...Organizational Learning and Decision-Making: A Southeastern School District and Elementary School Greg Alford, DA University of Phoenix Org 714 Organizational Learning and Decision-Making: A Southeastern School District and Elementary School Although learning should be an easy task for a school and school system, the bureaucracy of a public educational system presents many obstacles to substantive learning on the part of the employees and the smoothness of the decision-making process. This paper examines the opportunities for organizational learning and the decision-making process in southeastern U.S. school district and specifically at an elementary school Pre-K CDC Program. What is Organizational Learning and Decision-Making? Organizational learning is the process through which managers seek to improve organization members’ desire and ability to understand and manage the organization and its environment so they make decisions that continuously raise organizational effectiveness. There are two types of organizational learning strategies that may be pursued by any group: exploration and exploitation. Exploration is a method where organizational members learn of ways to improve existing organizational activities and procedures through experimentation. Exploitation is where those members refine and improve on existing activities and procedures to increase effectiveness (Jones, 2010). Organizational decision-making is the process of responding to a problem by searching...
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...Website: http://profspace.com/vchaney Required Texts: AM Gov 2012, Losco/Baker ISBN: 978-0073526379 Taking Sides, 18th ed, Mckenna ISBN: 978-0078050329 Course Objectives: 1. Identify the theoretical foundations and the applications of the American political system. 2. Analyze major political institutions: the presidency, bureaucracy, Congress, Judiciary, elections, political parties, and interest groups. 3. Examine and assess the implementation of democracy, including the different perspectives of elitism, pluralism, and majoritarianism. 4. Evaluate the role of the mass media in the political process. 5. Identify and discuss political culture and the function of political socialization. 6. Compare and contrast the relationship of federal and state governmental systems and processes with emphasis on California. 7. Evaluate and analyze the interdependence of economics and politics. 8. Distinguish between civil rights and civil liberties and their evolution in American society. 9. Assess the federal and state judicial systems and their impact on public policy. 10. Examine and discuss the process of public policy making in relation to international and domestic policy issues. 11. Assess the concept and implementation of citizenship. 12. Analyze issues of race, ethnicity, class, age, and gender as they relate to the distribution of power in the political process. Student Learning Outcomes: 1....
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...INTRODUCTION Background of the Case Study of the UNITES STATES POSTAL SERVICE The evolution of the United States Postal Service is interlaced with the history of our federal government. Today, the Postal Service is the second largest civilian employer in the United States. It has over 700,000 employees, affects an economy that employs 9 million people and represents 8% of the United States gross domestic product in a $900 billion mailing industry (United States Postal Service [USPS], 2002b). This organization reaches every United States household and its operations are often perceived as an indication of the efficiency of the entire federal government as a whole. After the historic gridlock of the Chicago Post Office in 1966, Postmaster General Lawrence O’Brien sought the political support of President Johnson for systemic change in the organization. President Johnson formed a “blue ribbon” commission of well-known business leaders and academia’s to study the Post Office Department. Their mission was to recommend how to change the Post Office Department and to also describe the best governmental organization model for its function. The President’s Commission on Postal Organization (Commonly called the Kappel Commission after its Chairman) presented the President with a plan in 1968, which lead to congressional testimony, but legislative action did not soon follow. Various factions, including the strong postal unions representing 740,000 votes, opposed the government corporation...
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...Chapter Two Economics: The Framework for Business Review Questions 1. How did the global economic crisis unfold? The economy changed for the worst when the dot.com bubble burst in 2000, and 9/11 terrorist attacks happened in 2001. 2. What steps did the Federal government and the Federal Reserve take to mitigate the crisis? They decreased interest rates, and subprime mortgage came into play. They seized a few companies that controlled a lot of the mortgage. The congress passed a bill on dollar bailout plan. As the new administration began Obama passed a 825 billion dollar bailout plan. 3. Compare and contrast microeconomics and macroeconomics. How do the two approaches interrelate? Use a specific example to explain. Macroeconomics is the study of a country’s overall economic issues such as performance, structure, behavior, decisions making, and study rates. Microeconomics focuses on smaller economic units such as individual consumers, families and businesses. They can affect how much and what you can buy for your family. 4. What is the difference between fiscal and monetary policy? What role does politics play in shaping these policies? Fiscal policies refer to government efforts to influence the economy through taxation without representation and spending decisions that are designed to encourage growth. Monetary policies refer to actions that shape...
