Adaptive Administration

Adaptive Administration: Practice Strategies for Dealing with Constant Change in Public Administration and Policy interprets the critical issues facing the field of public administration today and describes how new approaches to theory and practice have the potential to redesign the field. It will provide you with new strategies for understanding and adapting to the constant change taking place today in public administration and policy. Features: - Supports faculty in presenting in their classes new approaches to the field - Helps students better understand the concepts and relevance of the field they are studying - Provides a means for practitioners to apply more effective approaches to real-world problem solving - Enables theory developers to explore new avenues of study - Assists professionals from many different fields in better understanding the significance and value of public administration This book develops a unified approach to theory and practice in the field. A new approach is taken to theory development based on applying recent studies by several authors in the areas of qualitative analysis and typologies. As illustrated throughout, many of the existing limited-scope theories in public administration may be extended and generalized for use in today's environment by the studies explored in this volume.

Ferd Mitchell holds MPA and DPA degrees from the University of Southern California, while Cheryl Mitchell holds an MPA from Golden Gate University. Ferd and Cheryl are both attorneys, and they practice together as married partners at Mitchell Law Office in Spokane, WA. They are also established authors of legal practice books for attorneys, with an emphasis on interpreting how new programs and program changes are likely to affect practice strategies. For many years, they have been developing procedures to evaluate how changes in the public sector affect organizations and often lead to actual program outcomes that differ from intended outcomes. As part of this effort, they have explored how qualitative methods of analysis can best be applied to enhance the understanding of such changes. They also have applied these insights to studies of the issues that exist today in public administration and policy, and how changes in the field may best be achieved. Ferd Mitchell has relevant experience in research, teaching, consulting, and performance of multidisciplinary studies for governmental agencies. He also supervised implementation of an innovative Medicaid program in North Carolina for a private company under contract to the state. He has served as Academic Administrator and Director of the Master of Health Services degree program in the School of Medicine at the University of California, Davis. While on leave for one year, he worked as Director of Research for the California Health Facilities Commission. Cheryl Mitchell has been exploring the relationships between public organizations and the individuals who are served by these organizations. Particular emphasis has been placed on the ways in which administrative problems develop in organizations, and how such problems may be addressed. She has been active in working with various public groups to address policy concerns.

Introduction and Background. Issues in Public Administration and Policy Today. Knowledge Base for Adaptive Administration: Selected Topics and Strategies. Knowledge Base for Adaptive Administration: Selected Risks, Constraints, and Challenges. Resources for a Transition to Adaptive Administration. Organizational Methods as a Resource. Big Data Methods as a Resource. Potential Impact of Adaptive Administration on Public-Sector Organizations. Impact on Organizational Cooperation and Conflict. Impact on Organizational Leadership. Impact on Organizational Performance. Impact on Organizational Rigidity. Impact on Organizational Planning and Budgeting. Issues Involved in a Transition to Adaptive Administration. Issues Related to Acceptance of Adaptive Administration. Issues Related to Risk. Issues Related to Theory Generators. Transition Strategies. References. Index.