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 |
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.
This unit will be delivered in sessions on 2 hours. Each session will consist of an introductory lecture followed by discussion, or student presentation.
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.