Public Management

Session 1. Big Questions of Public Management: Agendas for Research

In this session, we will seek answers the following questions: Is public management different from private management? Why do we care about 'public' management? Given the pervasive influence of the state in Vietnam, is it meaningful to differentiate public and private management?

[Required] Behn, R. 1995. "The Big Questions of Public Management." Public Administration Review 55(4): 313-324 (**Read highlighted (translated) part only).

[Required] Davis, B. 2016. "Public Sector Graft an Issue in Vietnam, But There could be One Simple Solution." Forbes August 22, 2016.

[Recommendation] Dunleavy, P and Christopher Hood. 1994. "From Old Public Administration to New Public Management." Journal of Public Money and Management 14(3): 9-16.

Session 2. Changing Context and Shape of the Public Sector

Why does government intervene in market? What is the changing view and trend about the government? What is the appropriate size of government?

[Required] Van der Wal, Z. 2017. "Chapter 2. 'Traditional' versus 'New'." The 21st Century Public Manager. London: Palgrave Macmillan, p.17-36.

[Required] Kwak, James. 2011. "What Do You Mean, 'Government Is Too Big?" The Atlantic. Available at https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/07/what-do-you-mean-government-is-too-big/242093/ (English).

[In-Class Discussion] Divide into groups. Each group should identify major policy areas at international, national, and local level where it believes current government policy in Vietnam needs to change.

Session 3. New Thinking Skills: Agile & Design Thinking

In the 21st century, what kind of thinking skills are necessary for civil servants? This session explores new thinking skills to solve problems and serve citizens better.

[Required] Lewrick, Michael, Patrick Link and Larry Leifer. 2018. The Design Thinking Playbook. London: Wiley, p.13-34.

[Required] Bisen, Arjun. 2018. "The Path to "Agile" Policymaking." Ash Center for Governance and Innovation, Government Innovators Network Blog, Web address, https://www.innovations.harvard.edu/blog/path-agile-policymaking.

* Group Sign-up Day for Design thinking presentation: Your group is required to find a person who has difficulties in workplaces (or at school, government offices, etc.), interview the person, understand the person's situation (person, jobs, relationships, goals, difficulties, etc.) and produce a visualized personal containing a) persona; b) needs; c) reasons; d) insights; e) possible solutions. A detailed guideline will be provided.

PART II. Three Pillars of Public Management (1): Public Organizations

Session 4. Public Organizations and Bureaucratic Structure

Since Max Weber, bureaucratic culture has been known as an ideal and desirable form of administration and government. But at the same time, modern bureaucracy has its own institutional constraints to work efficiently and faced many challenges and problems known as 'bureaucratic pathology.' Is bureaucracy still needed in rapidly changing world? Why (or why not)?

[Required] Yeboah-Assiamah, E., K. Asamoah and T. A. Kyeremeh. 2016. "Therefore, Is Bureaucracy Dead? Making a Case for Complementarity of Paradigms in Public Administrative Thinking and Discourse." International Journal of Public Administration 39(5): 382-394.

[Required] Puffer, Sheila. 2015. International Management: Insights from Fiction and Practice. New York: Routledge, p.209 (Discussion topic)

[In-Class Discussion] Prior to the session, please read assigned text and prepare to answer the following questions: 1) Based on the reading, what is the most critical pathology of public bureaucracy in Vietnam. 2) According to the assigned example of foreign business communities' complaints, what Vietnam could do to attract foreign investment?

Session 5. Organizational Culture

Public organizations currently operate in turbulent environments driven by changes in managerial, political, and technical arenas as the organizations seek to improve performance, effectiveness, and accountability. But at the same time, public organizations are still bureaucratic, inflexible, rigid, and often resist against changes. How can dominant organizational culture nurture creativity, innovation, positive job attitude and behaviors of public workers?

[Required] Holt, Troy. 2014. "Creating a Great Organizational Culture in the Public Sector." PA Times, at http://patimes.org/creating-great-organizational-culture-public-sector/.

[Required] Schawbel, Dan. 2018. "A Sociable Workplace is Happier and More Productive. Here's Why." World Economic Forum 13 Nov.

[In-Class Discussion] Prior to the session, groups is supposed to visit Hofstede's Insight on National Culture, http://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/vietnam and compare Vietnam's score with the any other two countries that you think relevant). Discuss Vietnam's national culture and your experience in class with another group members, and upload the group's view on Microsoft Team.

