Unit information: Public Management and Organisations in 2020/21

Unit name	Public Management and Organisations
Unit code	SPOLM1074
Credit points	20
Level of study	M/7
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24)
Unit director	Professor. Ayres
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	N/A
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School for Policy Studies
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit examines a selection of topics related to the restructuring of public sector organisations. These will include: the implications of the fragmentation of the state for efficiency and accountability; the rise of contracting, audit and inspection; the impact of new public management on the nature of the civil service; the implications of consumerism; technological change and service delivery; the scope for strategic management in a political environment. The unit will seek to relate change in the organisation of the public sector to changing thinking about organising more generally. It will consdier the origins of key ideas and the extent to which they translate to the public sector.

Aims:

This unit will examine a selection of topics related to the restructuring of public sector organisations. These will include: the implications of the fragmentation of the state for efficiency and accountability; the rise of contracting, audit and inspection; the impact of new public management on the nature of the civil service; the implications of consumerism; technological change and service delivery; the scope for strategic management in a political environment. The unit will seek to relate change in the organisation of the public sector to changing thinking about organising more generally. It will consider the origins of key ideas and the extent to which they translate to the public sector.

Intended Learning Outcomes

• To provide students with an understanding of key concepts shaping reorganisation of the public sector.

• To demonstrate to students the way in which changing ideas about organisation have reshaped public sector organisations.

• To explore the origins of, and assumptions underpinning a selection of concepts and discuss the extent to which these influence their application to public services.

• To introduce students to a range of perspectives from which to think critically about organisation.

Teaching Information

This unit will be delivered through blended learning involving a combination of synchronous and asynchronous sessions, including weekly lectures, practical activities supported by study-group sessions and self-directed individual and pper-to-peer exercises

Assessment Information

Students will complete one 4,000 word written assignment through which they will demonstrate (i) an understanding of key concepts shaping public sector organisation and management and their implications and (ii) evaluate the extent to which one or more recent management theory has been successfully applied in the public sector.

Reading and References

• Grey, C. (2016) A very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about studying organizations, 4th ed, Sage.
• Bovaird, T. and Loffler, E. (eds) (2016) Public management and governance, Routledge.
• Denhardt, J. and Denhardt, R. B. (2015) The New Public Service: Serving, Not Steering, 4^th Edition, Abingdon, Routledge.
• Doherty, T. L., Horne, T. and Wootton, S. (2014) Managing Public Services - Implementing Changes, Oxon, Routledge.
• Drennan, L, T., McConnell, A. and Stark, A. (2015) Risk and Crisis Management in the Public Sector, 2^nd Edition, Abingdon, Routledge.
• Grossman, S, A. and Holzer, M. (2016) Partnership Governance in Public Management, Abingdon, Routledge.
• Rees, J. and Mullins, D. (2016) The Third Sector Delivering Public Services: Developments, Innovations and Challenges, Bristol, Policy Press.
• Van Doreen, W., Bouckaert, G. and Halligan, J. (2015) Performance Management in the Public Sector, 2^nd Edition, Abingdon, Routledge.