knowing what to do

Knowing What to DoAdministrative Argument by Christopher Hood; Michael JacksonReview by: Eugene LewisPublic Administration Review, Vol. 54, No. 1 (Jan. - Feb., 1994), pp. 86-87Published by: Wiley on behalf of the American Society for Public AdministrationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/976507 .

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These not-altogether-radical assessments stem from his on-going application of "bio- graphical action research," the qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with a variety of managers, under the auspices of the Center for Creative Leadership. Based on his find- ings, Kaplan argues that most executives are more concerned with gaining an understand- ing and control of their environment than in nurturing productive relationships in the workplace.

These he terms "expansive personalities" whose drive to mastery is well matched by the executive positions that they covet. Kaplan provides case studies from his meet- ings with some 42 executives of Fortune 500 companies, their coworkers, and family members. He amply and ably illustrates the presence of expansives in large organizations and the destructive forces they may unleash in the name of leadership and management.

What is novel here, is his challenge to the common assumption that only superfi- cial, job-related executive behaviors can be modified. Instead, he calls for deep-seated changes of mentality to restore a balance between the personal and the managerial. It is these "character shifts": slow, evolutionary re-examinations that uncover the potential for interpersonal growth languishing beneath an expansive rush to mastery, he argues, that will make the executive happier and more productive both on the job and off.

Recognizing the problem is but one important step. Kaplan says:

To change, a manager must object to the domination of one side of the self by the other...Growth goes well beyond aware- ness of previously disavowed elements of self. What is wanted is genuine acceptance of devalued, denied elements (pp. 179-180, emphasis in original).

Although this slant on management offers suggestive insight, Kaplan falls short of providing a clear and practical formula for its application. When his prescriptions for change promote introspection, who can argue? However, when they advance some- thing like a vague, universal psycho-analysis, complete with evaluations of early childhood influences upon perceptions of strength and leadership, then one must give pause. At best, they are grossly individual. Beyond the demand that executives are, and need to be, more than just their job titles, it is difficult to see well-intentioned leaders implementing these prescriptions for their staff.

In addition, by Kaplan's own admission, barely a handful of female or minority executives were in his sample. Admittedly, this reflects the distribution of corporate managers in the United States. Nevertheless, minorities and women may be less given to the weaknesses he describes. Indeed, if what has been popularly suggested about male corporate competitiveness is true, women and minorities might even provide alternative models for the corporate setting. Perhaps the continuation of Kaplan's research will offer future insights into this matter.

Notwithstanding these shortcomings, Kaplan has produced a valuable work. The case studies especially, are vivid presentations that allow readers easily to recognize pitfalls as they seek balance between the relational manager and the expansive leader within themselves. For this alone, the volume is worthwhile. Kaplan's style is clear and straightforward and his message compelling, almost evangelical: it's never too late to effect profound and fundamental change.

Knowing What To Do by Eugene Lewis, University of South Florida

Christopher Hood and Michael Jackson, Adminis- trativeArgument. (England and United States: Dartmouth Publishing Co. Ltd., 1991) 221 pp.; $49.95 hardcover.

A ccording to this intelligent and impor- lltant book, Herbert Simon took a wrong turn on the path to truth. Simon might have seen that his famous dispute with Gulick and Urwick (Simon, 1946) had to do with more than the pursuit of a science of administration. Gulick and Urwick published their famous "Papers on the Science of Adminis- tration" in 1937, and Simon and others attacked it for being a collection of proverbs rather than the scientific truths long sought by reorganizers, engineers, and professors in the softer social sciences.

The wrong turn that Hood and Jackson identify is not in Simon's critique of POSD- CORB as mere proverbs. They agree with this part of the Nobel laureate's argument but pro- foundly disagree with his launching a program in search of a true science of administration. Hood and Jackson claim that Simon argued that the only appropriate basis for administrative argument should be grounded theory: Design should be linked to performance on the basis of systematic, scientific experiments.

Hood and Jackson point out that this research agenda was in the glow of post- World War II positivism that dominated so much of social science. They go on to note how very little scientific knowledge has resulted from their 40-year pursuit and how proverb production seems to continue as though Simon had never written. They note the return of nonpositivist methodologies in the social sciences generally and are particu- larly interested in work which focuses on the construction of social reality through the analysis of linguistic conventions.

Linguistic analysis becomes the new path for a discipline that Hood and Jackson think lost its way. Simon's critique of rhetoric should, they think have continued, for public administration is a matter of argument- argument as to which doctrines, justifica- tions, and philosophies match received doctrine and hence are accepted.

The aim of this book is to rethink public administration by reviving aspects of the clas- sical discipline of rhetorical analysis. To this end, the authors systematically categorize 99 "Whos, Hows and Whats" of administrative doctrine gleaned from textbooks, reform documents, and historical materials and follow this up with careful analysis of three reform documents from the United Kingdom (The Northcoate-Trevelyn Report of 1845), the United States (President's Committee on Administrative Management, 1937), and the two Wilenski reports from Australia (1977, 1982). Not surprisingly, they find interesting similarities which suggest that the structure of the argument, not concrete factual realism, proved most persuasive. Indeed, the hypoth- esis of Hood and Jackson is that the lack of persuasiveness in mainstream public administration may be a consequence of its determined search for facts and truthfulness.

The richness and complexity of Adminis- trative Argument cannot be adequately sum- marized in this brief review, but it probably will not do this wonderful volume a terrible disservice to briefly summarize it by way of the conclusion. Doctrines, as the authors use the term, are ideas about what to do that lie somewhere between theory and policy. Although they are many in number and con- tradictory, doctrines are not infinite. Indeed the commonest recur and can be collected and catalogued. Doctrines do not rise and fall as a consequence of rigorous proof but rather through other social processes. Hood and Jackson argue that doctrines should be catalogued and mapped as basic units of anal-

86 Public Administuon Review # January/February 1994, Vol. 54, No. I



ysis for administrative science. They conclude that instead of exclusive concentration on the relationship of design to performance, atten- tion should also be paid to the link between argument and acceptance. They argue that this link is accessible to analysis.