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...executive, and judicial) Administrative agencies have been objects of controversy. Enabling Legislation Administrative agencies are created by enabling legislation, which usually specifies the name, composition, and powers of the agency. Administrative procedure Act (APA) The APA was enacted by Congress in 1946 in an attempt to standardize federal agency procedures and to respond to critics who said that administrative power was out of control. Functions of Administrative Agencies In their roles, administrative agencies serve three main functions: rule-making, adjudicating and investigating. * In rule making, the agency takes laws passed by Congress and adds the technical expertise need for them to apply to real-life situations. E.g., a bill may mandate public vaccinations, but a rule will explain which age groups and demographics need the vaccination. * Agencies serve a judicial function when in-house lawyers and judges help individuals resolve disputes with the agency. They can also fine those who break agency rules. * As investigators, they can subpoena and question those who may have violated federal law. The Environmental Protection Agency is probably best known for seeking out and punishing polluters as part of its investigative and judicial authorities. Administrative agency‘s Purpose: The purpose of an “administrative agency”...
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... BUREAUCRACY AND RATIONAL-LEGAL AUTHORITY......................... 2 3. CORNERSTONES OF BUREAUCRACY ......................................................... 4 4. DYSFUNCTIONS OF BUREAUCRACY ........................................................... 5 5. RELEVANCE FOR COTEMPORARY ORGANISATIONS .......................... 6 6. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................................... 7 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................. 9 Executive Summary The label “Bureaucracy” today is not quite what any organization wants to have written on their flags. Everyone has their own experiences and feelings associated with this term and in most cases it has a negative connotation. A quick view through current media will confirm this. However bureaucracy, as conceived by Max Weber originally, was regarded as progress and something that can improve efficiency and stability within an organization. Organizations can draw upon the pioneering work of Max Weber even today. While displaying certain dysfunctions that are directly linked to strict bureaucracies (for example the tendency to displace goals, the discouragement of innovation and adaptability to change, there are certain aspects of it even the most dynamic and innovative organisations cant escape and even profit from. The concept of bureaucracy can be...
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...whether entirely or contained within business divisions within organizations. Morgan discusses eight areas within which we discuss the functionality of organization: as a machine; as an organism; a brain; its culture; its political system; as a psychic prison; change/in flux; and as an instrument of domination. An Organization as a Machine Two examples of organizations functioning as a machine and classified as a bureaucracies are the federal government and the public education system in Delaware. As Morgan so aptly describes Max Weber’s comparison between “…the mechanization of industry and the proliferation of bureaucratic forms of organization.” (Morgan, 2006), the emphasis on …bureaucracy…emphasizes precision, speed, clarity, regularity, reliability, and efficiency achieved through the creation of a fixed division of tasks, hierarchical supervision, and detailed rules and regulations” (Morgan, p17). Speed, in this writer’s opinion, seems to be dependent on the situation, but government and the education industry especially, present excellent examples of bureaucracy at its best. "The various leveled association of occupations expands on the thought that control must be practiced over the distinctive parts of the association" (to guarantee that they are doing what they are intended to do). Unthinking way to deal with association tends to constrain as opposed to prepare the advancement of human limits, forming individuals to fit the prerequisites of mechanical associations...
