MGTC42H — Public Management
SPRING 2010 Outline
Professor Sandford Borins
Phone: 416-287-7362
E-mail: borins@utsc.utoronto.ca
Web site: www.sandfordborins.com
Governments are among the largest and most significant organizations in our society, for example the Government of Canada, which employs over 200,000 people and has a budget of a approximately $250 billion, and the Government of Ontario, which employs over 60,000 people and has a budget of approximately $100 billion. Governments are responsible for the delivery of a wide variety of services, such as national defence and public security, much of the health care system, and primary and secondary education. They are also responsible for directing the economy through fiscal and monetary policy as well as regulating the economy in areas such as the financial system, competition policy, environmental protection, energy conservation, and product safety.
Given the size and complexity of government, the challenges involved in managing it are substantial. This course is an overview of, and introduction to, public management. It focuses on management processes such as strategic management and policy direction (traditionally, the role of elected politicians), financial management, human resource management, communications, crisis management, the management of partnerships with the private and non-profit sectors, and, increasingly, the management of information and information technology.
This course is designed to deepen your understanding of the basic institutions and processes of the public sector and help develop the skills of successful public sector managers.
We will use the current management agendas of the federal and Ontario governments to illustrate the concepts presented. At the federal level, the Harper Government received a new, stronger mandate (but not a majority) in the election of October 14, 2008. In Ontario, the McGuinty Government won a second mandate on October 10, 2007 and is now in the middle of its mandate. Both governments are responding to the recession by stimulating the economy through monetary policy (low interest rates) and fiscal policy (deficits and public expenditures). Both governments will likely present budgets before the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2010.
Course requirements include class participation (which may include an in-class presentation), a midterm, a simulation of a budgeting process, and a final exam.
Prerequisites: MGTB23H or POLB50Y
(Note: permission of the instructor is required for students not enrolled in Management programs).
Office Hours
Room M226; Tuesdays 10:15 to 11 am and 1 – 1:30 pm, by appointment, or by e-mail
Evaluation
Student evaluation will be based on the following:
1. Participation, including in-class presentation 20 %
2.Midterm 20
3.Budgeting simulation 20
4. Final exam 40
Total 100 %
Required Texts
- Blakeney and Borins, Political Management in Canada, 2nd edition (University of Toronto Press, 1998, $ 24.95 paperback)
- Eddie Goldenberg, The Way it Works: Inside Ottawa (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 2006, $ 22.99 paperback)
Note: both these books are also available from online booksellers (e.g. www.amazon.ca).
Roles and Additional Information for MGTC42 Budget Simulation
Premier and Chief of Staff – Rebeca Tristan (rebe.tristan@gmail.com) and Fadi Kamar (06kamarf@utsc.utoronto.ca)
Minister of Finance and Deputy Minister – Ariic Aguto (ariiqi@yahoo.com) and Vicky Zhao (vicky.zhao@utoronto.ca)
Minister responsible for Privatization and Privatization Secretariat – Karla Salazar and Kaylee Chretien
Minister of Health and Deputy Minister – Jonathan Lim, James Wong, and Jun Chuah
Minister of Education and Deputy Minister – Ashley Chow and Naghma Siddiqui
Minister of Training, College, and Universities and Deputy Minister – Taslima Nasid and Amiyo Hydari
Minister of Energy and Infrastructure and Deputy Minister – Melanie Boward, Deepika Badwal, and Mahaeswaraan Shanmugan
Minister of Children and Youth Services and Deputy Minister – Johnny Wu and Olivia Chung
Minister of Transportation and Deputy Minister – Fidan Rahimova and Thuwaraga Panchalingam
Minister of Community and Social Services and Deputy Minister – Kathy Ho, Sara Shen, and Cherry Luk
Minister of Environment and Deputy Minister – Rujuta Desai and Amelin Charles
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing – Vijay Maharaj and Azim Patel
Please note that it is up to the team members to choose individual roles, for example who will be minister and who will be deputy minister.
The best source for detailed information about departmental spending is the 2009-2010 estimates (the spending plans for the 2009-10 fiscal year). They are at
http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/budget/estimates/2009-10/volume1/index.html
First click on your department. Within your department you will find links to the department’s administration and its programs and clicking these links will provide detail about spending.
