Teaching public administrators and leaders to handle complexity

Raisio, Harri; Puustinen, Alisa; Vartiainen, Pirkko; Lindell, Juha; Ollila, Seija

doi:10.20377/cgn-54

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…There have been many calls for reform, especially in the United States considering perceived failures in public administration education (Evans et al, 2019). There are many suggestions to expand content including, for instance, to teach complexity (Raisio et al, 2018), empathy (Edlins & Dolamore, 2018), curiosity (Hatcher, 2019) or global ethics (Haque & Gunther, 2018). Deutscher et al (2019) explore the role of discretion and conscience for public administrators.…”

Section: Opportunities and Challenges: Outlining Potential Paths Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Canadian graduate programs in public administration: The state of the field

Roberge

Oduro

2022

Can Public Adm

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Graduate public administration programs at Canadian universities have seen significant growth and change over the last fifteen years. This research note assesses current programming and considers recent developments. We argue that Canadian public administration programs exhibit diversity and that they are responsive to key trends and forces shaping society. To support these claims, we compare program curriculums and highlight distinguishing features. We suggest in closing, though, that further adjustments are required for programs to take advantage of arising opportunities and to remain resilient in the face of new challenges.

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Section: Opportunities and Challenges: Outlining Potential Paths Forwardmentioning

confidence: 99%

Canadian graduate programs in public administration: The state of the field

Roberge

Oduro

2022

Can Public Adm

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“…The lessons from history will be important but not sufficient to forge a path forward, given the increasing complexity that has never before existed. Teaching systems thinking in public administration is becoming more important than even before (Straussman, 2018; Raisio et al , 2018; Haigh, 2020; and Ivanovic and Gerrits, 2018).…”

Section: Growing Social Fragmentation and Erosion Of Democracymentioning

confidence: 99%

Megatrends and the future of work for public sector leaders and educators

Baimyrzaeva

Meyer

2020

IJPL

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PurposeThis article asks (1) what megatrends are likely to significantly influence public sector roles and in what ways and (2) how might higher education institutions better prepare public sector leaders for the future shaped by these trends. While public sector leadership in every region, country and locality is unique, they are exposed to the same set of global megatrends. Therefore, this article teases out general insights, observations and implications for public sector leaders and educators by focusing on the effects of these trends.Design/methodology/approachThe article is informed by a review and synthesis of relevant academic and practitioner sources and is complemented by the authors' survey (n = 64) of public affairs practitioners and educators. The survey is not representative and is used to supplement other inferences from the literature.FindingsThe key megatrends reshaping public sector jobs include demographic and climate changes, technological advances and deepening social fragmentation. The confluence of such trends has increasingly strained the public sector's capacity to respond to present challenges, let alone prepare for the future. The future public sector leaders can benefit from new competencies, including ability to think systematically, see the big picture and ability to solve complex problems. Ideally, they would also have a strong capacity to foster collaboration and cohesion among diverse stakeholders, to model ethical and inclusive behavior, to accommodate, facilitate and bridge competing and conflicting viewpoints and become creative innovators and doers who can operate in increasingly complex environments, while navigating and reshaping their governments' outdated institutional structures.Research limitations/implicationsThe key trends reshaping public sector jobs include environmental, demographic and technological factors and deepening social fragmentation. The confluence of such factors has increasingly strained the public sector's capacity to respond to present challenges, let alone prepare for the future. The authors observe that the future of public sector practitioners may benefit from new competencies including digital and data fluency, high emotional intelligence, who are also big picture thinkers who understand global megatrends and their impacts locally. Ideally, they would have a strong capacity to foster cohesion among fragmented and polarized communities, to model ethical and inclusive behavior, to accommodate, facilitate and bridge diverse viewpoints and become creative innovators and doers who can operate in increasingly complex environments, while navigating and reshaping their governments' outdated institutional structures.Practical implicationsThe megatrends listed above have significant implications for public sector leaders and educators who train them.Social implicationsThere is a new awareness about the need to train public sector workers on diversity and inclusion issues. This paper discusses global trends through this lens.Originality/valueThis synthesis of the literature from academic and practitioner sources, supplemented with the original survey of educators and professionals, intends to open up a conversation about the future of public affairs leadership and education.

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Teaching public administrators and leaders to handle complexity

Cited by 2 publications

References 15 publications

Canadian graduate programs in public administration: The state of the field

Canadian graduate programs in public administration: The state of the field

Megatrends and the future of work for public sector leaders and educators

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