Each segment of this course teaches and re-inforces such skills. The first segment of this course is devoted to coordination, cooperation, and the appropriate exercise of authority among managers and workers within an organization. Managers coordinate and control employees who possess information and expertise superior to their own. Since employment relations are voluntary, managers must exercise authority in such a way that discourages shirking and subverting, encourages productivity, and the retention of good employees. Problems of information asymmetries, externalities, and power make that task extraordinarily difficult.
Numerous dilemmas arise between managers and workers.
We will explore these dilemmas, their dynamics, and various approaches that may be used to resolve them. The second segment moves beyond the confines of a single organization and examines interorganizational ties. Public managers must not only coordinate the work of their employees, but they must also coordinate their organizations' activities with that of other organizations. Collaboration make take a variety of forms from informal, occasional exchanges to mergers. Problems emerge in matching specific situations and organization needs to appropriate forms of collaboration.