Course Topics and Readings
January 5
Introduction to the course: review of objectives, expectations, material to be covered, differences between public and private sector management
Two contrasting views of public management
- The cynical: “The Smokescreen,” episode of Yes, Prime Minister (in class)
- The idealistic: Donna Shalala, “The Buck Starts Here: Managing Large Organizations with Honesty and Integrity” (available here)
- Chretien, My Years as Prime Minister, pp. 2-3 (available here)
- Goldenberg, pp. 386-88
Lecture 1 notes available here
January 12
Politics and political authority, the legislative branch
Blakeney and Borins, chapter 7
Goldenberg, chapter 3
Tom Flanagan, Harper’s Team: Behind the Scenes in the Conservative Rise to Power, pp. 272-3, 288-9 (available here)
Visit Prof. Borins’ blog at www.sandfordborins.com to see entries dealing with the federal and US elections (fall 2008)
Conservative Website Presentation
Lecture 2 notes available here
January 19
Cabinet: the link between political authority and the public service: managing the transition to a new government, choosing a cabinet, relations between ministers and public servants, accountability of the public service
Blakeney and Borins, chapters 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 18
Goldenberg, chapter 4
Chretien, My Years as Prime Minister, pp. 33-40 (available here)
Optional: Goldenberg, chapter 5
Lecture 3 notes available here
January 26
Priority-Setting and Budgeting
Blakeney and Borins, chapters 4, 10
Goldenberg, chapters 6, 8, 21
Lecture 4 notes available here
February 2
The Budget Process
Performance Management
Experiences with Performance Management in New York City and Ontario
Visit Economic Action Plan (www.actionplan.gc.ca)
Visit New York City management report (at www.nyc.gov at the bottom of the portal)
Ontario Progress Report Presentation
Lecture 5 notes available here
February 9
Midterm exam (1 hour)
Briefing about budget simulation, including nature of the simulation and online resources about government departments
Lecture 6 notes available here
February 16: reading week, no class
February 23
Discussion of midterm
The Thick of It, British television series episode shown in class
Lecture 7 notes available here
March 2
Budget simulation
March 9
The Role of Information Technology
Borins, Digital State 2.0 (available here)
Lecture 9 notes available here
March 16
Crisis Management and Government Communications
Blakeney and Borins, chapter 17
Goldenberg, chapter 16, prologue
Lecture 10 notes available here
March 23
Public Enterprise, Alternative Service Delivery, Privatization
Blakeney and Borins, chapter 11
March 30
Lecture 12 notes available here
Careers in the Public Service
Blakeney and Borins, chapter 12, Conclusion
federal government management trainee program website (http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/prg/mtpsg-eng.asp)
Ontario government internship program (http://www.internship.gov.on.ca/mbs/sdb/intern.nsf/
Students graduating this year and interested in applying should note the application deadline of February 1, 2010.
In-class presentations and participation
Students will have an opportunity to be part of one small group (two or three students) presentation. Presentations will be for a maximum of 10 minutes and there will be up to 3 per class. Topics will generally involve illustrating general public management principles taught in the course with reference to the federal or Ontario governments, using materials found on the Government of Canada (www.canada.ca), Government of Ontario (www.ontario.ca), or political party websites.
I will be lecturing some of the time, but I often engage in discussion with students and encourage students to ask question. The participation component of the grade depends first, on being present, and then on contributing to the discussion.
The classroom, MW 329, has round tables, rather than rows of desks, and up-to-date equipment, so is ideally suited to in-class presentations and participation, as well as visiting relevant websites.
Budgeting Simulation (Group exercise)
The nature of the exercise will be announced later in the year. There will be teams representing line departments as well as the prime minister and central agencies. The class of March 2 will simulate a cabinet meeting to make budgetary decisions. There will be a detailed briefing about the simulation in class on February 9. Students will then have an opportunity to choose roles for the simulation. Written proposals will be required by Friday February 26.
Mid Term
The mid-term will be held in class on February 9, and will take an hour. The format will be short answers.
Final Exam
The final exam will be based on the entire course and will include both short and longer answers.
