Organizational Learning A Framework For Public Administration

In order to face the challenge of effective organizational learning in our public policies, we need to address three pressing questions: 1. How does learning work in our public organizations? 2. What promising practices can we implement to advance learning in public organizations? 3. What changes in public management are required to combine learning with the growing demands of performance and accountability? This book is an attempt to address those questions in a systematic and empirical manner. The answers presented in this volume are the result of a four-year empirical research project conducted in Polish ministries and study visits in public institutions of twelve countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

This discussion paper establishes a foundation for a policy framework to support the Public Service in its journey to transform itself into a learning organization. This paper summarizes & explains the theoretical underpinning of the learning organization concept. It describes the general context of the current initiative & it explores the normative foundations as well as the practical implications of the learning organization model. It provides a statement of intent for transforming the Public Service into a learning organization. It expounds the rationale & key principles which should guide this collective undertaking & illustrates the benefits citizens, elected officials & public servants will reap by promoting organizational learning at all levels.

This annual series presents fundamental research on the theory and practice of management. Volume 7 contains articles presented at the 2001 meeting of the International Conferences on Advances in Management (ICAM), held in Athens, Greece. ICAM's goal is to be truly comparative-in terms of the broad scope of management perspectives, in the broad-ranging locations of its research as well as its application, and in its comparisons of findings, methodologies, and operational definitions. This volume exemplifies ICAM's objectives. Part 1, "Organization Theory, Learning, and Effectiveness," revisits the management theory jungle, reports on the development organizational learning capabilities in Europe, encourages organizational learning through cultural diversity, and reviews the role of corporate parent . Part 2, "Behavior and Attitudes in Organizations," considers the relationships of religion to organizational citizenship and whistle-blowing behaviors, identifies antecedents of misbehavior among nurses and social welfare workers, and uses process framework as a method to depict encroaching processes and change in organizations. Part 3, "International and Cross-Cultural Management," looks at various issues of management abroad. Topics include the dimensions and levels of power bases and their relationships to subordinates' compliance and satisfaction in the U.S. and South Korea, the relationship between empowerment and quality of work life in Mexico, and case studies of organizational intellectual capital in China. Part 4, "Management in the Public Sector," turns attention to efforts to recognize and build on differences in public administration. Part 5, "Managing Human Resources," addresses the nature of researcher values in human resource management and considers recent publications in mainstream human resources in order to isolate the patterns of research. Part 6, "Role of Research in Management," discusses the need for processual thinking. It presents a list of factors contrasting two views of management: the classical view, and the "process view of management." This volume will be of particular interest to corporate executives, economists, and labor studies specialists.

The context and environment of public services is becoming increasingly complex and the management of change and innovation is now a core task for the successful public manager. This text aims to provide its readers with the skills necessary to understand, manage and sustain change and innovation in public service organizations. Key features include: the use of figures, tables and boxes to highlight ideas and concepts of central importance a dedicated case study to serve as a focus for discussion and learning, and to marry theory with practice clear learning objectives for each chapter with suggestions for further reading. Providing future and current public managers with the understanding and skills required to manage change and innovation, this groundbreaking text is essential reading for all those studying public management, public administration and public policy.

Designed as a text for upper-level undergraduate-and graduate-level courses in public administration, public management, public policy, organizational behavior, this book looks at how people work effectively in public organizations. Written entirely by experienced practitioners, the text is unique in that it addresses throughout both the practical concerns of the working administrator and those of the theorist. By using their own on-the-job experiences as illustrative samples, the contributors clearly demonstrate how theory can improve practice and how practice can be used to generate theories. Following an introductory chapter by the editor on the role of practitioners in the intellectual development of public administration, the text is divided into four sections. Part One, on the individual in public organizations, covers the ways in which managers learn and teach, presents an alternative contemplative paradigm of organizational behavior, and explores the role of the heroic individual in public administration. Part Two focuses on other people and public organizations, examining such issues as organizational learning, internal evaluation in organizations, organizational pathologies, and controlling conflict. Turning to the question of structure and public organizations, the contributors address ways in which organizational structure can be influenced, describe a learning model of organization, identify archetypes in organizations, and analyze the structure of power in public organizations. The final section looks at the management and leadership skills necessary to be successful in public administration.

This comprehensive text introduces public management students and government and nonprofit administrators to the principles and practices of Knowledge Management. The first book to focus exclusively on knowledge management techniques in government agencies, it covers such important concepts as collecting, categorizing, processing, distributing, and archiving critical organization data and information - and then converting and disseminating these resources to all who need to share in the organizational knowledge. Written in an easy-to-read, non-technical style, the book includes a thorough review of the current literature in the field as well as a comprehensive presentation of Knowledge Management techniques. Extensive illustrations, models, checklists, and instructions lead readers through the steps involved in instituting KM programs in government and non-profit agencies.

Calls for performance measures and metrics sound good, but public sector organizations often lack the tools required to assess the organization as a whole and create true change.In order to implement an integrated cycle of assessment, planning, and improvement, government agencies at all levels need a usable framework for organizational assessment that speaks to their unique needs. Organizational Assessment and Improvement in the Public Sector provides that framework, an understanding of assessment itself, and a methodology for assessment focused on the public sector. The book introduces the concept of organizational assessment, its importance, and its significance in public sector organizations. It addresses the organizational theory that underlies assessment, including change management, organizational and individual learning, and organizational development. Building on this, the author focuses on the processes and demonstrates how the communication that results from an assessment process can create a widely accepted case for change. She presents a model grounded in the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program criteria but adapted for the culture of government organizations. She also addresses the criteria that form the basis for assessment and implementation and provides examples and best practices. Facing decreasing budgets and an increasing demand for services, government agencies must increase their capabilities, maximize their available fiscal and human resources, and increase their effectiveness and efficiency. They often operate in an atmosphere that prizes effectiveness but measures it in silos assigned to individual programs and a structure that encourages people to do more with less while systematically discouraging efficiency. Stressing the significant and important differences between a business and a government, this book supplies the knowledge and tools necessary to create a culture of assessment in government organizations at all levels.

In Changing Bureaucracies, international experts provide an unparalleled look at how public sector bureaucracies can better adapt to the reality of unprecedented levels of uncertainty and complexity, and how they can better respond to the emerging needs and demands of citizens and beneficiaries. In particular, they discuss in detail how evaluation can play an important role in aiding bureaucracies in adapting, while noting that the value of evaluation is not at all automatic. Written in a clear and accessible prose, the contributors identify stability as a strength of bureaucratic structures, although adaptability is required in order to remain relevant. They also emphasize the need for bureaucratic rules and practices to be open to examination, such as through evaluation, noting that these rules may take on a life of their own, increasing distrust and conflicting with a meaningful focus on how outcomes and impacts benefit citizens. The book concludes with guidance for both evaluators and for public sector leaders about steps that they can take to improve the responsiveness and relevance of public sector organizations. Pioneering the provision of reflections on how evaluation can play an important role in aiding bureaucracies in adapting, Changing Bureaucracies is an important acquisition for public sector leaders, evaluators, evaluation managers and commissioners and academics alike.