A more interesting, humorous, and important book in public administration has not been written in years. This expensive little book belongs on the shelves of all libraries with collections on administration and management and in the hands of interested prac- titioners and academics as well.

Reference Simon, Herbert, 1946. "The Proverbs of Administra-

tion." Public Administation Review, vol. 6 (Win- ter), pp. 53-67.

Envisioning Leadership by William A. Giles, Mississippi State University

Burt Nanus, Visionary Leadership: Creating a Compelling Sense ofDirection for Your Organiza- tion. (San Francisco: Jossey Bass Publishers, 1992), 236 pp.; $24.95 hardcover.

Leadership has always perplexed, con- Lfounded and confronted students of management as they struggle to understand why organizations do not function as effectively as they might. There have been many attempts by organizational scholars to analyze leadership and its impact (or lack thereof) on organizational operations. In spite of all of the studies, the questions of how one becomes an effective and capable leader, and how one maintains a position of leadership in an organization have not yet been filly determined. Some progress has been made in describing those characteristics, qualities, and situations that are necessary for effective and inspiring leadership. Essential distinctions between transformational" and "transactional" lead-

ers have been developed (Burns, 1978). Studies have been made of group tasks, organizational structures and "legitimacy" of organizational leaders (Stodgill, 1974). The impacts of "technical," "managerial," and "organizational" factors have been considered and evaluated (Thompson, 1967). Scholars have developed a series of games to train potential leaders (Christopher, 1987). Some authors have emphasized the personality traits that leaders possess (Fielder, 1974). More recently, strategic leadership has become popular among scholars (Hambrick, 1989).

Most of these leadership studies link the capacity of an individual to become and effective leader with a complex variety of interpersonal, situational, and environmental factors. AU of these studies seem to agree that a sense of purpose, direction, and commit- ment is needed on the part of the leader and the members of the organization if effective leadership is to ensue. In Visionary Leader- ship, Burt Nanus explains why vision is essential to leadership.

The first part of the book explains, in detailed fashion, what the concept of "vision" means and why it makes a critical difference in an organization's operation. He differenti- ates between managers and leaders and shows how an individual can become an effective leader. He indicates that a leader is one who can effectively function in four roles: direction setter; change agent; spokesperson; and coach. The critical key to visionary leadership, Nanus indicates, is the ability to synthesize and synchronize all of the roles that must be undertaken in a timely, comprehensive, efficacious, and meaningful way. In addition, to be a competent leader, one needs a vision of the direction and future of the organization.

In the second part of the book, the author explains how to develop a vision for an organization. He explains what the properties of good vision are and how one gets started in developing a new vision. He sets the first task as defining the basic nature of the organization in order to ascertain how it func- tions. He then advises the reader to discover the organizational strengths and weaknesses. He suggests that would-be leaders audit the vision of the organization that people already have. He then indicates how the leader might shape vision and what critical things the leader must include when considering where an individual organization should be headed. Finally, he describes how a leader can synthesize new patterns of relationships between the various units of the organization.

Part 3 of this book explains how a leader can implement the organizational vision. The leader must become the advocate for the proposed direction of the organization. Nanus gives some practical tips on how to become a change agent.

In the final section, Nanus elaborates on how to develop a vision in the public sector. He explains how public sector organizations can adapt and adopt the basic concepts he described in the book. He gives a 12 point program to develop a vision in the public sector and shoes how the vision might be imple-

mented. He emphasizes the context of public organizations that leaders need to integrate in their vision. Nanus condudes by indicating how public administrators can integrate their alternative direction for their organizational units with an emphasis on improving effi- ciency and effectiveness.

This book is highly readable, very enlight- ening, free from organizational jargon, and is quite practical. The book portrays the leader as both vision setter and cheerleader, a person sensitive to the environment in both devising plans and implementing them.

References Burns, James MacGregor, 1978. Leadrsh. New York:

Harper & Row. Christopher, E.M. and L.E. Smith, 1987. Leadership

Training Through Games. New York: Nichols Pub- lishing.

Fielder, F.E. and M.M. Chambers, 1974. Leadenhip Style and Effective Management. Glenview, IL.: Scott Foresman.

Hambrick, D.C., 1989. "Putting Top Managers Back in the Strategy Picture." Strategic ManagementJournah vol. 10, pp. 5-16.

Stodgill, Ralph M., 1974. Handbook of Leadmenihp. New York The Free Press.

Thompson, James D., 1967. Organizations in Action. New York. McGraw-Hill.

Bureaucrats and Their Budgets by Joseph White, The Brookings Institution.

Andrd Blais and Stdphane Dion, eds., The Budget- Maximizing Bureaucrat: Appraisak and Evidence (Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991), 366 pp.; $39.95 cloth.

eductive (or positive) theories of human ?Jbehavior can be defended in two ways. One, associated with Milton Friedman, argues that simple assumptions can be justi- fied by predictive power. The most powerful reply comes from George Tsebelis, who reminds us that a theory predicts two sets of behavior, the cause and the effect. If the sup- posed cause does not exist, the predictive power of the theory is obviously low.

William Niskanen's theory that budgets grow because bureaucrats try to maximize spending for personal benefit is a classic example of deductive theory. As this volume shows, the assumed cause is at best hard to find. One problem, as argued by a number of contributors, is identifying the principals.

Book Reviews 87



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