Suchergebnisse

Agencies are small public organizations that can be managed
strategically to achieve a legislated goal. Develops a framework that
can help them do this by working with their five key relationships: the
Minister and Government, the Minister′s department, central control
agencies, the agency′s board, and the professional staff. Suggests a
general approach to a strategy for managing agencies: do the work
envisaged in the founding legislation, while managing the primary
relationships with Minister and Government and the Board, and monitoring
the constraints of lateral relationships and other legislation. Within
this context, set priorities and make choices in terms of managerial
capacities and operate the agency to attain credibility, primarily in
terms of achieving the legislated goal, while developing a reputation
for managerial competence.

In the 1990s, demands for change in public organizations are
reaching new and unfamiliar levels. The continuing fiscal crisis and
widespread disenchantment with governing institutions suggest that
traditional change practices that gradually adapt public organizations
to their environment are losing credibility. Abrupt discontinuities such
as severe budget cuts or the wholesale reassignment of a mandate are
becoming more common. These discontinuous changes present public
managers with an extraordinary challenge to transform their
organizations. Managing such change requires different skills and
techniques and will be a conclusive test of leadership. Develops a
conceptual framework to help managers to think about managing strategic
shocks that have no precedent.

Creating a new government agency presents some interesting
management challenges. The "Start‐up Problem" is how to
balance demands for credibility outside with the need to create internal
order. "Liability of Newness" whereby young organizations
will perish unless they quickly supply a credible product to external
expectations must be reduced. Explores some processes used by three new
Canadian agencies in solving the start‐up problem and identifies several
lessons that may help others.

Public organizations send messages about their actions and values
in just about everything they do and say. They can be good or bad, and
choices have to be made about their composition, channels, and media.
May help public managers think about how to manage these choices. There
are several ways of assessing the impact of messages, and then thinking
about how to manage them on strategic and tactical levels. In the end,
success in managing the message comes down to how sensitive managers are
to the messages their organization sends about itself and its work.

Micofilm reprint of the original edition. ; Mode of access: Internet.