The Effective Public Manager: Achieving Success in Government Organizations, 5th Edition

Book description

Thoroughly revised and updated, the fifth edition of The Effective Public Manager offers public administrators and students a classic resource and a highly-accessible guide to the fundamentals of leading and managing public organizations. In this new edition the authors cover the key areas of the field and present in-depth analysis through the strategic use of fresh case studies and real-world examples. The book is designed to give real-world managers and aspiring managers the information and tools needed to meet the demands of their jobs directly rather than working around the constraints of government. The Effective Public Manager offers a proven approach to implementing efficient management tools in a dynamic political, organizational, economic, and technological context.

New to this edition

  • Information on the transformation of media, both traditional and social

  • An analysis of the changing nature of work and privatization trends

  • An examination of national security and the current thinking regarding accountability, transparency, and crisis communication

  • An online instructor's guide, which includes discussion questions and updated PowerPoint slides

  • Table of contents

    1. Cover Page
    2. Essential Texts for Public and Nonprofit Leadership and Management
    3. Title Page
    4. Copyright
    5. Contents
    6. Dedication
    7. PREFACE
      1. The Need for a Fifth Edition
      2. The Goals of This Book
      3. Overview of the Contents
    8. Acknowledgments
    9. THE AUTHORS
    10. CHAPTER ONE: THE PERPETUAL CRISIS IN PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
      1. The Current Crisis Defined
      2. Government's Response to the Crisis of Confidence
      3. The National Performance Review
      4. The Challenges of the Performance-Based Movement
    11. CHAPTER TWO: DEFINING EFFECTIVE PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
      1. The Bumbling Bureaucrat
      2. Managing for Politicians
      3. A Recipe for Failure
      4. The Innovative, Effective Public Manager
      5. Why Risk Taking Is Possible
      6. The Need for Effective and Innovative Public Management
    12. CHAPTER THREE: HOW TO FIND AND KEEP GOOD PEOPLE
      1. Why Good People Are Hard to Hire
      2. How to Find Good People
      3. How to Hire the Good People You Have Found
      4. How to Reward and Keep the Good People in Your Organization
      5. How to Get Rid of Inadequate Staff Members
      6. Effective Management and Staffing
    13. CHAPTER FOUR: DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE WORKING RELATIONSHIPS
      1. How to Satisfy the Demands of Superiors, Peers, and Subordinates
      2. How to Keep Your Boss Relatively Happy
      3. How to Keep Your Staff Relatively Happy
      4. Communicating in Partnerships and Networks
    14. CHAPTER FIVE: STRUCTURING SYSTEMS, TASKS, AND RESPONSIBILITIES
      1. How the Organization's Structure Can Help Managers Manage
      2. What Reorganization Should Accomplish and When It Is Worth the Effort
      3. How to Maintain Control Without Suffocating Staff Members
      4. How to Break Down Projects into Manageable Tasks
      5. How to Make Sure Task Assignments Are Fair and Reasonable
      6. How to Ensure That Work Is Assigned to the Right People, Gets Done, and Gets Done Well
    15. CHAPTER SIX: UNDERSTANDING AND APPLYING INNOVATION STRATEGIES IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR
      1. The Concept of Public Sector Management Innovation
      2. Techniques of Management Innovation
      3. Integrating and Using Techniques of Public Management Innovation
      4. Ensuring the Successful Adoption of Innovation Strategies
    16. CHAPTER SEVEN: THE ART AND CRAFT OF CONTRACTING
      1. Skills Needed to Manage Contracts and Contractors
      2. Obtaining and Deploying the Skills Needed to Manage Contracts and Contractors
      3. Implementing the Art and Craft of Contracting
    17. CHAPTER EIGHT: GATHERING, ORGANIZING, AND USING INFORMATION
      1. How to Avoid Having Too Much of the Wrong Information and Not Enough of the Right Information
      2. How to Project Information Needs
      3. How to Influence the Flow of Information into Your Organization
      4. How to Organize the Flow of Information Within Your Organization
      5. How to Control and Improve the Description, Synthesis, and Analysis of Information
      6. How to Control and Improve the Flow of Information from Your Organization
    18. CHAPTER NINE: MASTERING THE BUDGETARY PROCESS
      1. The Role of Budgets in Innovative Management
      2. How to Obtain Resources
      3. Not Letting the Budget Process Box You In
      4. How to Monitor the Use of Resources
      5. How to Use the Budget to Influence Your Organization
    19. CHAPTER TEN: SHAPING ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS AND STRATEGIES
      1. Why Strategy Is Important
      2. How to Develop and Implement Strategy
      3. How to Estimate What Your Organization Is Capable of Doing
      4. The Role of Leadership in Strategy Implementation
      5. How Strategy Can Help You Wake Up a Sleepy Organization
      6. What to Do with the Work You Are Given
      7. How to Ensure That Your Organization's Work Is Ethical
    20. CHAPTER ELEVEN: COMMUNICATING WITH THE MEDIA, STAKEHOLDERS, AND THE PUBLIC
      1. Communication Resources You Should Have at Hand
      2. How to Deal with Mass Media
      3. How to Keep Legislatures, Overhead Agencies, and Interest Groups Satisfied
      4. How to Stay in Touch and Out of Trouble with the Public
    21. CHAPTER TWELVE: SURVIVING AND THRIVING IN PUBLIC SERVICE
      1. The Costs of Public Sector Careers
      2. The Benefits of Public Sector Careers
      3. Why Be a Risk-Taking Public Entrepreneur?
      4. Can the Public Sector Succeed?
      5. Concluding Thoughts: Toward a Profession of the Public Service
    22. REFERENCES
    23. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
    24. NAME INDEX
    25. SUBJECT INDEX

    Product information

    • Title: The Effective Public Manager: Achieving Success in Government Organizations, 5th Edition
    • Author(s): Steven Cohen, William Eimicke, Tanya Heikkila
    • Release date: August 2013
    • Publisher(s): Jossey-Bass
    • ISBN: 9781118555934