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MCP1606
Student Assessment Booklet
Copyright
Commonwealth of Learning, 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this course may be reproduced in any form by any means
without prior permission in writing from:
2 Copyright
Commonwealth of Learning
1055 West Hastings Street
Suite 1200
Vancouver, BC V6E 2E9
CANADA
Email: info@col.org
The Open University of Sri Lanka
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department of Management Studies
Nawala Nugegoda (10250),
Sri Lanka Fax: +94 112 881408
T.No: +94 112 881327/255 E-mail: pio@ou.ac.lk
Website: http://www.ou.ac.lk
Acknowledgements
The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) wishes to thank those below for their contribution to
the development of this course:
Course author Professor Robert Dibie, PhD
Dean and Professor of Public Affairs
Editor, Journal of International Politics and Development
School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA)
Indiana University Kokomo, United States
Carol A. Palmer, JP
University College of the Caribbean, Jamaica
SugathRanugge
Open University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
AbuzarWajidi, PhD
University of Karachi, Pakistan
COL would also like to thank the many other people who have contributed to the writing of this
course.
Contents
Course outline and schedule 2
Case studies 3
Cases presented in the course............................................................................................3
Case study requirements....................................................................................................3
Assignment 1 4
Case study #1.....................................................................................................................5
Assignment 2 8
Case study #2.....................................................................................................................9
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Final examination Part 2
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C6: Public Systems Management-MCP1606
Case studies
The final exam will consist of short-answer questions and a case study.
There is no page length limitation for the case study on the final exam.
The exam is worth 50 per cent of the total course grade.
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Final examination Part 2
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C6: Public Systems Management-MCP1606
Assignment 1
Course code: C6
Students are expected to read the case study and provide a detailed
analysis. Your completed assignment should be sent to the co-ordinator
of the study centre you are attached to.
1. What are the main problems identified in the case? (40 points)
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Final examination Part 2
Case study #1
Case study
When I first came there, I just never paid attention to titles. I worked for
an executive director. We disagreed a lot, but we respected each other and
could talk. Everything went fine until mid-1997, when we moved from
Indianapolis to Kokomo and my boss retired. All of a sudden, the
Commerce Department fell apart. We didnt have any leadership. Other
officers and our consultants recommended me for the job. But they
decided to hire Dr Oputa from outside. Just after he resumed duties, Dr
Oputa introduced what I call the Mafia, because he brought all these guys
with him, promoted them regional directors, and posted them to Fort
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C6: Public Systems Management-MCP1606
When Dr Oputa arrived, I told him, here are the problems. But, instead
of listening to me, he spent more time complaining about the past
administration than cleaning up the problems we faced. From day one, he
insisted upon a complete divorce from the past and, of course, I was a
part of the past.
Dr Oputa arrived from Michigan two years ago to replace the retired chief
executive of the State Department of Commerce. Dr Oputa is an
experienced international executive, having spent most of his 20-year
career with General Motors international divisions. He had served in
Indonesia, France and Argentina and had spent several years in GMs
head office in Detroit. He was delighted with the challenge to expand the
Indiana State Department of Commerce. Dr Oputa was also pleased with
the progress that the department had made under his leadership and felt a
sense of accomplishment in developing a smooth-running operation.
However, he had become concerned in recent months with notable
changes in the regional branches and lack of diversity in the department.
Dr Oputa felt that the old boy network had absorbed the Commerce
Departments culture such that the socialisation process in the department
had been tainted with internalised politics. According to Dr Oputa, this
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Final examination Part 2
Six weeks after Dr Oputa resumed duty as the chief executive of the
Commerce Department, he redesigned the department without consulting
with the five functional directors who report to him. According to him,
the restructuring was based primarily on centralised management
principles. Dr Oputareorganised the department into six divisions.
Coordination mechanisms were established so that accounting,
purchasing, human resources and other functions could occur on a more
centralised basis, while many aspects of service delivery functions such
as career development, technology, pensions, industrial development, and
management information systems were decentralised. As part of Dr
Oputasreorganisation of the department, he retired all employees who
were 55 years and older. He also removed women from all sectional head
positions, because he felt they were always taking time off work. The
redesigning of the department was contrary to the affirmative action and
equal employment opportunity laws. It further led to a high rate of turn-
over in the department. Another consequence of this reorganisation was
that some regional directors could no longer hire nor promote employees
working under them. It was also ironic that some regional directors,
whom Dr Oputa brought with him to the Commerce Department, were
allowed to perform these centralised functions in their respective regions.
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C6: Public Systems Management-MCP1606
to changes that were contrary to past norms and customs. Other events
had raised some doubts in Dr Oputas mind as to the soundness of Dr
Ajiris judgment, which Dr Oputa had never before questioned. For,
instance, when Dr Oputa wanted to dismiss a manager who, in his
opinion, lacked initiative, leadership, and general competency, Dr Ajiri
defended the manager, noting that the Commerce Department had never
fired a manager. Dr Ajiri also argued that the manager had been loyal and
honest and that the department was partially at fault for keeping him on
for the last five years without spotting the incompetence and
recommending further training. Dr Oputa fired him anyway, only to
discover two weeks later that Dr Ajiri had interceded on behalf of the
fired manager and had got Indiana State Department of Transportation to
hire him. When confronted, Dr Ajiri simply said that he had done what
was expected of a superior in an organisation where there is no consensus
or participatory type of management.
