To comemorate the 20th anniversary of orginal minnowgroup conference , the second minnogroup conference was held in 1988 at same conference centre at syrcause university at initiative of Fredrickson.
Main intention behind minnogroup II were to
A.Assess the impact of NPA perspective on admin as a discipline as well as a practice.
B.Address the issues which were not discussed at minnowgroup conference I or which had now become relevant in changed scenario of administartionin last 20 yrs.
Thus the new issues which minnowgroup II highkighted were-
i)leadership and administration
ii)Technology specially impact pf Infotech in admin process
iii)Impact of market economy on pub-ad
iv) constitutive and legal perspective of studyin pubad
v)Inter disciplinary influence in study of pubad for its better conceptualisation
vi)Futuristic issues pertaining to pubad
At the same time minno-group II retained some of Minnowgroup I themes like
The discussion and the themes rising out of minnogroup I conference even in Minnogroup II.In other words even in Minnowgroup II.In other words even in minnowgroup II conference there was a continued focus on changing role of public adminstrators in a complex and a changing world. It was higlighted in second conference that environment complexity is to tackle this complexity and turbulence arising out of it. so as to be able to find the solutions to the crtical problems of the day which may keep changing;
consensus for social equity , democratic values , normative perspective and centrality of pub-ad as the instrument of change in a complex world were the co-themes which were reaffirmed by Minnogroup II conference.
Further it was realised that these were still the dominant themes despite some new issues having also emerged consensus for responsible and accountable administartion which would be responsible to society. Needs was also re affirmed.
However the nature of this responsiveness was expected to be merged with concerns for private interests as depicted by better client orientation.
In other words , moral tone of minnowgroup conference I was given much more pragmatic orientation under minnowgroup II under influence of market perspective.
Thematic reorientation in Minnowgroup conference II
Thus there was a realisation during this delibration that only the radicalness of thoughts cannot be the sufficient condition for putting an end to the societal turbulence
therefore it was decided during MB II delibrations to set goals only for the near future.
It was again argued that "the dream of a new society is idealistic having goals of complete equity and comprehensive social transformation as these goals are over aimbitious.
Therefore pragmatic view would be to create governance which gradually would take care of these ultimate goals over a period of time.
Thus, it was argued that if good administration can be created , as the near future goals , then equitable societal transformation can be attemted as an ultimate goal.
Thus, there was a tacid(understood or implied without being stated/hidden/silent) approval for privatisatisation or market oriented administration which would ensure better governance and better client service as a stepping stone towards the bigger goals of administartion.
In this context it also needs to be noted that environmental perspective has changed in these 20 years and the context of MB II was characterised by demands for less govt and more governance.
The PCT and market friendly NPM perspective had gained momentum and the values of private interest and utility maximisation and gained recognition alongside, the values of public purpose /Goals.
Thus in a way MB II perspective can be described as an attempt to take the best out of both NPA and NPM perspective so as to create more realistic and pragmatic approach towards better governance.
whereas MB I was very vocal about the normative orientation and value ladden policy making role for administration.
MB II again took more pragmaic view on this issue as well
It didn't recommend an out and out policy making role (complete policy making role) on the logicthat some dichotomy does and should exist.
It was argued that ultimately administrators are under political control as far as the policy agenda is concerned. and what is desirable in ideal world may not necessarily available in the real world . Thus the speicfic of the what the govt. should do but not doing was highlighted by MInnowbrook conference II.
III. Fine tuning of democratic and anti hierarchy administration
on the issue of admin being democratic and anti hierarchist as was suggested by MB I , the MB III delibration led to a further expansion and fine tuning of this idea.
It created a momentum towards consensus based decision making. In this context an important Minnow Brook II participant who was the chief proponent of this idea was ROBERT CLEARY.
He gave the theme of the slowed down bureauvracy.
This idea meant that the administrators role of advancing the democracy and welfare requires democratic methodologies ie...the administration have to learn and adopt open , participative and consensus based upon decsion making method using negotiation skills so as to be on effective catalyst.
MBI-Anti Hierarchy
MBII-Administration need to use
negation skill - SLOWED DOWN BUREAUCRACY
participative skill
Thus the concept of slowed down bureaucracy recommended negotiated solution with greater role to public so that participative administration can replace the unitary, Again it was a realisation of practical constraint and was pragmatic idea. It highlighted how there may always be an imbalance between what people want and what are the available resources.
Thus idealistic a perfect solution may not come by easily and therefore may require trade offs (compromises) through negotiations .
wants-trade offs_resources.
