Year
2021
Units
9
Contact
4 x 8-hour intensive workshops per semester
Assumed knowledge
Students are required to possess the knowledge and skills that they have developed in topics thus far in the Executive Master of Public Administration.
Assessment
Assignments = 80%, Tutorial presentation = 20%
Topic description

Students learn about the internal management of organisations and the products or services produced in the public sector and undertake assignment work that reinforces their understanding of effective approaches to managing in the contemporary public sector.

Educational aims

This topic aims to:

  • Introduce ways of conceptualising the internal management of organisations
  • Impart knowledge of effective human resource systems, work structures, and risk management practices
  • Indicate strategies for negotiating the organisation's task environment
Expected learning outcomes
On completion of this topic you will be expected to be able to:

  1. Demonstrate sound knowledge of the context of the contemporary public sector in Australia and New Zealand
  2. Interpret the task environment of the organisation and deploy organisational resources in the spirit of collaboration to achieve valued outcomes
  3. Apply skills in evidence-based decision making
  4. Demonstrate greater appreciation of the complexity of organisational processes and the risks associated with them
  5. Communicate organisational strategy to superiors, peers, and subordinates in a consistent and persuasive manner
  6. Demonstrate awareness of the importance of networking across boundaries in government and levels of government to advance organisational goals
  7. Confidenlty tackle difficult problems, both independently and in teams, in a conceptually coherent and practically workable fashion
  8. Demonstrate knowledge of frameworks to assess and manage wicked problems and crisis events
  9. Demonstrate understanding of the interface between internal and external operating contexts and how to integrate routine and non-routine managerial practices in ways that are both sustainable and ethical
  10. Demonstrate appreciation of the judgement required to lead a large, complex, public sector organisation in conditions that include unpredictable elements