Open Society Institute Academic Fellowship Program NAME: KHATUNA SALUKVADZE

Returning Scholar Fellowship Program 2008/2009 COUNTRY: GEORGIA

Course Title: Public Administration: Strategic Thinking and Leadership

Lecturer: Khatuna Salukvadze
Institution: Tbilisi State University
Country: Georgia

Syllabus
Spring 2008
5 ECTS

I. Description:

This course aims to broaden the understanding of students on how strategic management and
leadership are formed in the public sectors of democratic societies, and is intended to advance
focused training in the discipline of the administration of the public sector.

The course’s point of departure is public sector performance as a foundation for social and
economic development of the state and for legitimacy of the government. It focuses on the
administrator in the public policy process, i.e. the role of the state, its machinery, and the
major roles and responsibilities of a manager in government.

Audience: The course is designed for graduate students of the Masters Degree in Social
Sciences program at Tbilisi Ivane Javakshishvili State University.

II. Objectives:

The course has three main goals:

First, to give participants an overview of the key assumptions and tools of the public
administration that are being applied around the world, and their critical examination, i.e. to
be exposed to the strategies and knowledge that makes up public administration.

The second course objective is to develop a sound understanding of the public policy process,
including consideration of the political context within which the public administrators
operate.

The third objective is to learn about the key managerial skills that a successful public
manager must have, and acquire some practice in doing them. Among these skills are: clear
communication (writing and oral presentations), assessment and analysis, decision-making,
encouraging innovation and change, and working with teams.

Main theme will be that successful government depends upon the smooth interconnection of
the political and bureaucratic dimensions of the state. This theme therefore will examine how
different countries organize and manage their public sector management systems. A second
theme will highlight comparison and reference with successful global systems. A third theme
will draw attention to the particular problems involved in overcoming obstacles to reforms.

Important strategic actions that will be examined in the course include: public value of the
organization; capacity and support of the organization; setting and articulating goals and
missions; aligning strategy with mission; organizational culture and change; measuring
progress and performance; managing with performance information; improving work

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Open Society Institute Academic Fellowship Program NAME: KHATUNA SALUKVADZE
Returning Scholar Fellowship Program 2008/2009 COUNTRY: GEORGIA

processes; entrepreneurial government; and dealing with crises and environments in

transition.

Throughout the course, we will examine specific public policy realms and contemporary
events through the lenses of these analytical approaches, and draw out the implications for
transformation of public managements systems in the South Caucasus states. Special
emphasis will be placed on analyzing recent reforms process in Georgia’s public agencies.

III. Course Requirements:

The format will include both conceptual materials and case discussions. Students will be
required to do readings, and come to class ready to present a diagnosis of the problems
presented by the readings and the case, and a plausible solution. This will be done in group
presentations and discussions every week. Students will also be expected to take a mid-term
examination and to submit a final paper in the end of term. By the end of each week, the
study questions for next week will bi given by the course instructor. Case-studies and other
conceptual materials will also be provided by the instructor throughout the course.

Course grades will be determined based on following assessment:

Class participation (attendance, discussions, presentations) - 35%

Mid-term assignment - 30%
Final Exam (group project) - 35%

Class participation grades are assigned by the instructor based on four criteria: (1) class
attendance, (2) the extent to which you ask questions or make comments and critiques in
class that show you have done the readings, (3) your responses to questions asked by the
instructor, and (4) weekly group presentations.

Group presentations: students will be assigned to the study groups that will be required to
make an oral presentation in a class in which they will present a case of public agency based
on the course syllabus. They will identify the problem, provide solutions, and take questions.
The rest of the class will critically discuss a group presentation.

In addition to class participation, there are two required written assignments:

Mid-term assignment: Performance management. For this assignment you should write in
500-750 words the analysis on the agency you have chosen to work on. You can use a public
agency described in the reading materials/cases or choose the agency of your choice, with
which you are familiar. The paper should discuss:
A mission statement for the agency;
Identification and description of the problems;
Solution using performance management, developing specific sample measures of
performance;
Explanation of why you chose these particular measures;
Discussion of how you would apply these performance measures for what purposes;
A brief note on the sources you used in writing the assignment.