Thus all and all it can be said that Minnowbrook conference realised the harsh reality of complex and inter-connected problems, limited resources and limited policy role that administartion actually have and therefore rather than emphasizing on idealism , it emphasized on pragmatic improvement in administration.
Minow brook I
Minnowbrook II they followed more pragmatic approach rather than idealistic approach.
Public personal and administrative relationships under Minnowbrook II delibration public personnel management came for those scrutiny and it was highlighted that innovative personnel policy are required enhance administration productivity.
In other words the focus was on building the capacity of administration and not rely only on their ugliness.
In other words focus argument here is that leadership capabilities need to be cultivated among public administrators because only willingness would not be enough.
Thus, whereas MB I gave a call for productive and gusty bureaucrats, MB II gave a call for capable Bureaucrats.
Motivation perception =valence increase + Expectancy Increase + Instrumentality Increase performance reward
Minnowbrook I-Moral activism willingness
Minnowbrook II-ppm-capacity building - training methods, various executive development , programmers like workshop conference etc.,Attachment
Early perspective to Information Technology
MB II developed the early perspective on the role of technology on Public administartion.
Information technology in particlular was sought to be studies as an emerging futuristic concern which would be a great relevance of public administartion of tomorrow.
However, it was also argued during minnow-brook II that technology cannot been idealised as a necessary tools meaning thereby though technology is useful but it cannot be all and end all and it has been seen that good capable and old commited administrators have performed well even without technology.
Thus, technology was visualized as a huge opportunity for administration improvement but it cannot be the only way to move forward.
An addition to the thematic re-orientation as described above , one more aspect of reorientation was the composition of group itself where Minnow-Brook scholars were largely from the background of political science and public administration , Minnow-Brook Participants were much more broad base and inter disciplinary.
These participant were from different discipline such as laws , economics , politics, studies, urban studies , developmental planning etc.
Main intention behind minnogroup II were to
A.Assess the impact of NPA perspective on admin as a discipline as well as a practice.
B.Address the issues which were not discussed at minnowgroup conference I or which had now become relevant in changed scenario of administartionin last 20 yrs.
Thus the new issues which minnowgroup II highkighted were-
i)leadership and administration
ii)Technology specially impact pf Infotech in admin process
iii)Impact of market economy on pub-ad
iv) constitutive and legal perspective of studyin pubad
v)Inter disciplinary influence in study of pubad for its better conceptualisation
vi)Futuristic issues pertaining to pubad
At the same time minno-group II retained some of Minnowgroup I themes like
- social equity
- ethics in admin in terms of right values for seeking public interest
- reconcilling pubad with democracy
- change ie..societal transformation in context of pressing problems of the day using Pub-ad as useful instrument.
THEMATIC CONTINUITY
(of minnowgroupI in Minnowgroup II as well)
The discussion and the themes rising out of minnogroup I conference even in Minnogroup II.In other words even in Minnowgroup II.In other words even in minnowgroup II conference there was a continued focus on changing role of public adminstrators in a complex and a changing world. It was higlighted in second conference that environment complexity is to tackle this complexity and turbulence arising out of it. so as to be able to find the solutions to the crtical problems of the day which may keep changing;
consensus for social equity , democratic values , normative perspective and centrality of pub-ad as the instrument of change in a complex world were the co-themes which were reaffirmed by Minnogroup II conference.
Further it was realised that these were still the dominant themes despite some new issues having also emerged consensus for responsible and accountable administartion which would be responsible to society. Needs was also re affirmed.
However the nature of this responsiveness was expected to be merged with concerns for private interests as depicted by better client orientation.
In other words , moral tone of minnowgroup conference I was given much more pragmatic orientation under minnowgroup II under influence of market perspective.
Thematic reorientation in Minnowgroup conference II
1.Pragmatism replacing idealism
2.Withdrawl of over indulgence in Policy making
3.fine toning of democratic and anti hierarchy administartion
1.Pragamatism replacing idealism-
In Minnow group II, there was a shift from radical belief that was prevalent in 1988 that the problem of society are indeed solvable , the only thing that was required was moral activism on the part of the admin.
In 1988 it was realised that societal problems are complex and they inter connected social issues and therefore admin response could only ameliorate the problems rather than completely resolving them.
Thus there was a realisation during this delibration that only the radicalness of thoughts cannot be the sufficient condition for putting an end to the societal turbulence
therefore it was decided during MB II delibrations to set goals only for the near future.
