Theories of Organization and Canadian Public Administration

Week 4

Overview

Introduction Classic Theories Structuralist Theories Humanist Theories Other Theoretical Approaches Canadian Public Administration:

Weberian model Public Sector Reforms

Intro: Bureaucracy and Management “No government can exist without

bureaucracy, and equally, no bureaucracy can function without management.”

Johnson, David. 2006. Thinking Government: Public Sector Management in Canada. Peterborough: Broadview Press. Page 244.

Intro: Organization Theory

“Most organization theory originated from studies about how to improve the management of private sector organizations, particularly large corporations. Hence, academically, organization theory is often associated with schools of business management” (Inwood, 2012: 62).

Intro: Organization Theory

“in a sense, the development of the theory and practice of public administration has been the story of struggling to adapt and extend aspects of private sector management into the public sector, and blend those with theory and practice unique to the problems and opportunities of governing” (Inwood, 2012: 62).

Classic Theories: Marx

Marxist critique of the capitalist state: “the executive of the modern State is but a

committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie” Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto, 1848.

“Bureaucracy serves as an instrument of rule from above, institutionally detached from the mass of the people it is ostensibly designed to serve” (Inwood, 2012: 63).

Classic Theories: Weber

“Weber argued that bureaucracy was essentially a system of administration carried out on a continuous basis by trained professionals, according to prescribed rules” (Inwood, 2012: 66).

Four main features of bureaucracy: hierarchy continuity impersonality expertise

Structuralist Theories: Taylor

Frederick Winslow Taylor Taylorism, Scientific Management Focused on efficiency in industrial production Time and motion studies to devise standards

for the quickest and most efficient methods for completing a task.

Structuralist Theories

The Scientific Theory of Organization: Theorists such as Gulick and Urwick attempted to

devise the ideal structures for any large organization.

Key issues included the span of control: the number of subordinates who report to one supervisor.

Gulick devised the acronym POSDCORB to describe the functions of managers.

Human Relations School

Mary Parker Follett, “The Giving of Orders” 1926

Criticized the emphasis on coercive control in the workplace as futile and counterproductive.

Managers should exercise leadership rather than wield power, using rational appeals rather than fear or threats.

Human Relations School

Hawthorne experiments, 1920s They recognized that informal groups and social

norms within the workplace were powerful forces. “workers are more responsive to peer pressure than

to management controls” (Inwood, 2012: 83-84). Theorists came to conclusion that workers who had

been singled out for inclusion in their studies experienced an increase in morale, which led, in itself, to greater productivity

Emphasis on the human side of the process

Human Relations School

Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs Self-actualization Esteem Belongingness and Love Safety and Security Physiological

Participatory Management

Management by Objectives (MBO)

Organization Development (OD)

Total Quality Management (TQM)

New Public Management

“New public management is a complex brew of political, economic and managerial claims. It asserts that to be effective democratic civil services require radical restructuring, new priorities and much greater attention to efficient service delivery” (Tupper, 2001: 143).

Osbourne and Gaebler: Reinventing Government

American authors David Osbourne and Ted Gaebler popularized the ideas of the new public management, especially the notion of states “steering, not rowing.”

Osbourne, David and Ted Gaebler. 1992. Reinventing Government: How the Entrepreneurial Spirit is Transforming the Public Sector.

Tupper (2001) identifies five major principles of the new public management. 1. Governments should steer not row

2. Managing for Results

3. Measuring for Results

4. Citizen Responsiveness

5. Employee Empowerment

NPM and Neoliberalism

Critics of new public management argue that it offers “a technocratic veneer to a political agenda” of restructuring the state, reducing public services and attacking public sector workers.

Shields, John and B. Mitchell Evans.1998. Shrinking the State: Globalization and Public Administration ‘Reform.’ Halifax: Fernwood.

Organization Theory and Canadian Public Administration Civil Service Amendment Act, 1908

Created the Civil Service Commission, later the Public Service Commission

Civil Service Act, 1918 “reforms introduced the concept of merit into

the public service and entrenched hierarchy, a job classification system, professionalism, and competitive exams” (Inwood, 2012: 100-101).

Public Sector Reform

In the mid-1960s, the Glassco Commission (Royal Commission on Government Organization) called for increased managerial competence and the introduction of modern managerial techniques in the public sector with the goal of increased efficiency.

1970s, Lambert Commission (Royal Commission on Financial Management) and the D’Avignon Report (the Special Committee on the Review of Personal Management and the Merit Principle)

Mulroney Government

The Ministerial Task Force on Program Review – 1984

Increased Ministerial Authority and Accountability - 1986

PS2000 - 1989

Chrétien: Program Review 1994-1995Test Purpose

Public Interest Test

Does the program area or activity continue to serve a public interest?

Role of Government Test

Is there a legitimate and necessary role for government in this program area or activity?

Federalism Test

Is the current role of the federal government appropriate, or is the program a candidate for realignment with the provinces?

Test Purpose

Partnership Test

What activities or programs should or could be transferred in whole or in part to the private or voluntary sector?

Efficiency Test

If the program or activity continues, how could its efficiency be improved?

Affordability Test

Is the resulting package of restraints and activities affordable within the fiscal restraint? If not, what programs or activities should be abandoned?

Source: (Shields and Evans, 1999: 48).

Chrétien: Program Review 1994-1995 The Liberal government’s Program Review

set the stage for the spending cuts and changes to federal transfers announced in the 1995 budget.

Chrétien government

Policy Research Initiative – 1996

La Relève – 1997, Leadership Network - 1998

Task Force on Modernizing Human Resources Management - 2001

Public Service Modernization Act - 2003