Samenvatting College Aantekeningen Public Management (2018)

In het artikel van Hood noemt hij 7 doctrines van het NPM. Welke 7 zijn dit?

Antwoord: 1.Macht voor de managers 2.Prestatietargets 3.Focus op output 4.Kleinere organisatie-eenheden 5.Competitie 6.Bedrijfsmatig denken 7.Budgetdscipline

De NPM-ideeën zijn ontstaan uit 3 verschillende achtergronden. Welke drie zijn dit?

Antwoord: 1. Sociaal-econmisch: De aanleiding hiervan was de crisis van de verzorgingstaat. 2.Politiek-ideologisch: De aanleiding hiervan was de opkomst van het neo-liberalisme 3.Organisatie-Bestuurwetenschap: De aanleiding hiervan was het bureaucratiekritiek

In het college zijn 3 modellen/stijlen van het NPM besproken. Welke drie zijn dit?

Antwoord: 1. Mangerial state (performance management) 2.PPS 3.Competitie (marktwerking)

Greener praat in zijn boek over een gestage verandering in de opvatting over de state en geeft hier 4 redenen voor. Welke vier zijn dit?

Antwoord: 1. Van Keynes naar Schumpeter model --> meer aandacht voor de competitieve economie. 2. Van sociale bescherming (welfare) naar sociale actering (workfare) 3. Van nationaal naar postnationaal 4. Van staat naar regime

Waar gaat de theorie van the virtue of selfishness over (Ayn Ryand)

Antwoord: Dat de mens primair gericht is op zijn eigen belang en moet dat om ethische reden ook zij. Hierbij kan de mens niet afhankelijk zijn van iemand anders want de mens moet sterk genoeg zijn om voor zichzelf te zorgen. De politiek moet hierbij een volledige vrije markt mogelijk maken en onderhouden.

Wat is een paradox?

Antwoord: een paradox is een schijnbare tegenstelling.

Waarom is het neoliberalisme een paradox op het liberalisme?

Antwoord: Omdat het liberalisme een voorstander is van weining overheidsingrijpen (laisser faire) en het neoliberalisme daarentegen juist voorstander is van een interventionistische politiek. Dit is een agressieve politieke stroming die er op uit is om overal markten te creëren. Dit is dan ook de taak van de overheid volgens het neoliberalisme.

Waar gaat de theory of moral sentiments over (Adam smith)?

Antwoord: Dat is de theorie die zegt dat een voorwaarde voor een vrije markt de aanwezigheid van maatschappelijkheid (empathie en vertrouwen) nodig is. Smith zegt dat men zich in de behoefte van een andere moet kunnen plaatsen (empathie), je moet begrijpen waarom er ergens een bepaalde vraag naar is. Dit staat dus tegen over de theorie van Ayn Rand.

Welke politieke stroming staat haaks op het neo-liberalisme.

Antwoord: Het populisme, omdat het neo-liberalisme de gemeenschap probeert de vernietigen en overal een markt van probeert te maken en het populisme zich bezighoudt met de vraag wie zijn wij nog als gemeenschap?

In het college zijn vier kernpunten van het neoliberalisme genoemt. Welke vier zijn dit?

Antwoord: Niet langer laisser faire, maar juist een activistische staat. Gericht op de afbouw van de staat en sociale verbanden in marktrelaties De publieke sector als bedrijf Gaat uit van een mensbeeld homo hyper economicus

Alvesson (2013: 3-4) defines the concept of ‘organizational culture’ by listing how ‘the diverse perspectives surveyed here (…) share assumptions about cultural phenomena’ (2013: 3). He lists five assumptions. Name four of them.

Antwoord: 1. They are related to history and tradition 2. They have some depth, are difficult to grasp and account for and must be interpreted 3. They are collective and shared by members of groups 4. They are primarily ideational in character, having to do with meaning, understanding, beliefs, knowledge and other intangibles. 5. They are holistic, intersubjective and emotional rather than strictly rational and analytical.

At the end of his book Alvesson (2013) reiterates the main themes in his book. He lists six themes.

Antwoord: One basic theme concerns the need to go beyond the level of the surface A second basic theme concern the importance of understanding culture as a metaphor for organization A third aspect is to avoid casual thinking, such as claims about an organizational culture creating certain outcomes or being an object for certain action creating culture A fourth basic theme is the dual nature of culture. Culture gives us direction and locks in our sense of direction A fifth vital theme concerns the dynamic and messy aspect of culture A sixth theme concerns the multiple levels of culture. Both meanings and symbols are framed by larger cultures and local interaction

Alvesson (2015) devotes his second chapter to the importance of metaphors for an understanding of organizational culture (16-33). Explain Alvesson’s differentiation between ‘metaphors for culture’ and ‘culture as a metaphor’.

Antwoord: Researchers who see culture as a variable: - considering culture as something the organization has / Culture is one of several subsystems making up the organization researchers who see culture as a root metaphor: researchers who see culture as a root metaphor / culture is not outside anything, but permeates the entire organization

Alvesson (2013) writes about organizational culture in terms ‘meanings’ and ‘symbols’. Give the definitions for both concepts

Antwoord: Meaning refers to how an object or utterance is interpreted. It points at what something is seen as standing for. Meaning makes an object relevant and meaningful. A symbol can be defined as an object – a word or statement, a kind of action or a martial phenomenon – that stand ambiguously for something else and/or something more than the object itself. A symbol is rich in meaning

In Chapter 2 (‘Culture as a metaphor and metaphors for culture’), Alvesson (2013) writes about the ‘advantages and problems’ of the use of metaphors in social sciences. He lists four advantages and three problems.

