PPPA 8174 Seminar: Public Management

Course Description

The public management doctoral seminar covers public organization theory and behavior. Organizations and management are central not only to administration but to other areas of inquiry in public policy and public administration.

There are numerous disciplinary and multi-/inter-disciplinary approaches to the study of organizations. Three approaches that you will hear a lot about are: Organization Behavior, Organization Theory, and Public Management. Organization behavior has its roots in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and primarily seeks to understand individual and small team behavior in organizational settings. Organization Theory has its roots in sociology and typically focuses on larger units of analysis than individuals and/or small teams.

The public management tradition on the study of organizations came into its own in the 1980s and 1990s. The public management tradition is eclectic and inclusive, drawing upon organization theory and behavior as well as public policy and public administration to advance knowledge of public organizations and management. Hal Rainey’s book, Understanding and Managing Public Organizations – through its different editions – has provided one of the most thorough and ambitious accounts of the evolution and growth of knowledge in the public management tradition. I view public management scholarship as grounded in a distinctive worldview. Although public management draws from other perspectives (notably political science and generic organization theory and behavior literatures), it offers major insights that traditional disciplinary perspectives do not (for further elaboration of this point, see Pandey and Wright 2006; and Pandey 2010).

Given the fact that the study of public management and organizations -- as a field of inquiry -- draws upon so many sources, comprehensive coverage is impossible in one course. So, my goal is not to be comprehensive in coverage. This seminar, however, aims to introduce you to key traditions of inquiry and some of the most vibrant and intriguing themes in the study of public organizations.

The learning outcomes for the seminar pertain to both substantive matters in public management and the art and craft of conducing scholarly research. Specifically, this course has the following learning outcomes:

1. Develop a sense of critical importance for some of the best scholarship in the study of public organizations and management
2. Obtain a rich “insider” perspective on scholarly research enterprise
3. Develop and hone the abilities and skills needed to be a successful scholar