Final Examination: Develop a strategic analysis for improving the work of the public
agency covering the key themes and materials from the class. This will be a team project. In
this paper (about 1250-1500 words) you should choose a problem or opportunity to improve
the work of the agency, by using new tools of government, by changing work processes, and
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Open Society Institute Academic Fellowship Program NAME: KHATUNA SALUKVADZE
Returning Scholar Fellowship Program 2008/2009 COUNTRY: GEORGIA

by shaping the culture of the agency. We will provide more instructions on this assignment
during December.

Readings: Most required cases and readings will be available in the course reader. Main
readings will be taken from the following books, which are also available in the CSS library:

David Osborne and Peter Plastrik, Banishing Bureaucracy, (NY: Plume, 1997)
David Osborne and Peter Plastrik, The Reinventor’s Fieldbook, (Jossey-Bass, 2000)
John P. Kotter, Leading Change, (Harvard Bisiness School Press, 1996)

IV. Class Schedule: Topics and Assigned Readings:

Week 1: Introduction to the course and basic concepts.

I. Strategic management for mission

Week 2: Management concepts, strategy of creating and fulfilling public goods.

Readings:
David Osborne and Peter Plastrik, Banishing Bureaucracy, introduction, pp. 1-18
Mark Moore, Creating Public Value, Harvard University Press, 1995, pp. 13-23

Week 3: Concepts and processes of strategic management; capacity and

stakeholders of public agency.
Focus on major elements of strategic management: capacity, value, support. Internal
and external environments that affect successful strategy.
Readings:
Herman Leonard, A short Note on Public Sector Strategy-Building, 2002.
Fred David, The Nature of Strategic Management, Strategic Management, pp. 4-15

Week 4: Reinventing the government.

Revolutionary programs for making government more efficient and cost-effective;
Great Britain’s experience of reforming its public sector.

Readings:
David Osborne and Peter Plastrik, Banishing Bureaucracy, chpt. 1, pp. 21-48
David Osborne and Peter Plastrik, Banishing Bureaucracy, chpt. 2, pp. 48-66

Week 5: Reforms in public management and global revolution.

Global revolution in administration of public functions, and its relevance to
developing and transitional countries; new approaches to PA – focus on results and
customers.
Readings:
Donald Kettl, The Global Revolution in Public Management: Driving Themes, Missing
Links, JPAM, 1997, pp. 446-462.
Malcolm Bale and Tony Dale, Public Sector Reform in New Zealand and its Relevance to
Developing Countries, The World Bank Research Observer, vol. 13, no. 1, 1998, pp.103-21.
Recommended:
Allen Schick, Why Most Developing Countries Should Not Try New Zealand's Reform, The
World Bank Research Observer , vol. 13, no. 1, 1998, pp.123-31.
John Kotter, Leading Change, chpt. 2, pp. 17-31

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Open Society Institute Academic Fellowship Program NAME: KHATUNA SALUKVADZE
Returning Scholar Fellowship Program 2008/2009 COUNTRY: GEORGIA

Case-Study: Department of Juvenile Justice

Week 6: Public agency: statements of mission, vision, and values.

How agencies should formulate mission and vision statements.
Readings:
Mark Popovich, editor, Creating High-Performance Government Organizations, SF: Josey
Bass, 1998, chpt. 5, pp. 68-75
David Osborne and Peter Plastrik, Banishing Bureaucracy, chpt 3-4, pp. 67-114
Osborne and Plastrik, Reinventor’s Fieldbook, pp.596-606
Strategic management memo on mission statements; to be distributed by the instructor.
Recommended: John Kotter, Leading Change, chpt. 3, 4 and 5, pp. 35-100

Week 7: Strategic management in political context

Public managers vs. politics; accountability for results and outcomes; top-down
control vs. bottom-up control; efficient public management system and clear division
between politics and administration of public functions.
Readings:
Mark Moore, Creating Public Value, pp. 115-126; 148-151; 189
John Kotter, Leading Change, chpt. 6

Week 8: Strategies against corruption

Focus on the framework of strategic elements for preventing the corruption. The case-
study to examine positive and negative incentives of deterring public sector employees from
corruption. Positive policy examples can be reducing the need for corrupt income, role of
international agencies, subsidizing the salaries up to market rates, linking payment with the
appraisal of performance measurement. Negative incentives - breaking the syndrome of
impunity, setting a precedent of penalizing the corrupt behavior.
Readings:
World Bank, “Curbing corruption in service delivery”, Making Services Work for Poor
People, pp 195-199.
Robert Klitgaard, “Subverting Corruption”, from Finance and Development, June 2000
Case-Study: Corruption in La Paz

