Additional reading materials, videos, and Activity Guides for the virtual sessions (called Virtual Engagement Activities, or VEAS) are on I learn.

Transcription

1 PA 720: Organization Design & Change Management Syllabus, Spring 2015 Hybrid: Online & Tue 6-8:45 p.m. DTC Rm 677 Dr. M. Ernita Joaquin, Instructor Contact Information: (415) ; Course Description & Methodology PA 720 is a core course in the MPA program. Public administration is founded on a good knowledge of organization, and we will harness multiple perspectives on this subject matter. Essential to effective practice of public, for profit, and non profit management is an understanding of the formal and informal structures of decision making, leadership, human resources, technical systems, community relationships and adaptive processes in organizations, including organizational learning and political strategies. The main text is Charles Perrow s Complex Organizations (3 rd ed, 1986), supplemented by Dave Eggers The Circle (2014). Please bring your books and syllabus to our first meeting. Here s our methodology: As we read through a material (or watch a talk or video), think about these: what set of questions, or problems, does this particular school of thought try to answer in public organization and management? How are those questions different from the ones posed by an alternative perspective? A theory is supposed to be sufficient for its purpose; maximize learning from the studies by identifying their purposes and their findings. Once we venture outside the limits of a theory, we will find an alternative school of thought to address any gaps. Following above, critically examine: which of those questions speak to the dilemmas of contemporary public or nonprofit organizational settings? How? Classics are so called because their insight endures, and modern theories owe a lot to them. We will see how knowledge in this field accumulates, and how certain organizational problems persist in one form or another, and why. Finally, students should enhance their capacity as scholars, change agents or management analysts through continuous reflection, conversation, and group activities. Expert Panel Sessions will showcase students ability to synthesize, engage, and present materials to a formal audience. Their research skills will be developed with a Research Project on Organizational Adaptation, which would incorporate some ingredient of community service learning by having students learn about Bay Area nonprofits and communicate the project findings back to those NPOs. Additional reading materials, videos, and Activity Guides for the virtual sessions (called Engagement Activities, or VEAS) are on I learn. This is a hybrid course; your full engagement is expected in the classroom and outside. I will hold virtual office hours or Chat Corners on I learn for questions that may arise from students about the VEAs. As another, hybrid class, PA 727 is meeting Tuesdays, your s on Tuesdays may be not returned until Wednesday. The professor will be monitoring and commenting, from time to time, during virtual discussions. Any further instructions provided via exchange should be considered part of formal instructions. Page 1 of 6

2 Manage your time, especially if you are taking more the one hybrid course. This syllabus, and the I learn contents have been laid out very carefully in advance, so that you could see how the readings and activities lined up. There are weeks when activities are consecutively virtual no meeting for two weeks or weeks when a virtual activity is going to be followed by your panel presentation in class. Good time management is half the battle won in graduate school. Keep an eye out at least two steps ahead. If you have a learning disability, please contact before the semester starts, the Disability Programs and Resource Center for the accommodations you would need (for example, a note taker, captioning technology, etc.) Course Requirements 1. Class participation (10%) Prepare ahead, participate actively by answering questions and posing comments during discussions, and collaborate positively to group activities. When a Guest Speaker or Practitioner is visiting, please participate. Online participation is graded separately. 2. Expert Panel Sessions (15%) Students will, in a seated panel,mirroring the conference presentation format, present and discuss with the audience, designated materials that illuminate key ideas in O & M. These materials will be assigned once the final class size is determined. Depending on the contents/length, a material may be assigned to 1 3 students to present in a coordinated manner: not everybody in a group needs to speak; one might be in charge of preparing a Handout, two might speak, and one of the two might weigh in more on the conclusions and implications after the others have presented the main ideas. The rubric for oral presentations are provided on I learn. A group effort gets group grade, and member contributions will be noted. An individual presenter would talk for about 10 minutes (a group tackling one paper would have about 16 minutes total). Make the sharing of key ideas lively, use accessible language your audience has not read your paper; do not read your paper; make eye contact with audience and co panelists. Be efficient; handouts can cover details you cannot discuss due to time limits. At the end, the entire panel will have another minutes to take questions from co panelists or the audience, for instance: (a) try to see the underlying connections or any debate among the materials, and with Perrow s chapter; (b) ask how managers could use the writings or the findings to understand current organizational issues, if this was not clear from the presentation. Engagement Activities/VEAs (35% total) engagement activities are either online discussions conducted through I Learn, homework, or field activities. Note that in a few cases, students have staggered activities (due earlier than Tuesday, to encourage equitable participation). Please check the course schedule and I learn carefully. Gearing up: A forum on organization and management change (9%) To whet our appetite in thinking about organization and management change, this virtual activity asks students to evaluate a case of change management Page 2 of 6

