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Am I to understand that the differences between Public and Private Management is that Government/ Public management tend to have relavitevly short time horizons dictated by the duration of a political calendar and private management have a longer time horizon or agenda dedicated towards market developments? The question would be even in a political or public policy planning agenda would’nt the same long term planning as the private management sector be the same, so why is there a distinction between the two?

I understand that politicians have term limits but on the whole I think every organization must have some long term planning policy even after term limits have expired.

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During our class discussion of M. Weber last Thursday, we mentioned the idea of meritocracy, which is crediting a person based on his/her achievements and merit.  The opposite of meritocracy is patronage, which is the assigning of positions or work based on relationship with the “people on top.”  Our short discussion reminded me how rampant patronage is in the Philippines (where I am originally from).  It is common that the people working within the organization are related to one another, or friends of someone within.  Networking is essential in finding a good job or moving through the ranks.  If one doesn’t have “connections,” it takes a VERY long time for that person to get into the organization or be promoted to a higher position.

Philippine patronage system is very interesting and complicated organizational issue as the practice is embedded, and accepted, in the culture and society.  The Philippine practice of patronage dates back during the Spanish colonization in 1400s, when Filipinos had to build strong connections with their colonizers to keep their positions or businesses.  This practice has been passed from one generation to the other until the present day.  Business or organizational management are passed down within family or close friends.  In addition, the tight-knit family culture encourages the system, mostly in businesses, because owners believe that their family members understand the business more, therefore should be in good hands.  The idea of family loyalty also makes a case for patronage.  An owner believes that, compared to an outsider, family members would want the best for the business, since the business is seen as a family treasure.

Patronage system never sat well with me.  In the Philippines, patronage system might have made small organizations/businesses to the big successful family corporations they are now.  However, I see patronage as promoting incompetence and ineffectiveness as individuals neglect merit and hard-work.  In addition, patronage creates a negative mentality on other workers that even though they work hard, their efforts will not be recognized.  Both these effects negatively affect the development and growth of the organization as it does not promote for an individual to better himself within the organization.

As above-mentioned, patronage may have its advantages in creating a successful organization; and meritocracy have its own disadvantages, which I am not discussing in this blog.  However, like everything else, an organization must strive to balance between meritocracy and patronage to have a successful organization.

Welcome to PAF 9120 and the class blog.

This summer I read Management Rewired, a recent addition to the popular management literature. Using the findings of neuroscience, Charles Jacobs provides another refutation of the managerial assumptions established at the turn of the last century that continue to dominate our present approach to management. Jacobs demonstrates that the functioning of our brains does not necessarily lead to straightforward rational responses. Rewards, for example, are always motivating, and feedback does not always change behavior.  Our responses are dictated by past experience and our brains efforts to make new experiences conform to the ways we experience the world. Rewards may not hold unique meaning because they are expected, or we believe they are deserved. Inversely, feedback may threaten our sense of self and result in passivity or aggression. The net result is that how we manage and are managed are typically at odds with how we should manage and would like to be managed.

Jacobs’ challenge to managers is the need to rethink how we work with people if we are to be effective in our work. Although not grounded in neuroscience, this class raises the same sets of concerns. We need to understand why we default to authoritative control despite the efficacy of more participative modes of management. We need to understand the myriad ways to build participation into our management of organizations if we are to be successful.