The topics include personnel reforms in the federal sector, equal employment and affirmative action policies, testing, selection, hiring, comparable worth, job evaluation, and labor relations including grievance arbitration and collective bargaining. The theoretical and research contribution of the behavioral sciences to management and administration are examined and applied to selected organizational situations. Areas to be considered from the standpoint of both individual and organizational performance are communication, motivation, conflict, decision making, goal setting, leadership, organizational design, climate, development, and control. Utilizing a systems perspective, the course attempts to develop in each student an ability to analyze and solve organizational problems. A comparative study of research strategies with regard to data sources, data collection, and modes of analysis that are appropriate for program evaluation research.
Attention is given to observational, survey, and quasiexperimental designs.
An overview of management information systems is presented, including various information systems concepts and technologies. Students are introduced to a mainframe operating system, a microcomputer-based operating system, and a programming language. Students are also exposed to several common microcomputer-based software applications. The exit project is viewed as the capstone of the MPPA program. As such, it is meant to be undertaken toward the end of a student's program, usually during the final semester.