PAdm 710: Public Sector Organizational Theory and Behavior

3 Credit Hours

Prerequisite:
None

Course Objectives:

  • To develop an understanding of public management theories, behavior, processes and problems.
  • To gain an understanding of administrative behavior and the impacts of the political environment on public administration.
  • To develop analytic skills through experiential learning opportunities including case analyses, simulations, research assignments, short papers, oral presentations, debates, flowcharting, and the use of video media.
  • To develop your analytic skills finding, assessing and utilizing materials in journal and Internet sources
  • To develop your written and oral communications skills.

Course Description:

  • Reviews the scope of the field of public administration, including a survey of key concepts and schools of thought underlying the field, and examines issues shaping the future development of the field.

Major Topics Covered:

  • Overview and History of Public Administration in the United States
  • Classical Administrative Theory and Organization Structure
  • Neoclassical Organization Theory/Hawthorne Studies: Impacts and Critique
  • Motivation Theories and Critique
  • Groups, Group Processes, and Group Behavior
  • Leadership
  • Organizational Communication
  • Power/Influence and Organizational Politics
  • Values, Professionalism and Ethics, New Public Administration/New Public Management
  • Analytic Use of Information: Work Processes and Flowcharting
  • E-Government
  • IT Management Issues
  • In Defense of Bureaucracy