Course Reflection of Organizations in Public Administrations

Course Reflection of Organizations in Public Administrations

The course has changed, improved, and informed me on how to understand organizations in public administrations in a theoretical and practical way. Public organizations vary from nonprofit and private organizations because of their democratic institutions, relationship to the state, citizenry and constitutional heritage, and commitment to the rule of law. It has informed me how the separation of powers system of the American government has a thorough contact on the way public organizations provide the work and the state to promote its constitutional culture. Judicial, legislative, and executive branches of government are taken responsibility by the civil servants and public agencies. (Kickert et al., 2013) Public organizations serve a wide range of important services at all levels of government where together with organization theory, behavior, and change serves people with high intelligence to figure out the failures and success of the organizations. It also reinforces the understanding of getting methods to boost or strengthen organizations to authorize their goals successfully. They develop mechanisms that help the people in charge like managers know the challenges impacting behavioral dynamics at all heights of an organization.

According to the representative bureaucracy, a theoretical understanding allows for various views, such as the methods of sex, ethnicity, and race. It is essential because it reflects the values of the communities the public agencies represent and how the community looks like. (Bradbury & Kellough, 2011) The bureaucracy can be represented either in passive or active representations. Passive presentation is applied once an organization invites specific people from categorized associations which include; ethnic and racial minorities and women who belong to its ranks. Therefore, bureaucracy can be said to be passively representative where it goes to the extent of employing women and minorities in details where they are proportional to their shares of the population. The second representative, which is active, implies that the bureaucrats are supposed to act in two ways: unconsciously or consciously to know the hierarchy of the specific people who give identities of their groups are not omitted when the policy decisions are made. Thus the theory of representative bureaucracy recommends that beliefs, attitudes, values, and function are what the bureaucrats exercise discretionary have formed on the evidence of their social cultures.

Social equity is the effective commitment to equality, justice, and fairness in establishing the distribution of public services and public policies. It focuses on the measures designed to boost the well-being of minorities and political power. It has changed my way of thinking ad showed me that everyone has equal rights and should receive the same treatment. In advancing social equity, due process and procedural fairness are important. It is a concept that can be perceived through various approaches whereby it covers a large range of problems. Moreover, the use of pedestrian crossing appliances for the physically disabled is a measure of social equity. (Mckown, 2012) Studies in different dimensions show that citizens should have equal and fair opportunities in the administrative process to achieve public services. There is a difference in social equity between private administrations and public administrations. For instance, in public organizations, one has to be patient to be served, unlike the private organizations' people who the money will be served first where they do not promote equality.

Cultural competency is a way to understand and respect diverse cultural and ethnic associates, their traditions, histories, value systems, and beliefs in the distribution of services. It is also relevant, timely, and essential where it is a good characteristic of government. For their organizations and managers to be effective and more relevant, they are usually substantively rather than merely significantly influencing the responsiveness of public services. To hardness and embrace the power of various to address social issues, cultural competency goes beyond understanding, accommodating, and tolerating diversity. The examples that give shape to the cultural competency include; age, place of birth, religion, family, crime, and other social service areas. The national center for cultural competence shows that cultural competency is a way of having the skills, knowledge, and values to do work effectively to adopt institutional policies and a diverse population, hence professional practices to adhere to the specific requirements of the client populations. It has also informed me that cultural competency serves more than ensuring government federally associations are protected from discrimination.

The issue on covid-19 has underscored the interdependence of administrations and politics, determination and information of scientific research and systems for employing that research to government's obligations to shield public health. (Tulenko & Vervoot, 2016) The government should recognize the institutional obligations and responsibilities of the administrative state to the citizenry it obliges. It is to my understanding that public health is one of the essential missions of government. The leadership of executives in the federal system is strengthened where the implications of chaotic, disjoint, and confusing statements are addressed by the federal agencies, therefore building a clearer understanding of the complications of "transactional federalism." The government depends on public management challenges and opportunities where conflicts, collaborations, finances, and capacities are important to immediate answers to catastrophes like the pandemics (covid-19). I have learned that cooperation and communications are essential, just like the capacities.

In the case of covid-19, bureaucracy is professionally approached as a solution, specifically the public health agencies and the hospitals. There should be cooperation, responsibility, and allocation to explore. (Tulenko & Vervoot, 2016) During the pandemic period, it is essential to use social equity for everyone to have the same rights and get the proper help needed. Learned that there is a need to fight the racists that enhance its influence on Native Americans, blacks, and other groups. The other group, the victim of the pandemic, faces abuse and domestic violence, which has increased in some societies and should be taken with precautions to help the victims. Politicians may deny that there is more increase on covid-19 through infections, the trend of fatality rates, and the dangers of community transmissions as an important area of public health. The coordination effort at a national level is required rather than a fragmented city, local or regional effort.