3 Human Relations assignment (9%) Do we all mean the same things when we say good leadership, good human relations, good working environment, etc.? What have empirical studies found? What works for modern companies? Technology and Humans forum (9%) Humans, computers, and wreckages: who makes the decisions that matter? Fit, Failure, and Adaptation: Organizational strategies assignment (8%) How the adaptation models highlight some of the pressing issues in public or nonprofit management. 3. Field Project on Organizational Adaptation: Survey and interview (20%) One method of community service learning is finding out how public service organizations around us respond to their changing environments and identifying what variables enable them to do so. Students will conduct a survey that is grounded on the principles of organizational adaptation. Early in the semester each student needs to identify two nonprofit organizations and their leaders, to be be (1) surveyed/ interviewed, with their consent, using an instrument designed by the professor. (2) Use a digital recorder, if possible, to better capture answers to open ended questions in the survey, or answers to follow up questions you may raise. Type up or transcribe: these will constitute your Field Notes. Let the professor know if you would like to borrow a digital recorder. Your field notes and the completed / filled out survey are due near the end of the semester. Students will also (3) fill out a brief reflection worksheet regarding this activity. It is possible that some students may be unable to get access to nonprofit organizations as easily as the others, so this requirement may be done in pairs (survey 3 instead of 2 NPOS), as an option. Let the professor know of your plans. The activity guide to choosing your NPO/ the reflection worksheet, and the survey questionnaire are on I Learn. A Chat Corner will be available during the field work period. 4. Final Exam: Organization and management analysis (20%) The finals will examine relevant organization and management thoughts in a particular material. This is a paper you will write at home and upload on I learn by 9 pm on the final exam day. Please note the deadline policies. Students will receive letter grades on their work in which an A is worth 10 points, and A is worth 9, a B+ is worth 8, and so on. These are then multiplied by their weights (%) and added up to get the final grade. The professor will return feedback or grades for any activity that occurs during the semester as promptly as possible. Final grades are posted typically two weeks after the end of the semesters Course requirements Class participation Panel session engagement activities: VEA 1 VEA 2 VEA 3 VEA 4 Research Project (Field Notes, Filled-out survey, Reflection Worksheet) Final exam % weight Page 3 of 6

4 COURSE SCHEDULE & ASSIGNMENTS AT-A-GLANCE The professor reserves the right to change anything on this syllabus Week/ Date Topics, Activities Required readings / Due Videos may be shown in class Course introduction, requirements, Memorize key dates and plan; bring to class: JAN 27 policies syllabus textbook/ readings 7:30 8:45 field research guideline & tools FEB 3 FEB 10 FEB 17 FEB 24 MARCH 3 MARCH 10 Gearing up: Reflections on organization and management change Managerial & structural shifts Why Bureaucracy? Bureaucratization, defined The ideal type bureaucracy/ Weberian school Public and private bureaucracies Public versus private sector management The Human Relations Model Hawthorne: Leadership and productivity model Group relations models Neo Weberian Theories Decision making theories Systems analysis Organizational learning Panel Session 1 Neo Weberian Theories, continued Humans and mechanical decision making Fit, Failure, and Adaptation Organizational failure, learning & adaptation Dr. Joaquin attends the American Society for Public Administration conference Go to I Learn for the Activity Guide and the VEA Perrow, Chapter 1 What Works is Workarounds (Campbell) Bending the Rules (online) Public vs. Private Management (Rainey) Supplementary readings: Bureaucracy (Weber) Next Pope Will Need (online) Rejecting Tenure (online) Go to I Learn for the Activity Guide and the VEA Perrow, Ch 3 How to Become an Employer of Choice (online) Cheapest, Happiest Company (online) Perrow, Ch. 4 Expert Panel Session: 1. The Writings of James March (Pugh & Hickson) 2. Canada s Runaway Trains (online) 3. Culture in the Cockpit (Engle) 4. Learning Disabilities of Airline (Tamuz) Go to I Learn for the VEA and Activity Guide The Human Factor (Langeswiesche) Go to I Learn for the VEA and Activity Guide The writings of Hannan (Pugh & Hickson Human Service Nonprofits (Twombly) 101 Start up Failure Post Mortems (online) Page 4 of 6