Antwoord: 1. their ability to develop new ideas and guide analysis in novel ways. 2. Metaphors can be used in communication insight to others 3. also draws attention to the partiality of the understanding gained by an approach built on a particular root metaphor 4. A fourth possible positive consequence (…) concerns critical scrutiny 1. the risk of using a ‘bad’ ones. An appealing metaphor – in the sense of a literal device- may stand in the way of a less elegant but more accurate and elaborate description 2. the ‘catchiness’ problem (…) This can easily lead to the excessive use of seductive metaphorical expressions, rather than the development of analytically helpful metaphors that really do shed new light on things’ 3. the risk of a supermarket attitude to metaphors. (…) There is the risk that focusing on the metaphorical level will draw attention away from the deeper or more basic levels of social research

In Chapter 4 (‘Organizational culture and performance’), Alvesson (2013) writes about the problems with the ‘Dominance of instrumental values’ (p. 52) and lists four of them

Antwoord: 1. ‘Premature normativity. (…) Normative talk easily prevents more nuanced interpretation’ 2. Trivialization of culture. (…) culture tends to be reduced to those limited aspects of this [organizational culture] phenomenon that are perceived to be directly related to organizational efficiency and competitive advantage (…) a tendency to emphasize mainly the superficial aspects of these selected parts of organizational culture’ 3. ‘Managerialization of culture (…) the reduction of complexity and depth (…) is the confusion of organizational culture with the firm’s management ideology. 4.‘Loosening the grip of premature practicality (…) the wish to make culture appear as of immediate interest to practitioners, and to fit into a predominantly technical cognitive interest in which culture is reduced to a tool

In chapter 6 (‘Organizational culture and leadership’), Alvesson (2013) writes about ‘four interrelated points on leadership

Antwoord: 1. An appreciation of local meaning (…)calls for a nuanced interpretation of the relation and context of interaction between superior and subordinate 2. ) the balance between academic a priori definitions of leadership and openness to the meanings of the people being studied. (…) open to the meanings ascribed to ‘leadership’ by the natives’ 3. there is always a strong element of cultural determination of leadership’ 4. charisma (…) under what circumstances (can) followers (…) be moulded so strongly that they radically transform their frameworks and beliefs through the impact of a big leader

In chapter 10 (‘Cultural change’), Alvesson (2013) lists five ‘common difficulties and complexities in organizational culture change work

Antwoord: 1. ‘Hyperculture (…) the inclination to use standardized, nice-sounding terms that are intuitively seen as good and important and that everybody tends to agree with, but which actually are uninformative and mean a form of pseudo-clarity. (…) The problem with hyperculture is that it tends to be disconnected from the specific organizational context it is supposed to refer to 2. The need for realistic and modest goals. (…) This is partly about avoiding getting caught in a huge gap between ideals and reality. 3. ‘Change work calls for the combination of pushing and dialogue (…) In order to create both push and pull, paying close attention to the interplay between central agents (…) and others is vital. (…) Reming and ‘nagging’ also appear important. 4. ‘The need for stamina in cultural change. (…) Quick fixes and the pressure on many companies to deliver good results in the short term run directly against cultural change (…) the great value and hope placed on novelty and change undermine the chances of actually accomplishing significant change’ 5. ‘Avoid starting projects that are not carried through (…) There is a large change management industry (…) This leads to some organizations starting too many projects (…) The result is often cynicism, time-wasting and the institutionalization of negative expectations and a ‘wait-and-see-if-anything-is-happening’ mentality

Name three ‘factors or lines of development’ (Alvesson 2013: 7-8) that are considered important for the ‘’corporate culture boom’ of the 1980s’

Antwoord: 1. ‘FERTILE GROUND CREATED BY THE BOOM EXPERIENCED BY JAPANESE COMPANIES’ 2. ‘THEORETICAL CONCERNS’ 3. IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE THAT ORGANIZATIONS THESE DAYS DO NOT AUTOMATICALLY PRODUCE ‘ENOUGH’ LOCAL CULTURE’ 4. A CONCEPTUAL BRIDGE BETWEEN MICRO AND MACRO LEVELS OF ANALYSIS AND BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT’ 5. ‘CHANGES IN PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY AND / OR WORK ORGANIZATION IN RECENT DECADES MAY ALSO HAV BEEN IMPORTANT IN BRINGING THE CULTURAL DIMENSION INTO SHARPER FOCUS’ 6. THE EXPANSION OF HIGH-TECH AND OTHER KNOWLEDGE-INTENSIVE COMPANIES EMPLYING A LARGE NUMBER OF PROFESSIONALS WHOSE LOYALTY IS CRUCIAL ALSO CONTRIBUTES TO THE RECOGNITION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF CULTURE IN MANAGEMENT

Explain the difference that Alvesson (2013: 6) makes between ‘culture’ and ‘social structure’

Antwoord: ‘CULTURE DESCRIBES SOCIAL ACTION AS DEPENDING ON THE MEANING IT HAS FOR THOSE INVOLVED SOCIAL STRUCTURE DESCRIBES SOCIAL ACTION FROM THE POINT OF VIEW OF ITS CONSEQUENCES ON THE FUNCTIONING OF THE SOCIAL SYSTEM’