Organizations are advised to apply effective lessons around the globe to learn different tactics from their neighbors. (Tulenko & Vervoot, 2016) The organizations see themselves as unique or their immediate associates. However, the experiences of public managers and governments in familiar conditions internationally have a big deal to appreciate as problem-solving innovations, and the data is available on the web at any cost, backed by public professionals eager to divide their accomplishment. After examining covid-19 strategies, it is confirmed that there are two critical factors: national culture and institutional arrangements. Residential committees accomplish assembled citizens to agree with self-organizations and restrictions shares informal channels for citizen methods against the virus. The non-governmental organizations have been failures and disappointing in sharing health system requirements with citizen donations.

Professions in public health have dedicated their lives to gaining knowledge and authorizing the teachings from the pandemic and other crises. The highest levels of government have ignored and denied the fact that there was the removal of the specialists who looked into the case of the pandemic at the beginning. It is argued that evidence-based management should address the pandemic issue and consider its impacts on public health. For the strength of evidence-based analysis, the policy capacity should be enhanced through public managers and coproduction. (Tulenko & Vervoot, 2016) The government neglected the other pandemic cases where they even failed to use the evidence-based analysis where it contained natural disasters and from the experience of the other countries. The local government should be able to make scientific and independent decisions in an emergency since evidence-based decision-making may not be simple. Therefore, there have been three core establishments: collaborations, reflective improvement, and data analysis, which can simply be used to get the evidence in case of an emergency.

During the course, I also learned about the classical organization theory. It was one of the organizations in the early 1930s where it still exists today and has its impacts. It includes; industrial engineering, mechanical, and economics. It is based upon the following; where the organizations exist to influence economic goals and production-related. Through labor and specialization, production can be increased and deals with the structure or anatomy of formal organizations. (Shafritz et al., 2016) The classical organizations are also based on four arcades: structure, division of labor, scalar and functional processes, and span of control. A span of control is essential in the area for the forms of the organization, which starts through growth. It controls the theory related to the data of assistance a manager can adequately supervise. The scalar and functional processes focus on the organizations' horizontal and vertical measures accordingly. The scalar process can be determined as the chain of command, unity of command, and authority delegation.

Structure deals with the logical relations of the objectives in an organization arranged to influence the company's policy carefully. It also accomplishes the pattern and system. The classical organization theory primarily deals with two basic designs, staff and the line. Organization designs are naturally based on the direction of specialization of duties in the company. (Shafritz et al., 2016) The division of labor is undoubtedly the cornerstone among four elements where they grow as corollaries. For instance, functional and scalar growth requires a departmentalization and specialization of functions. Classical organization theory is determined by using hierarchical levels of coordination and authority and horizontal differentiation between units. The structural theories of the classical organization include; Adam Smith, Henri Fayol, Fredrick Winslow Taylor, Max Weber, and Luther Gulick. It was stated that Taylor enlarged the work of Smith by determining the increasing output by the use of scientific approaches to detect the most efficient, fastest, and least fatiguing production ways.

The essential of their work was the collective signs of progress which explained the efficiency of work and what organizations meant. There was the use of scientific management and established bureaucracy to serve students; when the new organizations developed, the students' demands for service diversified and increased. (Shafritz et al., 2016) The ideas of workers and how they can develop them are not considered in this theory. Their main focus is to increase efficiency to reach their financial mission or goal. Specialization is another way in the theory, which is now in production. The specialist is the one allowed in the production process whereby replacing craftsman who works in the production before producing products. The basic intermediaries for organizations are the structures used to accomplish bounded rationality, the main object. Classical organization theory shows the organizational specialties are rational and impersonal; the basic principles, organizational structure designing, and the basic management function of organizations. The citizens lost their humanity in the community and lost their initiative in work due to the machines.

Adam Smith discussed parts of how the division of labor increased production, leading to the factory line factory, which diminished the need for educating employees where agriculture was seen to be the exception. (Berry et al., 2013) Emphasized the free market and invisible hand and remained a dominant economic model until the great depression. On his experiences and observations, the theorists and practitioners focused on the managers on how they would control and organize the work process to increase the advantage of division of labor and work specialization. He changed my way of thinking through his assumptions. The great development of the quantity of work, whereby in the effect of the division of labor, similar data of citizens can perform which owes three circumstances; to the saving of the time which is generally lost in the passing from one species of work to another, the increase of skill in every specific employee and lastly, the invention of a great data of machines which abridge and ease labor, and allows one person to work supposed to be done by doing.

Fayol discussed the French management theorist, showing where the ideas became largely influential in the early 20th century and the general and industrial management. He talked about management principles, including order, equity, discipline, division of work, initiative, unity of command, and centralization. He also believed in certain concepts like; financial, technical, security, commercial, managerial, and accounting. According to his principles, there were more details. (Godwin & Johnson, 2017) The unity of command discussed how in all the human groups, commerce, industry, army, dual command, home, and state is the major origin of conflicts, which had a specific claim on the attention of superiors of all the ranks like the organizations. Division of labor produced great and more work with the same type of effort. It is the most identified way of individual and group of people, which reduces the effort and attention that should be directed.