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...CON 280 CON 280 Defining Performance Based Services The Federal Acquisition Regulation defines performance-based acquisition as “the means an acquisition structured around the results to be achieved as opposed to the manner by which the work is to be performed.” (FAR 2.1) Specifically performance-based services involve strategies, approaches and various techniques that assist with defining a service requirement based on performance objectives. There are specific characteristics that must exist in order for a requirement to be considered a performance-based acquisition and each characteristic influences and shapes the others. One of the most important characteristics necessary for a performance-based service acquisition is the performance work statement. The performance work statement, commonly known to acquisition professionals as the PWS is defined as the following: a statement of work for performance-based acquisitions that describes the required results in clear, specific and objective terms with measurable outcomes.” The performance work statement is the backbone of a performance-based service contract because it is responsible for specifying the definitive expectations of work that is necessary for the successful performance of a contract. As a contracting officer I am just as accountable as my customers to ensure that the performance work statement describes their needs in terms of measurable outcomes as opposed to stringent methods. Unlike...
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...buildings + lives • tried to drive out training programs + bar military recruiters from college campuses Antiwar rallies • in protest of Vietnam war, many individuals gathered to advocate against the political minds and US presence in Vietnam • 1960s (late '60s) • organized some of the largest political demonstrations in American history Anti-draft movement • Protests against the military draft. • 1960s and 70s • only voluntary participation. Many left the country Counterculture • culture with values and beliefs different then the mainstream • 1970s Woodstock • A music festival held in New York in 1969 • the beatles, jimmy hendrix Termination • Reducing size of bureaucracy by cutting programs/agencies - reduce budget • Permanent cuts have been limited. • -Citizens dislike the bureaucracy but benefit from provided services Assimililation • Minority groups adoption of the beliefs and way of life of the dominant culture. National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) • formed to organize tribes to deal in a more unified way with US govt. • 1944 • Respond to the termination threats American Indian...
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...BUS410, Home Work, Chapters 3, 4 Name___________________________________ MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question. 1) An example of a professional bureaucracy is a A) small startup firm. C) mid-size manufacturing firm. 1) B) school system. D) consulting firm. 2) 2) The costs incurred when a firm buys on the marketplace what it cannot make itself are referred to as: A) switching costs. B) transaction costs. C) procurement. D) agency costs. 3) The secondary activities of a firm include A) inbound logistics, technology, outbound logistics, sales and marketing, and service. B) inbound logistics, organization infrastructure, outbound logistics, technology, and procurement. C) organization infrastructure, human resources, sales and marketing, and technology. D) organization infrastructure, human resources, technology, and procurement. 4) A firm can exercise greater control over its suppliers by having A) more suppliers. B) fewer suppliers. C) global suppliers. D) local suppliers. 5) To what competitive force did the printed encyclopedia industry succumb? A) positioning and rivalry among competitors B) low cost of entry C) substitute products or services D) customer's bargaining power 6) How does the technical view of organizations fall short of understanding the full impacts of information systems in a firm? A) It sees information systems as a way to rearrange the inputs and outputs of the organization. B) It sees capital...
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...had concerns and voice out, pleading for safe working conditions. My belief that all agencies are responsible for this accident (Local, State, and Federal). If the agencies/management took the extra step to study the past history they could of prevented this tragic event. Plans and policy could have been put in place. Safety should have been considered first and for most. From my reading these mining accident had been going on for years and nothing had been done. The writing was on the wall, waiting for it to happen, and it did. Analyze what the case says about the definition, role and function of public administration in modern society. ~ Modern definitions of public administration have returned to the traditional view, including attention to administrative officials in all branches of government and even focusing on those in nonprofit organizations. From the case definition; the case had none of things in place for the protection of these men. The United Mine worker of America did not do their part in making sure that the public service and safety for these miners were in place. The ball was dropped and lives were lost. Reference: Denhardt, R.B., & Denhardt, J.V. Public administration: An action orientation: 2010 Custom Edition. (6th ed.). 2009 Thompson – Wadsworth – Cengage Learning. Discussion 2 Describe what Wilson saw as the central...
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...decentralization that took place under different regime in Bangladesh and analyze to what extent decentralization has been ensured. 1In some countries, the local extensions of the central government, and in others, traditional local power structures utilized for supporting field administration, have been misconstrued as being equivalent to local government. At times local government has been mistakenly considered an insignificant segment of the government. However, in industrialized countries, the number of civil servants at the local level is much larger than is commonly believed. In the United States, for example, there are four times as many local government employees as federal employees; even in a developing country, like India, the number of local level employees is as high as 40 percent that of federal employees With a view to avoiding confusion, it is better to differentiate ‘local government’ from ‘local politics’ and ‘local administration’. Local politics is a wider term and covers a host of areas besides local government. On the other hand, local administration means implementation of decisions by not only local government institutions but also national/ provincial government units operating at the field level. In South Asia, local government is widely known as local self-government. For the purpose of this essay, local government is defined essentially...
