Chapter 11

     In chapter 11, it talks about the types of communication. The two types of communication are formal communication and informal communication. Communication is a very important role in organizations and public administration. Communication, although very important and very helpful, also has its flaws like everything else in this world.
     Formal communication is written messages that follow formal chains of command. According to the book, in organizations, managers tend to use more formal communication because the role of an agency's executive is to direct, coordinate, and control the activities of persons below them. One of the biggest issues faced when dealing with formal communication is cost efficiency. Formal communication, especially in large organizations, produces too much paperwork which is very cost heavy. Money must be spent to produce, process, and store formal communication. Another issue faced in a situation such as this is also that it is not environmentally savvy. Creating too much paperwork is not environmentally friendly and this causes issues with many people especially in today's society and the worry about global warming.
     The second form of communication, informal communication, is about oral communication that "flows inside and outside formal channels of communication and written communication that does not follow formal channels" (p.277). Informal communication usually is more informative than formal communication and is spread faster throughout an organization. Forms of informal communication are e-mails, faxes, photocopies, telephone answering machines, and voice mail. Informal communication is a lot more eco-friendly than formal communication but it too has its flaws. Informal communication is limited and prohibited during power outages, when the internet or phone lines are down.

Chapter 10

      In chapter 10, it talks about personality types, micromanagement, and approaches to leadership. The different types of personality are active-positive, active-negative, passive-positive, and passive-negative. Active-positive personality is when a person desires to reach goals and attain results above everything else. Active-negative is when a person feels the need to have power and keep it. Passive-positive is when a person tries to be loved and revered. Passive-negative is when a person stresses civic virtue.
     Micromanagement is when managers supervise too closely. When you have micromanagement, it prohibits employees to do their best work and reaching their full potential eventually. Also, micromanagement hurts overall vision because leaders that micromanage become too busy worrying about every little thing subordinates are doing. Of course, there should not be little management either. Leaders must balance out how much management is given. Part of being a good leader is to be able to help move people in new directions and help them reach their full potentials.
     Functions of leadership are "to define an agency's mission and goals, to be viewed as the institutional embodiment of its purpose, to defend its integrity, and to bring order to internal conflict" (p. 249). Leadership involves three levels of responsibility and control which are technical, managerial, and institutional. Leaders deal with problems dealing with performance at the technical level. At the managerial level, leaders mediate "between the lower levels of the agency and those who use its services and acquiring the resources needed to carry out its central functions" (p. 249). Leaders make long term policies and provide support to help the agency reach its goals in the institutional level.

LeMay, Michael C. (2006). “Balancing Values in the Administration of Public Policy”  Public Administration: Clashing Values in the Administration of Public Policy.  WADSWORTH CENGAGE Learning, 2nd edition.

Chapter 9

            In chapter 9, it talks about the functions of personnel in administration. A separate staff that serves line management is the human resource development (HRD). They are responsible for creating policies for people and positions in the public sector. Nationally, the system is run by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Human resources functions include “position classification, recruiting and selecting employees, negotiating with collective bargaining units, doing performance appraisals of current employees, and conducting training and professional development events” (p.222).

            Recruitment is the process of which job openings are advertised, trying to get candidates to apply for them. Part of the recruitment process is to have the candidates take skill tests, provide police clearances and court clearances. The skills tests are specific to each company and each position to ensure the candidate is qualified to fulfill the requirements of the job position.

            Another thing chapter 9 talks about is the rights of employees. Employees tend to have strikes and labor unions to “guarantee the rights of public employees beyond wages and working condition issues within contract negotiations and agreements.” These rights deal with things like layoffs. Public unions have established rights and protections such as a right to join a union, freedom of association, unions can collect agency fees, public employees have the right to express their views in public forums, employees must be involved in decisions on contracting a project or making it in house, fair treatment, equal pay for equal work, retention of employees who perform well, protection against such things as arbitrary action, and protection against reprisal for lawful disclosure of information (pp. 231-232).

LeMay, Michael C. (2006). “Balancing Values in the Administration of Public Policy”  Public Administration: Clashing Values in the Administration of Public Policy.  WADSWORTH CENGAGE Learning, 2nd edition.