   law.

Case  Studies:    The  Park  Plaza  Project  and   The  Swine  Flu  Threat

Park  Plaza

• What  did  Mahoney  start  with  in  terms  of  political  support  and  legal   authority?

• What  caused  the  erosion  of  support  and  authority  behind  him? • What  could  have  been  done  differently  from  the  perspective  of  Mahoney,  

from  the  perspective  of  the  governor?

• What  are  the  lessons  learned  from  the  perspective  of  public  managers?

Case  Studies

The  Swine  Flu  Threat

• What  did  Sencer start  with  in  terms  of  political  support  and  legal  authority? • Was  there  also  an  erosion  of  support  and  authority? • Who  did  he  rely  on  for  support,  and  what  kind  of  support  did  he  get? • Could  anything  have  been  done  differently? • Lessons  learned  – convergence  of  circumstances,  personalities  and  political  

expediency

Forces  vs.  Mahoney

• Financiers  and  developers  behind  the  Park  Plaza  project.  (Public  need  vs.   reality.)

• Labor  unions. • Finally,  the  legislature. • What  single  event  demonstrated  the  defeat  of  Mahoney’s  agenda?

What  Worked  for  Sencer

• His  proposal  did  not  get  any  opposition. • His  superiors  shared  his  sense  of  urgency. • The  White  House  (ultimate  authority)  was  sufficiently  briefed  by  Sencer’s superior  

at  a  high  level  of  the  hierarchy.

• There  was  a  need  for  the  White  House  to  show  “decisiveness”  to  counter  rumors  of   President  Ford  being  a  “bumbler.”

• The  choices  were  boiled  down  to  “gambling  with  money  gambling  with  lives.”

Special  Interest  Groups

• The  existence  of  a  single interest  group  signals  the  existence  of  an  important   public  value  citizens  think  should  be  protected.

• Political  interests  and  forces  are  a  lot  like  energy  in  physics:  they  are   impossible  to  destroy;  they  can  only  be  deflected  or  transformed.

How  to  Deal  with  Special  Interest  Groups

• Find  a  countervailing  power. • Chanel  the  forces  along  a  path  that  is  more  tolerable   for  the  public  manager. • Discover  some  way  of  dissipating  the  source  of  the  energy.

The  Role  of  the  Courts  

• Legislative  actions  may  be  overturned. • Friendly  suits  can  sometimes  overturn  the  opposition  agenda,  or  at  least,  

delay  it.

• Courts  can  place  government  agencies  under  long  term  judicial  oversight   (special  masters)  to  ensure  they  comply  with  constitutional  standards.

• Every  government  agency  has  in  house  legal  counsel  that  gives  voice  and   caution  to  public  managers  on  the  legal  aspects  of  their  official  actions.

Reminder for  Individual  Written  Projects