Session 6. Public Leadership

Since Max Weber's leadership theory (authority), we have paid attention to the role of the great leaders. It has also been discussed whether organizational leadership affects or maximizes the organization's performance and job satisfaction of the workers and subordinates and eventually achieve the organizational goals. What is the role of leadership in public organizations? In what ways, leadership play a role in public organizations?

[Required] Broussine, M. and R. F. Callahan. 2016. "Public Leadership." In T. Bovaird and E. Loeffler (eds.), Public Management and Governance (3rd Edition), New York: Routledge, p.275-290.

[Required] Kaufman, H. 1981. The Administrative Behavior of Federal Bureau Chiefs. Washington D.C.: The Brookings Institution, p.175-181.

[In-Class Discussion] Prior to the session, please read the assigned readings and discussion case carefully. 1) Do you agree with what Kaufman (1981) mentioned about the bureau chief's leadership quality? If so (or not), what else you think it is important in Vietnam's context, 2) Have you ever experienced the bosses described in discussion case? Discuss that kind of leadership styles on organization unity and performance.

Session 7. Understanding and Managing Stakeholders in Public Sector

Finding the appropriate balance of competing claims by various groups of stakeholders is one of the most important tasks of public managers today. In fact, all claims deserve consideration, but some claims are more important than others. How can public managers effectively map, classify, and prioritize in dynamic stakeholder environment?

[Required] Ackerman, F. and C. Eden. 2011. "Strategic Management of Stakeholders: Theory and Practice. Long Range Planning 44(3): 179-196.

[Required] Case study: The Singapore Tourism Board and the Chinatown Enhancement Plan. HKS case study. Abstract: When a powerful government agency, the Singapore Tourism Board, explores the idea of publicly supported renewal of the city-state's so-called Chinatown district, it goes through an elaborate process of community consultation. Yet when the plan is announced to improve Chinatown to create an important tourist destination, a relatively obscure nonprofit historic preservation group virtually derails the plan through a campaign based largely on one major article its key members contribute to the Straits Times, Singapore's leading newspaper.

[Preparation] Prior to the session, read the Ackerman & Eden paper to familiarize yourself with stakeholder concepts and tools; carefully read the provided case study "Singapore Tourism Board and the Chinatown Enhancement Plan" to understand the case and its context; prepare a list of key stakeholders that STB had engaged before November 1998 when Singapore Heritage Society's article appeared on the Strait Times.

[In-Class Discussion] Class will be divided into groups of four or five. Each group works to produce a map of stakeholders regarding their power/interest. What was missing in in the SA process as STB engaged stakeholders? How did the dynamics of stakeholders change during the designing process leading to the objection of the plan? What will be action plan for STB to manage key stakeholders?

Session 8. Digital Transformation, E-Government & Smart Cities

While much progress has made by many governments around the world, the full potential of digital government remains largely untapped. What does digitalization of public sector mean? What are remaining challenges?

[Required] Mao, D. L. and C. C. Ling. 2018. "Governance amid Technological Disruption: A Vision for an Agile Public Service." Singapore Civil Service Colleges Ethos Issue 18 (30, January 2018). Available at https://www.csc.gov.sg/articles/governance-amid-technological-disruption-a-vision-for-an-agile-public-service.

[In-Class Discussion] Please read the following case and a newspaper article and discuss the questions: 1) How much you are prepared in the age of blockchain, cloud, crowd sourcing, shared economy, etc. 2) How could you survive in the era of digitalization? 3) Could similar examples happen in Vietnam? Discuss.

Case Study: How Parking.SG Evolved from an Idea to National Product in Eight Months" prior to the session (Available at https://www.csc.gov.sg/articles/governance-amid-technological-disruption-a-vision-for-an-agile-public-service

Part III. Three Pillars of Public Management (2): Public Personnel

Session 9. How to Recruit and Train Good Civil Servant

Public personnel administration has been one of significant aspects and a 'sovereign factor' in public administration of the modern state. However, in rapidly changing environment, there have been a number of challenges to the traditional way of civil service classification, recruitment, training, and so forth. How to recruit and train good civil servants?