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...Max Weber’s Bureaucracy Written by Dr. Wasim Al-Habil College of Commerce The Islamic University of Gaza Beginning with Max Weber, bureaucracies have been regarded as mechanisms that rationalize authority and decision-making in society. Yet subsequent theorists have questioned the rationality of bureaucracies. Which features of modern-day public bureaucracies are rational? Which are not? Buttress your argument with citations from organization and/or public administration theories. Introduction: Max Weber’s work about bureaucracy, translated into English in 1946, was one of the major contributions that has influenced the literature of public administration. However, Van Riper (1997) argues that the work of Weber on bureaucracy has no influence on American PA until the 1950’s. The word bureaucracy is derived from two words; “bureau” and “Kratos.” While the word “bureau” refers to the office the Greek suffix “kratia or kratos” means power or rule. Thus we use the word “bureaucracy” to refer to the power of the office (Hummel, 1998, 307). “Bureaucracy” is rule conducted from a desk or office, i.e. by the preparation and dispatch of written documents and electronic ones. Bureaucracy is borrowed by the field of public administration (PA) from the field of sociology. It was borrowed by PA in much a similar way that practices of business were borrowed from the field of business administration and economics. Weber (1946) presents bureaucracy as both a scientific...
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...Max Weber’s Bureaucracy Written by Dr. Wasim Al-Habil College of Commerce The Islamic University of Gaza Beginning with Max Weber, bureaucracies have been regarded as mechanisms that rationalize authority and decision-making in society. Yet subsequent theorists have questioned the rationality of bureaucracies. Which features of modern-day public bureaucracies are rational? Which are not? Buttress your argument with citations from organization and/or public administration theories. Introduction: Max Weber’s work about bureaucracy, translated into English in 1946, was one of the major contributions that has influenced the literature of public administration. However, Van Riper (1997) argues that the work of Weber on bureaucracy has no influence on American PA until the 1950’s. The word bureaucracy is derived from two words; “bureau” and “Kratos.” While the word “bureau” refers to the office the Greek suffix “kratia or kratos” means power or rule. Thus we use the word “bureaucracy” to refer to the power of the office (Hummel, 1998, 307). “Bureaucracy” is rule conducted from a desk or office, i.e. by the preparation and dispatch of written documents and electronic ones. Bureaucracy is borrowed by the field of public administration (PA) from the field of sociology. It was borrowed by PA in much a similar way that practices of business were borrowed from the field of business administration and economics. Weber (1946) presents bureaucracy as both a scientific...
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...Federal Government Exam 1 Review: The first exam will consist of questions generated from the following review sheet. Make sure you understand each of these topics before proceeding to the test. The exam will be timed so you will not have the ability to peruse your notes or retake the exam. The exam itself will consist of 30 multiple choice questions and you will have 35 minutes to complete the exam. Federalism: The Basic elements of a Federal system of government (i.e. how is it structured/how power is shared) • Layers of gov • Equal power • Distinct powers Powers of the federal government: delegated powers, implied powers (necessary and proper clause), and concurrent powers. • Delegated Powers: (expressed/enumerated powers) powers given to the federal government directly by the constitution. Some most important delegated powers are: the authority to tax, regulated interstate commerce, authority to declare war, and grants the president role of commander and chief of the military • Implied Powers: Powers not expressed in the constitution, but that can be inferred. “Necessary and proper clause” • Concurrent powers: powers shared by both levels of government. Ex: Taxes, roads, elections, commerce, establishing courts and a judicial system • Reserved powers: powers not assigned by the constitution to the national government but left to the states or the people. Guaranteed by the 10th amendment. Include “police power”-health and public...
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