5 MARCH 17 In class 7:30 8:45 only MARCH 24 & MARCH 31 Holidays APRIL 7 Expert Panel 2 & Guest Talk Must attend session Fit, Failure, and Adaptation continued Theories on the environment of organizations Focus on Perrow s population ecology S P R I N G B R E A K & CHAVEZ DAY The Institutional School Functionalism s moral ambiguities; Mission drift: accidental or deliberate? Japanese Organization and Management Approach Speaker: Prof. Masao Kikuchi Panel Session 2 Perrow, Ch 6 (focus on pp ) The survey instrument/ Report requirement We will not be meeting for two weeks so make sure you have scheduled your research appointments. Time management is crucial. Perrow, Ch. 5 Expert Panel Session: 1. Corporations & NGOs (Bauer & Schmitz) 2. Multiple Sources of Mission Driftt (Jones) 3. Health Care & Profits (Porter) APRIL 14 & APRIL 21 Field activity APRIL 28 Expert Panel 3 MAY 5 MAY 12 Research Project on Organizational Adaptation Economic Theories of Organization Classical economic theory s assumptions Agency theory Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) Panel Session 3 The Power Perspective of Organizational Analysis Final exam questionnaire distributed Research Project Due Reflection worksheet due Students administer survey with chosen NPOs leaders; fill out Reflection Worksheet after interviews Perrow, Ch 7 Expert Panel Session: 1. Governance of Terror (Helfstein) 2. A Country is Not a Company (Krugman) 3. Don t Blame the Internet (Pfeffer) Required readings Perrow, Ch 8 Read Eggers, The Circle (entire book) only after reading Perrow s Chapter 8 Go to I learn to download the exam questionnaire Submit your completed surveys, field notes, and worksheet in an envelope at the MPA office, or Dr. Joaquin s office or upload the scanned files on I Learn. Incomplete surveys or blurry scans will have no grades and will be returned to the student MAY 19 Final week Upload your final exams on I Learn, cut off is at 9 p.m. Page 5 of 6

6 COURSE, COLLEGE, & UNIVERSITY POLICIES Participation and Attendance. Plan to arrive on time and not leave until official dismissal. Late arrivals or early departures are partial absences. Three absences mean automatic Failure as final grade. Issues of health or personal matters may be addressed through the Incomplete or Withdrawal processes, please check SFSU policies for the deadlines. CHSS Deadlines Last Day to Drop Classes/Withdraw w/o a Grade of W February 6 Withdrawal from Classes or University after Drop Deadline February 27 April 24 Graduation Application Deadline for May 2015 February 20 Withdrawal from Classes with W Grade by Exception for Documented April 25 May 15 Serious and Compelling Reasons Incomplete Requests: The student is responsible for providing justification documents on problems preventing completion. The professor has the right to choose the length of time to complete the INC. Acceptable behavior in class. All interaction relating to the course must be of a positive nature. Understand that not all policies can be written on a syllabus. It is the professor s prerogative to determine what is and is not acceptable behavior/output in class. Policies set here are not meant to contradict one another. Late Papers/Assignments: One letter grade deduction if submitted after the deadline. No paper may be accepted 24 hours after the deadline. Late or Makeup Exams or Finals: No exams will be accepted after the deadline. No makeup exams are given unless for extreme, documented circumstances, and the professor may only grant up to a certain points equivalent. Writing style and the APA format The 7 th edition of A Writer s Reference is recommended for your writing and research needs throughout the MPA program. This reference also provides guidelines in using the APA style in acknowledging your sources for your written assignments (avoiding plagiarism). Smart phones, Google searches, and laptops in class. While you may use laptops, you should use a quiet keyboard only. Text messaging, surfing, ing during the session will be penalized by one letter grade on class participation first, and then the overall grade if repeated. Consultation. Please pay attention so you need not ask for reminders. Use chat corners if the activity is online. Use official consultation hours or a pre arranged time for personal or individual concerns. , Internet, ILearn. The professor is not responsible for server problems. Communicate using your SFSU address. You may forward your SFSU s to your regular Internet mailboxes (the ones you regularly check) by following the instructions found at ed communication from the professor may be considered part of the instruction. Prefix your subject PA 720 when sending s. Observe etiquette, but always give a person a chance to explain any problems. The professor will strive to reply generally within 48 hours; please consider that this course is on the same schedule as PA 727 hybrid. Additional Assignments: The professor reserves the right to assign additional papers if the quality of the class discussion is less than satisfactory or such assignments will enhance students' understanding of the material. Religious observance. The faculty of San Francisco State University shall make reasonable accommodations for students to observe religious holidays when such observances require students to be absent from class activities. SFSU Faculty Manual (2011, 53). Please see the professor well in advance of those days to give notice and figure out accommodations based on the Course Schedule. Failure to give advance notice may deprive you of allowances. Academic honesty As members of the academic community, you are enjoined to follow strict rules of academic honesty. Formal disciplinary measures may be meted out for cheating or plagiarism. Disability Programs and Resource Center: Students with disabilities who need reasonable accommodations are encouraged to contact the professor. Students with disabilities who need reasonable accommodations are encouraged to contact the instructor. The Disability Programs and Resource Center (DPRC) is available to facilitate the reasonable accommodations process. The DPRC, located in SSB 110, can be reached by telephone at (voice/tty) or by e mail at dprc@sfsu.edu Deadlines for all registration procedures, including withdrawals and requests for credit/no credit, can be viewed on the Registration Calendar at the following website: Page 6 of 6