This paper applies a pattern-based concept of public sector functioning to the problem of preparing students for work in government. A set of complex factors influences the public service organization, which in turn forms complex and enduring patterns of organizational behavior (Glor, 2001a, b). The factors and their patterns are at work in innovation, in other change efforts, and in the way all things are done in government. To be effective, public servants should pay attention to these patterns. New entrants to government and students who are already public servants but who have changed their perspectives through education may be particularly interested in organizational change. Professors should teach these factors in an integrated way and should use the patterns as tools to prepare their students for work in government and especially for work on change.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BacharachSamuel B.LawlerEdward J.. 1980. Power and Politics in Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
2.
BanduraA.1977a. “Self-efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change.” Psychological Review, 84:191–215.
3.
BanduraA.1977b. Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
4.
BeckerS. W.WhislerT. L.. 1967. “The Innovative Organization: A Selective View of Current Theory and Research.” Journal of Business, 40:462–469.
5.
BegunJames W.ZimmermanBrendaDooleyKevin. 2003. “Health Care Organizations as Complex Adaptive Systems.” In MickS. M.WyttenbachM., Advances in Health Care Organization Theory. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 253–288.
6.
BurkeW. Warner. 2002. Organization Change: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications
7.
CapraFritjof. 1996. The Web of Life. A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems. Toronto, New York, London: Anchor Books, Doubleday.
8.
CoferCharles N.1996. “Extrinsic Motivation.” In WolmanBenjamin B., The Encyclopedia of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Psychoanalysis. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
9.
ColemanJames S.1986. “Social Theory, Social Research, and a Theory of Action.” AJS, 91(6):1309–35.
10.
CummingsThomas G.HuseE. F.. 1989. Organization Development and Change, 4th ed. New York: West Publishing.
11.
EtzioniAmitai. 1971. The Active Society: A Theory of Societal and Political Processes. New York: The Free Press.
12.
GlorEleanor D.2000. Is Innovation a Question of Will or Circumstance? An Exploration of the Innovation Process Through the Lens of the Blakeney Government in Saskatchewan. Ottawa, Canada: The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal. Available at http://www.innovation.cc.
13.
GlorEleanor D.2001.a. “Key Factors Influencing Innovation in Government.” 2001. The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 6(2). Available at http://www.innovation.cc/rev_arts/factors_of_innovation.htm.
14.
GlorEleanor D.2001.b. “Innovation Patterns.” The Innovation Journal, The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 6(3). Available at http://www.innovation.cc/peer-reviewed/innovation-patterns.htm.
15.
GlorEleanor D.2001.c. “Ideas for Enhancing Employee Empowerment in the Government of Canada.” Optimum, The Journal of Public Sector Management, 30(3–4):14–26.
16.
GlorEleanor D.2006. A Gardener Innovator’s Guide to Innovating in Organization. Ottawa: The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal.
17.
GlorEleanor D.2007. In press. “Assessing Organizational Capacity to Adapt.” Emergence: Complexity & Organization, 9(3).
18.
GloubermanSholomZimmermanBrenda. 2002. Complicated and Complex Systems: What Would Successful Reform of Medicare Look Like? Paper No. 8 prepared for the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada (July). Available at http://www.healthandeverything.org/.
19.
StaceyRalph. 1996. Complexity and Creativity in Organizations. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler
HerzbergFrederick. 1968. “One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees?” Harvard Business Review, Sept./Oct. 87–96.
22.
HollandJohn H.1995. Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity. New York, NY: Basic Books.
23.
KauffmanStuart. 1995. At Home in the Universe: The Search for Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity. New York: Oxford University Press.
24.
LitwinGeorge. 1965. The Language of Achievement: An Analysis of Achievement-Related Themes in Fantasy Using Mechanical Methods. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Boston: Harvard University.
25.
LitwinG. H.StringerR. A.. 1968. Motivation and Organizational Climate. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
26.
MaslowA. H.1973. Dominance, Self-Esteem, Self-Actualization: Germinal Papers of A. H. Maslow. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.
27.
MorganGareth. 1986. Images of Organization. Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.
28.
NECSI Health Care Initiative. Available at http://necsi.org/education/hci/index.html.
29.
OstroffCheriKinickiAngelo J.TamkinsMelinda M.. 2003. “Organizational Culture and Climate.” Handbook of Psychology. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
30.
PerryJames L.PorterLyman W.. 1982. “Factors Affecting the Context for Motivation in Public Organizations.” Academy of Management Review, 7(1):89–98.
31.
PerryJames L.WiseLois Recascino. 1990. “The Motivational Bases of Public Service.” Public Administration Review, May/June:367–373.
32.
PerryJames L.KraemerKenneth L.DunkleDebora E.KingJohn Leslie. 1993. “Motivations to Innovate in Public Organizations.” In BozemanBarry, Public Management: The State of the Art. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 294–306.
33.
PooleM. S.Van de VenA.DooleyD.HolmesM.. 2000. Organizational Change and Innovation Processes. New York: Oxford University Press.
34.
RogersEverett M.1995. Diffusion of Innovations, 4th ed. New York: The Free Press.
35.
RogersEverettEvelandJ. D.. 1978. “Diffusion of Innovations Perspectives on National R&D Assessment: Communication and Innovation in Organizations.” In KellyP.KranzbergM. I., Technological Innovation: A Critical Review of Current Knowledge. San Francisco: San Francisco Press, 275–297.
36.
RogersE. M.MedinaU. E.RiveraM. A.WileyC. J.. 2005. “Complex Adaptive Systems and the Diffusion of Innovations.” The Innovation Journal: The Public Sector Innovation Journal, 10(3), article 30. Available at www.innovation.cc.
37.
ScheinEdgar H.1985. Organizational Culture and Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
38.
SeijtsGerard. 2006. Cases in Organizational Behavior. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
39.
StaceyRalph. 1996. Complexity and Creativity in Organizations. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler
40.
StermanJ. D.2000. Business Dynamics: Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World. New York: McGraw-Hill.
41.
SurowieckiJames. 2004. The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many are Smarter Than the Few. Lancaster Place, London, UK: Abacus.
42.
ThomasK. W.VelthouseB. A.. 1990. “Cognitive Elements of Empowerment: An “Interpretive” Model of Intrinsic Task Motivation.” Academy of Management Review, 15:666–681.
43.
Van TonderC. L.2004a. “Exploring the Nature of Nonlinear Organizational Change: A Case Study of a ‘Run-on-Deposits.’” Emergence: Complexity & Organization, 6(3):33–47.
44.
Van TonderC. L.2004b. Organizational Change: Theory and Practice. Pretoria: Van Schaik.
45.
WaldropM. M.1992. Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos. New York: Simon and Schuster.
46.
WilsonDavid C.1992. A Strategy of Change: Concepts and Controversies in the Management of Change. New York and London: Routledge.
