Give me a few points about what you believe makes a good government manger? Give me some detail on this. APA 1 page use attached file to answer the questions as well. 

PUB 407 ML

Productivity Improvement in the Public Sector

Class 1

Chapter 1

·

What is a government’s role and purpose?

· To provide services to their citizens.

· Name some types of governments

· Federal

· State

· County

· City

· Special Districts

· Name some services:

· Police

· Fire

· Military

· Water

· Sewer

· Electric

· Emergency

· What else?

· The public’s, often negative, perception of government is shaped by

· Mass media

· Social media

· Internet based news

· Family, Friends, and Personal Experiences

· Perception Videos

· Examples

of perception not being reality.

· Ferguson

· Not the PD racism outlined in the DOJ report, but the initial witness statements that went viral.

· Obama Birth Certificate

· Police Setting Fire in Waco

· 9/11 Conspiracy

· Newtown, CT conspiracy

· etc…

· Examples?

· Public perception and opinion of government wax and wane:

· Post 9/11 federal gov’t approval (presidential approval) – 90%

· Current federal gov’t approval (presidential approval) – 42%

· It all depends on who is in charge, what the gov’t is doing, and how its being “sold”.

· Favorability ratings of federal, state, and local gov’t have steadily declines since 2002.

· Local gov’t has the highest approval rating

· This is the level people interact with the most.

· The collective American consensus is gov’t disapproval and that gov’t causes more problems than it solves.

· Examples

· Crime

· Drug Abuse

· Poverty

· Tax rate

· Failing cities

· Flint?

· Declining schools in some areas

· Corruption

· Is this perception true?

· The public believes the federal gov’t wastes about HALF of what it spends, and that it is more wasteful than state and local government.

· Gov’t vs. Private Sector

· Public sees the private sector as innovative and efficient.

· Gov’t as stagnant and inefficient.

· True?

· President Obama started an initiative to combat waste called their “Campaign to Cut Waste” but then approved a $528 million Federal Loan to a Solar Start-Up that went bankrupt and left the taxpayers on the hook. One of the investors in the company was also a large donor to President Obama’s campaign – some consider this wasteful and possibly corrupt.

· Is it wasteful and/or corrupt?

· Are all innovation subsidies or investments bad?

· What about discoveries and technologies made via NASA contractors?

· GPS via Air Force R and D?

· If it’s successful people don’t care, if it’s not the perception is waste and corruption.

· Does waste or corruption inherently make a program bad?

· Interstate highway system

· Social security

· Rural electricity

· Food stamps

· Government failure is very public and impacts perception and approval for a great deal of time.

· See Hurricane Katrina response

· Example: President Bush and Obama bailouts in 2008 and 2009 probably stopped another Great Depression, but because it did not cause an economic BOOM it is perceived as a failure.

· The majority of the american public believes the gov’t does more harm than good to businesses via regulation.

· As a result of less gon’t confidence, the average citizen trusts gov’t less to fulfill their needs and thus wants to give them less money.

· Politicians run on this, and cut the federal budget.

· Budget deficit.

· Less taxes sent back to state and local gov’t from the feds.

· State and local tax increase.

· Public perception drops.

· And repeat.

· In the 1990’s politicians campaigned on REINVENTING the gov’t. Streamlining, modernizing, and adopting private sector efficiencies.

· President Clinton tasked Vice President Gore with a National Performance Review to apply these to the federal gov’t.

· The reviews priorities were to cut red tape, put customers first, empower employees to get results, and get back to basics.

· The final report suggests a federal spending cut of 108 billion dollars and 252,000 federal jobs.

· Largest reduction occurred in the military.

· Challenges of Performance-Based Evaluation and government downsizing.

· Since the 1990s all levels of gov’t have adopted some form of performance based evaluation and improvement.

· It doesn’t always tell the whole story.

· Management tailors programs to meet externally assigned performance goals which may be wrong.

· Performance improvement is often seen as an exercise in compliance rather than an opportunity to improve.

· They don’t ensure agencies will perform well.

· Don’t eliminate incompetent management, ethics, or corruption.

· Downsizing doesn’t always result in efficiency.

· US federal gov’t Procurement workforce downsized by a quarter in the 1990s, but then spending grew by 80 percent.

· Results in less management, oversight, and cost controls.

· Reform efforts should be focused on efficiency and transparency, not “starving the beast”.

· Government policies, processes, and procedures must be logically established to allow for these efficiencies.

· This is the difference between gov’t and business…. Red tape.

· SpaceX

· Give four points that would ensure effective public management.

· Training

· Accountability

· Waste/Fraud Prevention

· Regulation/Corruption Enforcement

·

PUB 407

Productivity Improvement in the Public Sector

Class 2

Chapter 2 (part 1)

Why do you think there is a perception of a “bumbling bureaucrat”?

· Red tape, public eye and expectations, poor hiring?

· If mistakes are made the perception is incompetence or fraud?

Read FEMA paragraph regarding Hurricane Katrina.

Government bureaucrats (or employees) are constant attacks for the media and politicians.

· When is the last time a politician took the blame for a failed policy, events, or incident?

· It is easier to make officials look bad then explain the complexities of the position.

· No matter what side you’re on – the current FBI/President Trump Drama.

· To one side he is corrupt president and to the other they are a corrupt agency.

Public managers do not set goals, they manage the goals of elected officials.

· City managers manage the goals of the city council.

· County managers manage the goals of county commissioners.

· Appointed positions within state and federal gov’t manage the goals of whoever appointed them.

Causes of Failure

Accepting the negative image.

Despite public perception, most public managers are not incompetent, and are generally as good as the private sector.

Perception can become reality for some managers, and their self-image and expectations can be set by external views and create a “psychology of failure”.

The self-defeated public manager defines success as the “absence of failure”!!!

· This manager may become jaded and be a poor performer.

· It is difficult to measure performance in the public sector.

· Employees in the public sector have more job protections than the private.

Folding to constraints.

We’ve always done it this way or don’t rock the boat.

Innovative managers receive push back from the established governmental norms.

· Creativity is not valued as it is in the private sector.

Read Street Fair and tramway paragraph.

Being too cautious.

Analysis paralysis due to fear or failure.

Read USPS paragraph.

Hiding behind ambiguity (bullshitting)

Using overly complicated or confusing language to fake a level of competence.

Gaming the system.

Not getting pinned down so there are never consequences and they can weasel out.

Forgetting people matter.

Managers have to remember their organizations are made of people, and that they lead people not agencies, companies, or departments.

Poor managers make decisions from their office or desk and don’t venture out to see impacts or consequences.

· Decentralized decisions making and employee empowerment will increase the success of a desired outcome.

Read HELP USA paragraph.

Cocoa Water Scenario