[Required] World Bank Document, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/PUBLICSECTORANDGOVERNANCE/Resources/285741-1345485407865/Recruitment.pdf

[Required] Lecturer's glossary on Public Personnel Administration (will be distributed online): The glossary is about several important concepts: 1) Rank vs. Job Classification; 2) Closed vs. Open Recruitment; 3) Examination vs. Interview Test; 4) Generalist vs. Specialist, etc.

[In-Class Discussion] Prior to the session, please read the following articles and prepare discussion. 1) Is meritocracy good or bad? Does Vietnam need meritocratic system? Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. 2018. "Meritocracy in Singapore: Solution or Problem?" Global-is-Asian. Available at https://lkyspp.nus.edu.sg/gia/article/meritocracy-in-singapore-solution-or-problem.

2) There has been increasing contractual employment for civil servants around the world. Read the two excerpts in the "Reform of Civil Service Recruitment System" (Beijing Review, 2014) available at http://www.bjreview.com.cn/forum/txt/2014-05/19/content_619384.htm.

* A detailed study guide for mid-term exam will be distributed.

Midterm Exam

Session 11. Salary, Rewards and Punishment

What decide civil servant salary? What is the appropriate level of civil servant salary? What is new trend in civil servant compensation?

[Required] Bui, Thi Thuy Ngan. 2015. The Reform of Salary System for Civil Servant in Vietnam. Unpublished Master's Thesis. Ritsumeikan University, Chapter 5, Available at http://r-cube.ritsumei.ac.jp/repo/repository/rcube/7453/51213601.pdf.

[In-Class Discussion] Discussion paper (Reading supplement) will be distributed. Prepare to answer the following questions: 1) Is seniority-based salary system good or bad?; 2) Is team-based or individual-based performance bonus good or bad?

Session 12. Corruption: Nature or Nuture?

Types of corruption ranges from bribery to legal-but-unethical behavior, and they persist in many places regardless of efforts to fight against corruption. While literature on corruption has proved that there are several contributing factors to the persistence of corruption, culture and economics emerge as useful explanations with important implications for reform efforts, especially in the public sector. Insights learned from previous topics on organizational culture, multivation and rewards will be deployed for discussion and learning.

[Required] Fisman, Raymond, and Edward Miguel (2008). Economic Gangsters: Corruption, Violence, and the Poverty of Nations. PRINCETON; OXFORD: Princeton University Press, 2008. Chapter 4: Nature or Nurture? Understanding the Culture of Coruption.

[Required] Svensson, Jakob. (2005). Eight Questions About Corruption. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 19. 19-42. 10.1257/089533005774357860.

Part IV. Three Pillars of Public Management (3): Performance Management

Session 13. Performance Management in Public Organizations

During the last few decades, cutbacks provided the rationale to push managers to raise organizational performance while lowering costs. The period witnessed increased efforts to improve government through various performance assessment systems.

Fountain, Jane E. 2001. "Paradoxes of Public Sector Customer Service." Governance 14(1): 55-73. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/0952-1895.00151/abstract.

[In-Class Discussion] Prior to the session, please read a summary of "Project 30: A Revolution in Vietnamese Governance?" (Matthew G. Schwartz, September 2010), available at https://www.brookings.edu/research/project-30-a-revolution-in-vietnamese-governance (summary will be provided). Based on the story, what do you think that the problem of Project 30 from 'performance management' perspective? Why do problems in performance management happen in the public sector? Discuss.

Session 14. Managing Nonprofit Organizations and Its Performance

[Required] Hall, Leda Mclntyre and Sheila Suess Kennedy. 2008. "Public and Nonprofit Management and the New Governance," American Review of Public Administration 38(3): 307- 321.

[Required] The Nonprofit Times. 2017. "Study: Most Nonprofits Lacking in Leadership, Management." The Nonprofit Times November 1st, Available at https://www.thenonprofittimes.com/npt_articles/study-nonprofits-lacking-leadership-management/

Session 16. Solving 'Wicked' Problems: Cross-Cutting Issues in Public Sector

[Required] Australian Public Service Commission. "Tackling Wicked Problems: A Public Policy Perspective." https://www.apsc.gov.au/tackling-wicked-problems-public-policy-perspective.

[In-Class Discussion] A class discussion note will be provided. From a public management perspective, why wicked policy issues are problematic? What are examples of wicked problems in Vietnam? Discuss.

Final Presentations