EDHE 6710
03.11.2009
(four case studies presented tonight; political and anarchical)
Presidential Teams
makeup of such a team?
- cabinet, VPs, Provost, senior officers in various divisions, a few deans....?
various functions of these teams:
- utilitarian/formal/task related/decisions (very focused, specific purpose)
- expressive/social/interactive/counsel (group that actually has the confidence of the president)
- cognitive/sense making/intellective/feedback (giving feedback to the president; can be difficult)
some of these functions are more likely to be found in specific institutional models
factors that limit teams:
- leadership orientation: does the prez believe in team leadership?
- institutional context; may work better in certain inst. models than others
- comfort with sharing information; is the prez comfortable sharing info?
- trust; if you can't trust, you won't be open to teams
- respect; do you respect the individuals that are a part of your team? their opinions, positions, etc.? if you don't respect them, you probably shouldn't have them on your team.
Political Organizations
- constant competition for power and resources
- "a supercoalition of subcoalitions with diverse interests, preferences, and goals" (Birnbaum citing Cyert & March)
- meetings filled with drama; have to be prepared for the inevitable "gotcha" (leading questions, etc.)
- can't just "do your job" to succeed
- collegial = family; bureaucratic = machine; political = shifting kaleidoscope
- indifference (to others' goals, thoughts, etc.)
- instability provides stability
- president as mediator (trying to keep some kind of balance)
Anarchical Organizations
organized anarchy: do what you want (with inherent limitations)
- problematic goals (unreasonable, controversial, don't fit the institution)
- unclear technology: many systems of delivery, but no way of measuring their effectiveness
- fluid participation: may not know who is involved in what
- "garbage-can decision-making" (Choen, March, Olsen): not sure why some items end up in the "garbage can"
- presidential leadership: symbolic
- such a system can only function if you have a lot of time or resources
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