It was again argued that "the dream of a new society is idealistic having goals of complete equity and comprehensive social transformation as these goals are over aimbitious.
Therefore pragmatic view would be to create governance which gradually would take care of these ultimate goals over a period of time.
Thus, it was argued that if good administration can be created , as the near future goals , then equitable societal transformation can be attemted as an ultimate goal.
Thus, there was a tacid(understood or implied without being stated/hidden/silent) approval for privatisatisation or market oriented administration which would ensure better governance and better client service as a stepping stone towards the bigger goals of administartion.
In this context it also needs to be noted that environmental perspective has changed in these 20 years and the context of MB II was characterised by demands for less govt and more governance.
The PCT and market friendly NPM perspective had gained momentum and the values of private interest and utility maximisation and gained recognition alongside, the values of public purpose /Goals.
Thus in a way MB II perspective can be described as an attempt to take the best out of both NPA and NPM perspective so as to create more realistic and pragmatic approach towards better governance.
II.Withdrawls of Over-Indulgence in Policy Making-
whereas MB I was very vocal about the normative orientation and value ladden policy making role for administration.
MB II again took more pragmaic view on this issue as well
It didn't recommend an out and out policy making role (complete policy making role) on the logicthat some dichotomy does and should exist.
It was argued that ultimately administrators are under political control as far as the policy agenda is concerned. and what is desirable in ideal world may not necessarily available in the real world . Thus the speicfic of the what the govt. should do but not doing was highlighted by MInnowbrook conference II.
III. Fine tuning of democratic and anti hierarchy administration
on the issue of admin being democratic and anti hierarchist as was suggested by MB I , the MB III delibration led to a further expansion and fine tuning of this idea.
It created a momentum towards consensus based decision making. In this context an important Minnow Brook II participant who was the chief proponent of this idea was ROBERT CLEARY.
He gave the theme of the slowed down bureauvracy.
This idea meant that the administrators role of advancing the democracy and welfare requires democratic methodologies ie...the administration have to learn and adopt open , participative and consensus based upon decsion making method using negotiation skills so as to be on effective catalyst.
MBI-Anti Hierarchy
MBII-Administration need to use
negation skill - SLOWED DOWN BUREAUCRACY
participative skill
Thus the concept of slowed down bureaucracy recommended negotiated solution with greater role to public so that participative administration can replace the unitary, Again it was a realisation of practical constraint and was pragmatic idea. It highlighted how there may always be an imbalance between what people want and what are the available resources.
Thus idealistic a perfect solution may not come by easily and therefore may require trade offs (compromises) through negotiations .
wants-trade offs_resources.
Thus all and all it can be said that Minnowbrook conference realised the harsh reality of complex and inter-connected problems, limited resources and limited policy role that administartion actually have and therefore rather than emphasizing on idealism , it emphasized on pragmatic improvement in administration.
Minow brook I
Minnowbrook II they followed more pragmatic approach rather than idealistic approach.
New Themes of Minnow-Brook II
Public personal and administrative relationships under Minnowbrook II delibration public personnel management came for those scrutiny and it was highlighted that innovative personnel policy are required enhance administration productivity.
In other words the focus was on building the capacity of administration and not rely only on their ugliness.
In other words focus argument here is that leadership capabilities need to be cultivated among public administrators because only willingness would not be enough.
Thus, whereas MB I gave a call for productive and gusty bureaucrats, MB II gave a call for capable Bureaucrats.
Motivation perception =valence increase + Expectancy Increase + Instrumentality Increase performance reward
Minnowbrook I-Moral activism willingness
Minnowbrook II-ppm-capacity building - training methods, various executive development , programmers like workshop conference etc.,Attachment
Early perspective to Information Technology
MB II developed the early perspective on the role of technology on Public administartion.
Information technology in particlular was sought to be studies as an emerging futuristic concern which would be a great relevance of public administartion of tomorrow.
However, it was also argued during minnow-brook II that technology cannot been idealised as a necessary tools meaning thereby though technology is useful but it cannot be all and end all and it has been seen that good capable and old commited administrators have performed well even without technology.
Thus, technology was visualized as a huge opportunity for administration improvement but it cannot be the only way to move forward.
An addition to the thematic re-orientation as described above , one more aspect of reorientation was the composition of group itself where Minnow-Brook scholars were largely from the background of political science and public administration , Minnow-Brook Participants were much more broad base and inter disciplinary.
These participant were from different discipline such as laws , economics , politics, studies, urban studies , developmental planning etc.
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