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Final examination Part 2
Assignment 2
Course code: C6
Students are expected to read the case study and provide a detailed
analysis. Your completed assignment should be sent to the co-ordinator
of the study centre you are attached to.
As the new director of the code of ethics or conducts for the local
government, evaluate the ethical issues.
1 Who are the main actors in the case and what are their interests
and responsibilities in the city? (30 points)
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C6: Public Systems Management-MCP1606
Case study #2
As the new director of the code of ethics or conducts for the local
government, evaluate the ethical issues in the following case study:
Mr Karo sat in his office at the city of Ozoro in Isoko North Local
Government area, and pondered his ethical dilemma. During his 35 years
of service to the city Mr Karo had worked in different capacities. He had
served as assistant manager, manager and acting director respectively in
the budgeting, transportation, tax, auditing, mayors office, payroll,
accounting and planning departments. Mr Karo has a brother called Mr
Ajiri who he trained in college. Mr Ajiri graduated from college with a
master of business administration and a master of public administration
degrees, and became a successful businessman in the city of Ozoro.
Three months after Mr Karo had made a presentation to the city council
the new mayor hit it off and became friends with him. Over lunch two
weeks after they became close friends, the mayor mentioned to Mr Karo
that his brother Mr Ajiri had a good chance of getting a $5 million-a-year
contract from the city. The contract was a five-year deal to build a new
school, as well as install pumps for the city of Ozoros Town Hall. The
mayor also informed Mr Karo that his brothers (Mr Ajiris) bid was
somewhat higher than the rest, and that he should lower it. Mr Karo
thanked the mayor for the information and asked his brother, Mr Ajiri, to
resubmit a bid slightly lower than the previous one.
A week later, the mayor called Mr Karo and told him that there was the
probability that Mr Ajiri would get the contract for the new school and the
replacement pumps. The mayor, however, requested a small gift of
$50,000 for the contract in essence a bribe. At first Mr Karo told the
mayor that he would think about it. Mr Karo called his brother, Mr Ajiri,
and delivered the mayors message. Mr Karo told Mr Ajiri that it was
against Trinidad and Tobago law to offer a bribe to anyone in order to
secure privileged information or contracts. Mr Ajiri was, however, more
concerned with how he could get the contract than in obeying the law. Mr
Ajiri told his older brother, Mr Karo, to do whatever it took to secure the
contract for him. This seems to be a black-and-white decision, but Mr
Karo knew differently. After 35 years with the local government civil
service, Mr Karo recognised that if he was caught giving the mayor a
bribe, he could probably be fired. With retirement only a few years away,
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Final examination Part 2
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Final examination Part 2
Students are expected to read the case study and provide a detailed
analysis. Your completed assignment should be sent to the co-ordinator
of the study centre you are attached to.
3. Discuss the role that both the Dean and Provost ought to have
played in assisting Dr Daniel Aluko, the new chair, to settle in his
new position. (20 points)
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C6: Public Systems Management-MCP1606
Case study #3
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Final examination Part 2
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Two weeks later, at that next faculty meeting, Dr Aluko asked for
discussion of the issues previously mentioned, but no discussion was
forthcoming. He attempted to arouse discussion by mentioning several
alternatives, but still no discussion followed. Dr Aluko then asked for a
vote on each proposal. The faculty voted almost unanimously to reject
each proposal and several colleagues openly expressed the belief that Dr.
Aluko should handle these problems himself, as Professor Afolabi did.
The meeting quickly broke up on an unpleasant note. Dr Aluko
subsequently took action on each of these items himself, which the
faculty accepted.
After the meeting adjourned, many faculty members regrouped
informally, minus Dr Aluko, in the faculty lounge. Their comments
emphasised a variety of matters, yet one recurrent theme was a feeling
that the topics on which Dr Aluko wanted faculty co-operation were not
matters for faculty decision. They amounted to a burden the department
chair should bear as his predecessor had done. He should not try to foist
these duties off on the faculty. Morale was poor. One full professor said:
When they pay me a chairs salary and give me the corner office and
reduce course load, Ill do a chairs work, and not before.
Dr Aluko made no specific assignments of the facultys non-instructional
duties in their meeting. Instead, he anticipated that all faculty members
would continue to attend committee and department meetings, advise
student groups, would be punctual, and so on. But the anticipated
cooperation did not happen. Only about half the faculty attended
department meetings, hardly enough for a quorum. No one was willing to
serve on the college admissions committee or stand for election to the
faculty senate. Instructors arrived on campus only a few minutes before
classes began, and frequently left in the middle of the afternoon. Office
hours were reduced and students complained that the faculty was
inaccessible.
The dean (Dr Susan Drake) became concerned about these problems and
invited Dr Aluko over for a chat. A few of the students had gone so far
as to complain to their state representatives. This was not helping the
colleges budget request that was pending in the legislature. More
importantly, the dean lamented that she, Dr Susan Drake, and the provost
(Dr Joseph Deshon) no longer know whats going on in the Public
Management Department and were concerned that perhaps Dr Aluko
was not up to the job of department chair.
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Final examination Part 2
Please attempt any two questions: All questions carry equal marks.
The exam will comprise three questions, of which two must be answered.
Each question will be marked out of 25 per cent. The value of this
exam is 50 per cent of your final grade.
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