Discipline occurs to show obedience, energy, and application, which shows us respect between the employees and the owner of the organization. The agreements among them will determine the behavior towards each other and the respect they give one another. (Godwin & Johnson, 2017) It determines their formalities of discipline, either the superior or the minor. Without the act of discipline in the organizations, there cannot be quality and smooth work at a time. Therefore, discipline is what an individual makes it. Order means placing things into their particular place for easy identification. Or placing people into their perspective areas for easy identification. Equity is a way of showing equality by showing or giving them the rights, they deserve without being racists, unlike justice, where it uses the method of execution and does not treat everyone equally. Centralization shows how work is divided where every work, animal, or social is all sent out in parts or groups in the movement.

Taylor has improved my understanding of an American engineer who uses ideas largely associated with the progressive Era. Show that if the management were insufficient or enough, the workers would not be enough either. He was also an intellectual leader of the scientific management movement. Used positive effects of labor-saving devices. Benefits and accomplishments of scientific management and scientific management benefited management and workers. (Golden et al., 2021) It is evolution through the steps of scientific management but not the use of theory. The way of elimination, through evolution, is regarded as scientific management. The way for scientific management to exist needs to have a complete mental revolution on the part of the employees working under it, as their task towards themselves and their employers, hence completing their tasks towards themselves. After many object teachings, the employees see the management where they know the surplus can be made great by arranging both sides, which should stop their fighting, pulling part, and starting to push hard so that there is no room for quarreling.

The burdens are usually divided into four rightly or wrongly groups. First, bringing together the science, scientific selection of the employee involves a complete re-division of the work of the establishment and progressive development. In scientific management, everything is not small and later becomes the unit of the experiment, which develops into a law. Moreover, they increase the individual's output, save money, and make it worthwhile. One of the principles of Taylor was that no employee would be assigned for work unless paid a large amount than the old pay. (Golden et al., 2021) In the new development, the teacher is allowed to teach people and assist them in gaining knowledge which will help them in their new methods of work, hence earning a better living for themselves. He also says that scientific management does pay since it increases its profits. However, the owners of the scientific management get more profit, and they do not work a lot like the workmen. They can even call the business's name by their names, making them known legitimately.

Taylor greatly impacted Max Weber's work on his work on bureaucracy. Weber benefited through the ideal type approach to extrapolate and the real world. He was also a German political economist and sociologist.  Major intellectual figure in public administration and sociology. Dramatically impacted the study of bureaucracy. The characteristics of his bureaucracy include; the importance of rules in the office, emphasis on written documents. Governed by-laws, rules and regulations, supervision of lower offices by higher offices. Key to modern management and the activity demands the full working capacity of the official. The ways of bureaucracy; major elements in the rationalization of the modern world, bureaucrats are to be neutral servants and embody a concept of justice. The position of the official; office holding is a vacation, and the personal position of the official is patterned in distinctive ways. (Weber, 2015) The flaws of Weber's theory include being oppressive, limiting individual freedom, favoring specialists over generalists, increasing "red tape," and organizational rules becoming consecrated with moral legitimacy.

In conclusion, I also knew about representative bureaucracy in the course, which allows for divergent views. It also shows how the theorists used their knowledge on different kinds of science and others developed them for their benefit, like the scientific management where the workmen worked hard just for the owners to get a legitimate way through the business. There is evidence of how public organizations have neglected the health of their citizens by not taking the earliest precautions to shield their citizens. The covid-19 has infected the citizens, transmitting it through the government denies it.

References

Berry, C., Paganelli, M., & Smith, C. (2013). Adam Smith and self-interest [Ebook]. Retrieved 18 December 2021.

Bradbury, M., & Kellough, E. (2011). Representative Bureaucracy: accessing the evidence of active representation [Ebook]. Retrieved 18 December 2021.

Godwin, A., & Johnson, F. (2017). Application of the Henri Fayol principles in start-up organizations [Ebook]. Retrieved 18 December 2021.

Golden, M., Sonia, T., & Leslie, T. (2021). Frederick Taylor's scientific management principles: relevance and validity [Ebook]. Retrieved 18 December 2021.

Kickert, W., Higgs, M., & Grandia, J. (2013). The management of change in public organizations [Ebook]. Retrieved 18 December 2021, from.

Louis, J., & Guthrie, C. (2013). Henri Fayol [Ebook]. Retrieved 18 December 2021, from.

Mckown, C. (2012). Social equity theory and racial-ethnic achievement gaps [Ebook]. Retrieved 18 December 2021.

Shafritz, J., Ott, S., & Jang, Y. (2016). Classics of organization theory [Ebook]. Retrieved 18 December 2021.

Tulenko, K., & Vervoot, D. (2016). A call for action: Public administration, public policy, and public health responses to covid-19 pandemic [Ebook]. Retrieved 18 December 2021, from.

Weber, M. (2015). Bureaucracy [Ebook]. Retrieved 18 December 2021.