Advanced Public Management

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2011:

This subject explores the strategies and instruments that public managers use to implement public policy. We will review several key aspects of the management role including: how public managers support the development and implantation of good public policy; how the management role fits within the framework of government and governance in different systems; how strategic management can be conceptualised and practiced in the public sector; and how questions of responsibility, accountability and performance are defined in the public sector as compared to private enterprise. We will examine the systemic and environmental imperatives which frame the manager's experience, including shifts from traditional notions of bureaucracy to contemporary approaches involving contracting, performance management, network governance and partnerships. Emphasis will be placed upon developing strong analytical and practical management skills, a detailed understanding of accountability issues, and an ability to strategize from a management perspective. The subject will require students to develop and present a case study of a public management challenge through research on a current case, together with an analytical treatment of options and dilemmas.

• have a thorough knowledge of contemporary theories and methods of public sector management.
• have skills in evaluating current policy trends, programs and management practices.
• be familiar with issues of privatisation and contracting out, the monitoring of contracts and broader accountability issues.

1. Individual essay topic proposal of 2000 words worth 20% due end of March;

2. Take home exam of 3000 words worth 30% due mid-semester;

3. Individual essay of 5000 words worth 50% due during the examination period.

Hurdle Requirement: As this is an Intensively-taught subject, Lecture/Seminar attendance is compulsory on all 4 days. Students who fail to meet this hurdle requirement will be deemed ineligible to submit the final piece of assessment for this subject. Regular participation in class is required.

Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 2% per working day. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.

A subject reader will be available for purchase from the University Bookshop.

Ewan Ferlie, Laurence Lynn, Christopher Pollitt (Eds), 2005, The Oxford Handbook of Public Managment, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

• be able to demonstrate competence in critical, creative and theoretical thinking through essay writing, seminar discussion and presentations, conceptualising theoretical problems, forming judgments and arguments from conflicting evidence, and by critical analysis.
• be able to demonstrate proficiency in the application of policy analysis skills to empirical problems.
• be able to demonstrate an understanding of the academic protocols of research and presentation.