II. Measuring performance and using performance information

Week 9: Challenges of public management: accountability, legitimacy and

performance measurement
Major opportunities and challenges presented by performance management in public
agencies; Performance measurement as a tool of performance management; results-driven
management vs. rules-driven management.
Readings:
David Osborne and Peter Plastrik, Banishing Bureaucracy, chpt 5 - The consequences
Strategy, pp. 115-156.
Robert D. Behn, “Bottom Line government,” The Governor’s Center at Duke University,
1994, pp.1-19
Performance management memo, to be distributed by the instructor.
Recommended: Robert Kaplan and David Norton, The Strategy-Focused Organization,
Harvard Business School Press, 2001, pp. 133-160

Week 10: Designing performance management systems: indicators and tools; Using
information for improving performance.

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Open Society Institute Academic Fellowship Program NAME: KHATUNA SALUKVADZE
Returning Scholar Fellowship Program 2008/2009 COUNTRY: GEORGIA

Examine how to measure progress of government and public agency. Focus on

producing results; Purposes of measuring performance: evaluation, control, motivation. What
to measure, how to measure? What are tools of public managers for linking the performance
indicators with motivation of employees?
Readings:
Behn, Robert D., "Why Measure Performance? Different Purposes Require Different
Measures", Public Administration Review, 63(5), pp. 586-606.
Osborne and Plastrik, Reinventor’s Fieldbook, chpt 7, pp.247-271
Harry Harty, “Performance Management: getting Results”, Urban Institute Press, 1999, pp.
55-71; 157-161; 170-174.
Case-Study: NYPD: Assertive Policing, Plummeting Crime

Week 11: Improving performance with new tools of governance

Readings:
Osborne and Plastrik, Reinventor’s Fieldbook, pp. 183-214
Lester Salomon, ed., The Tools of Government, Oxford University Press, 2002, pp.19-24.
Memo on Activity Based Costing
Case-Study: Organizing Competition in Indianapolis

Mid-term assignment due. Please bring a copy of your assignment to class and be prepared
to discuss it.

III. Organizational Changes

Week 11: Reengineering and restructuring organizations

Readings:
David Osborne and Peter Plastrik, Banishing Bureaucracy, the Customer Strategy, pp. 173-
202.

Week 12: Organizational Culture and Change; Changing work processes in

organization
Examine the notion of culture or cultures of public agency. Are there ways in which
the culture is dysfunctional to achieving the mission? Tools for reforming organizational
culture.
Readings:
David Osborne and Peter Plastrik, Banishing Bureaucracy, pp. 203-240
Robert H. Schaffer and Harvey A. Thomson, “Successful Change Programs Begin with
Results,” Harvard Business Review, 1991, pp 80-89.
Kotter, Leading Change, chpts. 7 and 8, pp. 101-130

Week 13: Human Capital: Motivating, Leading Culture Change

Use and development of human capital in democratically governed societies;
motivating workers; leading culture changes.
Readings:
David Osborne and Peter Plastrik, Banishing Bureaucracy, pp. 241-278.
Robert D. Behn, “Creating an Innovative Organization,” State and Local Government
Review, 1995.
Kotter, Leading Change, chpts. 9 and 10, pp. 131-158
Case (to read): Corruption in La Paz (sequel)

Week 14: Public Systems in the South Caucasus States; Reform Models.

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Open Society Institute Academic Fellowship Program NAME: KHATUNA SALUKVADZE
Returning Scholar Fellowship Program 2008/2009 COUNTRY: GEORGIA

Current public management systems; case of Georgia: the administration of

government services remains dependent on political decision-making of central authorities,
absence of managerialism with divided policy-making and policy administration; Needed
changes in management of Georgia’s public sector: devolution of decision-making authority
in government agencies and an increased emphasis on their performance; clear division
between politics and administration of public functions; creation of strong institutional
capacity independent of political will of governing power.
Readings:
David Osborne and Peter Plastrik, Banishing Bureaucracy, ch. 9, pp. 301-319
Kotter, Leading Change, chpts. 11 and 12, pp. 161-186

Weeks 15 (June 5): Review session, evaluations, wrap up.

Final paper due