30152 - PUBLIC MANAGEMENT

Our personal and professional life requires and enables us to constantly interact with the sphere of collective and public interest. Governments, International Organizations and Non Profit Organizations play a crucial role in the social and business environment. The mission of this course is the exploration of how the public sphere works, how public decisions are made and which are the main implications for companies. By public sphere we mean governments at any level (for example the US federal government or the city of Shanghai), International Organizations such as the European Union or the United Nations, and Non profit organizations such as Greenpeace or Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF).

Trends and context:

• Governments and globalization, Public Management and Governance
• Public and private management: What’s the difference?
• Decision making in public sector, planning & control in the public sector
• Strategy and financial management in the public sector 
• Performance measurement and management 
• Business-Government relationships: public affairs and lobbying, corporate citizenship, public private partnersips.
• The role and functions of International Organizations and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs).

• Recognize the main functions of government and the different levels of government.
• Identify the specificities of public and Non Governmental Organizations.
• Explain the public role of the private sector.
• Recognize the interactions between companies and government and between companies and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
• Understand the managerial challenges of International and Non Governmental Organizations.
• Appreciate challenges in performance measurement applied to the public sector 

• Design a public communication campaign (e.g., stop smoking).
• Analyze the regulatory impacts on companies and design a responsible lobbying strategy.
• Interpret a cost-benefit analysis for a public decision (e.g., investment in health).
• Formulate a performance assessment for public organizations.

• Plan and present a partnership between a company and a nongovernmental organization. 

• Face-to-face lectures
• Online lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Group assignments
• Interactive class activities (role playing, business game, simulation, online forum, instant polls)

• Guest speakers engage in interactive sessions with students aimed at sharing the professional challenges and opportunities of working for or with public organizations. 
• Interactive class activities enable students to develop skills such as designing a public campaign or a lobbying strategy.
• Each year attending students work in groups as consultants for a real client, which could be a government organization, a nongovernmental organization, or a company working with the public sector.

Assessment methods for attending students are based on these elements:

a) 30% group project

b) 70% exam(s) (two partial or one final)

a) Group project on consulting for a real client (30%.) Students work in groups as consultants for a real client. The specific goals are presented in detail at the launch of the consulting project, along with the assessment criteria.

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b) Exams:

• Mid-term and final exam (35%+35%). Both exams are held in written form and are made up of closed and open-ended questions referring to the concepts, models, and cases discussed in class and one short 'business case', which must be solved by students. The open-ended questions are mainly aimed at verifying learning of the analytical and management abilities and their correct comprehension. The business case is based on the skills developed through the in-class interactive learning and it is used to assess the ability to critically apply the knowledge students acquire during the course. 
• General exam (70%). This exam will have the same form and background materials as the mid-term and final exam described above.

The status of 'attending' is granted to students who participate in the group-work. Students who decide to be attending are in charge of checking the instructions, forming their group, and respecting the deadlines. No exception allowed. Attending student status is valid until February 2023. Exam sessions of Summer 2023 are for non-attending students only.

Last, instructors may decide to add an active-participation bonus for students attending in person who pass our in-class assignments. Such ''continuous assessment' method is to be considered as an EXTRA and is not necessary to seat the exams as attending students. Please check the syllabus and Blackboard to get details and, in due time, a mock exam for attending students.   

The assessment method for non-attending students is based on a final exam in a written form. It is made up of closed and open-ended questions referring to the concepts and discussions contained in the textbook for non-attending students. The open-ended questions are mainly aimed at verifying learning and correct comprehension of the functioning dynamics and managerial tools of public organizations. They are based on the entire textbook (all chapters). Please check the syllabus and Blackboard to get details and, in due time, a mock exam for non-attending students.

All materials indicated in the Syllabus (readings, slides, cases, incidents..) and made available on Blackboard/online course reserve.

• O.E. HUGHES, Public Management and Administration, Macmillan Education UK, 5th edition.