Public Administration

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Public Administration

10 point List of Main Arguments of the Paper

• Every organization is constantly reviewing the work ethic of its employees with the aim of boosting the firm’s performance.
• In any business, some members of staff work harder than others are and are therefore more productive.
• Since public organizations are laden with favoritism, it is harder to punish underperforming managers than industrious ones, as this would lead to tensions in the workplace.
• Consequently, companies have showed a tendency to record poor performance due to the difficulty in sacking underperforming managers as opposed to any challenges that may arise leading to problems in rewarding successful executives.
• Public sector reform is an admission of redundancy and a reduction in efficiency.
• Stereotypical thinking such as the opinion that firing such managers would create a perception of incompetence among the public contributes to stagnation of services.
• Between the two tier hierarchical structures of a public institution, senior supervisors are more optimistic about changes than their subordinates are.
• Ideally, changes should be implemented from the bottom upwards because it is easier to convince organizational directors about new policies than it is to sway lower level employees. In fact, they may otherwise sabotage that drive.
• Public administrations need to instill a sense of duty and the need for patriotism in public sector related work as alternate motivational tools to its labor force rather than using a monetary reward system, which may not be sustainable during a recession.
• Random checks should be conducted to ensure workers comply with the set rules and regulations because some of them are able to devise ways of circumventing them.

10 Key Strengths of the Paper

• The authors of the essay provide a clear thesis, which helps the reader to identify the direction the paper takes. For example, it identifies personnel constraints as having an influence on the performance of an organization.
• In some instances, it offers detailed discussion of a new concept thereby aiding in understanding. For instance, it evaluates the different hypotheses that justify poor workmanship in public firms and gives empirical evidence on the same.
• The content is logically presented and the arguments are sound with relevant examples of different policies in four English county councils given. In them, the public sector reforms championed are compared with various private company policies to derive explanations for measures to curb inefficiency.  
• The sources used are sufficient and they are well cited within the paper.
• Transitional words are appropriately used to indicate contrasting information such as the revelation that the forecast were inaccurate about the relationship between the performance of junior managers and personnel constraints as showed by the findings of the survey.
• The treatment of both sides of comparisons balances thus offering an objective view.
• In addition, the paper contains some tables that help in internalizing the concepts addressed as well.
• The introductory and conclusion paragraphs are included and have supportive material that reinforces the notion in the thesis.
• The evaluative style employed is appropriate for the subject of personnel constraints under discussion.
• The authors seem authentic as well.

10 key Weaknesses of the Paper

• The utilization of emotional appeals is inadequate
• The language used is not lively.
• There is no appropriate mixture of quotations and anecdotes. However, there is an over reliance on paraphrasing.
• The sources are not introduced and explained before they are cited.
• Some questions about how to deal with personnel constraints decisively have gone unanswered.
• The paper has minimal examples.
• The variables section is somehow complex and needs further explanation to ease understanding.
• The use of more descriptions would improve it.
• The findings should be more detailed for objectivity.
• Additional graphics would also be helpful in winning skeptics.

An Outline of 10 Major Personal Insights Learnt about Government/Business Relations from this Paper.

• The perception that members of the public have towards a business is integral in the growth or ruin of that firm’s reputation.
• Political patronage can be a hindrance in the performance of an institution since it does not emphasize a recruitment policy that is merit based.
• Junior managers may lack an overall understanding of the operations of the company yet they desire to be promoted should the chance arise.
• Reforms should be an all inclusive, consultative process, which is initiated by the management. Furthermore, it should contain provisions suggested by subordinate staff as well.
• The opinion of outside stakeholders is more objective than that of managers since the latter may be prejudicial due to conflict of interest considerations.
• Incentives need to be tied to the shares of the organization and not the common monetary method to encourage workers to be more productive.
• It is cost effective for institutions to retain hard working managers due for incentives than maintain problem mangers that are underperforming.
• Civil servants should be committed to their work regardless of additional financial gains for good performance.
• For good service delivery, public entities need to reduce their bureaucracies.
• Personnel constraints should be addressed early on to avoid costly redundancies later on.

Works Cited

Brewer, Gene and Richard Walker. Personnel Constraints in Public Organizations: The Impact of Reward and Punishment on Organizational Performance. Public Administration Review, 73.1, 2012: 121-131. Print.