The Role of the Public Administrator
There are various roles that are played by the Public Administrator. It must be important that the role of the administrator is not to be confused with his or her job, although, the role of the administrator may be defined by his or her job. For example, an administrator may have a job where he or she compiles data gathered from subordinates and analyzes the data to develop effective solutions to a problem in the form of policies. This may be his or her job, and the job may be titled Assistant Administrative Analyst, but this may not necessarily be his or her role. Given the description of duties, one may infer that the role of this administrator may be that of a Problem Solver. This study distinguishes between various roles of the Public Administrator.
The Importance of Scientific Management
This study examines the importance of scientific management in the public work sector. According to Finn Borum (1980), who studies system designs and scientific management, scientific management is attributed to Frederick Winslow Taylor, an American engineer, who “worked on promoting efficiency in manufacturing enterprises around the turn of the century” (p. 288). Scientific management is sometimes referred to as Taylorism; it is a philosophical system of testing and analyzing techniques used to increase the productivity of an organization. This study identifies the characteristics of scientific management and explains how they help public organizations to complete tasks. Using qualitative methods in analyzing the content from various academic authors, this paper reveals various aspects of scientific management that are beneficial for efficiency in the administration of public personnel.
Automating Government
This report discusses the problem facing a city concerning misplaced service calls and ineffective call routing. In response, various options that enhance efficacy were formulated and analyzed. The options included purchasing multiple phone lines, establishing web services, and utilizing PBX systems. The costs and benefits were analyzed and weighed in relation to price. The report recommends implementation of a program for a period of five years and a measurement after a three year expiration to allow for trend patterns to be developed for study.
HIV Reporting
This report discusses a measure that requires the names of people who test positive and seek services from physicians for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to be confidentially reported to the King County and Washington State Department of Health in Washington. The stakeholders involved in this case are conflicted with the methods that will be used to report cases of HIV. The state advocates reporting names, but the utilization of Unique Identifiers (UI) for reporting purposes has also been considered. The underlining issue pertains to maintaining confidential information of those who are reported, although 52 other diseases are reported in similar fashion and confidential information has not been leaked in the past.
Team Read Program Evaluation
This memo discusses various research methods which can be used to evaluate the success of the Team Read Program. The purpose of the evaluation is to determine whether or not the program has met its policy goals of improving student reading levels and providing work experience and intrinsic awards for student coaches. The memo then discusses measures of success by determining what indicators will be used and recommends frequency percentage distribution tables combined with measures of central tendency, mean, median, and mode. This report concludes by discussing the threats in validity pertaining to establish causality in the current program design and makes recommendations to mitigate those threats.
Budgeting Proposal for City Parks
Seattle journalist, John Hinterberger, created a vision for a central park, The Commons, to be erected within the South Lake Union section of the city. His vision has gained many supporters and started a movement to create the 60 acre park, develop street improvements, and preserve 600 unsubsidized units for low to moderate income housing. This committee has organized to develop a work plan for The Commons and has met to discuss selecting various sources to finance the $218 million project and to develop strategies to gain political approval of a financial plan. This memo recommends using Non-Voted Debt, a Local Improvement District, Federal Transportation Funds, County Grants, State Grants, and Private Donations to finance the cost of developing The Commons. In addition, this memo advises establishing an interim Environmental Impact Statement to educate the mayor, potential investors, and public stakeholders during the campaign so public questions and requests may be raised and addressed. Furthermore, this memo suggests developing an exhaustive Environmental Impact Statement to present to the City Council after they have finished their term elections. |
