Lecture# 03 & 04

Nature of Public
Administration
Public Administration is
1. Policy execution and policy formulation
2. Bureaucracy (but that term has both a
scientific, neutral meaning and a derogatory
meaning).
3. Usually large-scale (but it may be a small
scale)
4. Public (but it finds partial analogies in private
administration)
 Scope of Public
Administration
By scope, we mean, Public Administration as an activity
and as a discipline.
1.Scope of Public Administration as an activity
As an activity the scope of public administration is n
less than the scope of state activity.
2. Scope of Public Administration as a Discipline
 The POSDCoRb view
 The Subject Matter view
3. Scope could be viewed as
 Managerial approach
 Political approach
 Legal approach
 Schools of Thought in
Public Administration
“By school of thought, we mean the group of thinkers, philosophers, researchers, theorists or
academicians agreeing/focusing on one point of view. Consensus is not necessary but the essence
or crux of their thinking could be very similar”.
Scientific Management
This school thought is concerned with the ways and methods of managing organizations efficiently.
It emphasized on “one best way of doing things”. Two prominent figures of this school of thought
are F.W.Taylor and Frank Lillian Gilbreth.
F.W.Taylor provided four principles of scientific management which are basically the
foundation of any management/administration.
 Scientific laws of production
Management should have the mass of knowledge of working in the organization. On the basis of that
knowledge, it should determine the “scientific” or the “one best way of doing things”.
 Scientific selection of workers
Management should be very careful and sensitive towards the selection of workers. Workers must have
the right blend of skills and abilities to work efficiently.
 Scientific motivation
Fair performance standards should be developed through pay for performance (piece-rate) incentive plan.
 Division of work
Scientific management advocates genuine cooperation between management and workers based on the
planning done by top management and lower management is involved in the execution of orders.
Focus on “politics-administration dichotomy”.
 Schools of Thought in
Public Administration
Frank and Lillian Gilbreth
They were inspired by the work of F.W.Taylor and
were
motivated to expand human potential. They were the
founder of “time and motion studies”. According to
this:
 A time and motion study was used to reduce
motions in performing tasks. Experiment was
performed on “bricklaying”.
 They developed “thirbligs”
Henry L. Gantt.
 Schools of Thought in
Public Administration
Behavioral School of Thought
This school of though emphasized on individual needs of workers in the
organization to keep them motivated for better management. “Efficiency and
human motivation go hand in hand". Leading figures of this school of thought
are Abraham Maslow, Frederick Herzberg, Eltan Mayo, Chester Barnard.
“Hawthorne Experiment” by Eltan Mayo and Fritz J. Roethlisberger.
Important findings of this experiment were:
 Discovery of “Hawthorne effect”
 Productivity is affected by socio-psychological factors
 Non economic rewards and sanctions affect motivation and job satisfaction .
 Highest degree of specialization is not necessary for diving labor.
 Workers may react to management as members of groups rather than individuals.
 Concept of “informal organization” (which develop their own culture) was emerged.
Chester Barnard
 In his landmark 1938, book, The Functions of the Executives, Barnard characterized
all organizations as cooperative systems. willingness to serve, common purpose,
and communication are the principal elements in cooperative system.
 Workers take the orders as long as they are in their “zone of indifference”.Beyond
this zone, they do not accept orders.
 Schools of Thought in
Public Administration
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
 Physiological needs (like hunger, thirst)
 Safety needs
 Social needs (like affection, sense of belongingness)
 Self esteem (self-evaluation)
 Self actualization (realization of one’s potential)
Frederick Herzberg’s motivators and hygiene factors
 Herzberg hypothesized that job satisfaction is affected by these two factors.
 Hygiene factors can be attained by preventing undesirable situations. They include
working conditions, supervisory relations, salary, and administrative policies.
Workers could be dissatisfied if these factors are not or inadequately met. However,
they do not lead to job satisfaction.
 Motivators including advancement, responsibility, the job, recognition, and
achievement, could produce greater job satisfaction and therefore lead to greater
productivity.
Expectancy Theory by McClelland
 This theory assumes that the workers have variety of goals and their preference for
them varies.
 The motivation to put effort to carry that task depends on the reward for doing that
particular activity.
 Schools of Thought in
Public Administration
Theory X and Theory Y by McGregor
 Theory X embraces “stick approach” to make employees work.
 Theory Y emphasizes optimistic assumptions about employees.
System Theory
 System is a collection of parts working interdependently to
achieve a common objective.
 Any organization can not operate in isolation. It depends on the
external environment. Though, this dependency could vary!
 Open vs Closed system.
Contingency Approach
 The specific practices of organizations depend on specific
situations.