Improving the Quality of Public Administration Education and Training: New Needs, New Approaches

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Allen Manning
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1 Improving the Quality of Public Administration Education and Training: New Needs, New Approaches co-sponsored by UN, IASIA, Fundacao Getulio Vargas Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, February

2 Great leaders move us. They ignite our passion and inspire the best in us. When we try to explain why they are so effective, we speak of strategy, vision or powerful ideas. 2

3 But the reality is much more primal: Great leadership works through the emotions D. Goleman, R. Boyatsis, A. McKee Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence, Harvard Business School Press,2002 3

4 Sensitivity to Cultural Environment: Impact on Leadership Training Yolande Jemiai, United Nations 4

5 Objectives To raise awareness about cultural aspects of leadership as a key success factor for administrative reform To increase understanding about cultural differences To enhance effectiveness of training programmes 5

6 Introduction Successful administrative reform is a combination of leadership, resources and sensitivity to context Importing foreign models has proved to be unproductive Integrating cultural values in leadership training programmes could make a difference 6

7 Issues Why have administrative reforms not been more successful? Cultural differences: how to take them into account in leadership training programmes? 7

8 Why have administrative reforms not been successful? Reforms driven from outside Insufficient resources Lack of security and stability Politics and administration mingled Weak commitment and vision 8

9 Leadership: a critical difference for the public sector To promote institutional adaptations in the public interest To enhance management capacity and organizational performance 9

10 Leadership is needed to ensure Vision Legitimacy Rule of law Empowerment Strategic thinking Conflict management Equity Integrity Communication 10

11 Leadership is not One size fits all Hero culture Power and control Patrimonialism 11

12 Leadership involves all levels of the administration: Strategic (highest level) Team (middle level) Technical (lower level) 12

13 Definition of leadership The ability to mobilize: people resources To accomplish a productive goal 13

14 Leadership in the public sector is critical for economic and social development To achieve the Millennium Goals To reap the benefits of globalization To harness all the productive forces To ensure equity 14

15 Cultural Differences and Work-Related Values 15

16 Values Dostoyevsky: Dostoyevsky: For For the the secret secret of of man s man s being being is is not not only only to to live live but but to to have have something something to to live live for. for. Universal love, peace, human rights Cultural aesthetics, social conventions, education, government Individual individual goals,personal preferences, commitments 16

17 Cultural Values The generally agreed-upon social values of the day. Serve to establish and maintain social order Peculiar to time and place and can be extremely volatile Concerned with: ethics, right and wrong, good and bad, manners and customs 17

18 Five dimensions of culture Power distance Individualism Masculinity Uncertainty avoidance Confucian dynamism 18

19 Power Distance The extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations accept that power is distributed unequally 19

20 Individualism Collectivism VS Individualism People are supposed to look after themselves and their immediate family only Collectivism People belong to in-groups or collectivities which are supposed to look after them in exchange for loyalty 20

21 Masculinity vs Femininity Masculinity The dominant values in society are achievement and success Femininity The dominant values in society are caring for others and quality of life 21

22 Uncertainty Avoidance The extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations and have created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these 22

23 Confucian Dynamism The extent to which society exhibits a pragmatic future-oriented perspective rather than a normative historic or near term point of view 23

24 Mental images of organizations Contest: autonomy, risk taking, competition Network: autonomy, risk taking, cooperation Family: hierarchy, informality towards power holders Pyramid: hierarchy, formality, procedures Solar system: tension between hierarchy and individualism Machine: autonomy, high need for structures 24

25 Profile of the ideal leader Can identify best practice everywhere And Can translate these practices into the local culture 25

26 Consequences for Leadership Training Programmes 26

27 Proposals for enhancing the effectiveness of leadership training programmes (1) Introduce a training module on values and culture awareness and sensitivity Include the five mental images of organizations as well as the different expectations of leadership associated with each one Carry out more research on leadership models for developing countries based on cultural values 27

28 Proposals for enhancing the effectiveness of leadership training programmes (2) Adapt the literature on leadership training to local culture Develop local training material based on actual case studies appropriate to the local environment 28

29 Leadership Training Workshop Module: Cultural Diversity Introduction and overview on cultural diversity Values and ethics in the public sector Implications of culturally-based mental images of organizations on leadership skills Leadership situations and debriefing Networks and course material development 29

30 Conclusion Leadership Training Programmes need to include cultural diversity training and awareness-raising More research on cultural models for developing countries based on Hofstede Pilot test a module and assess feedback of training session 30

31 References Geert Hofstede Culture s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, Sage Publications Business Culture and International Management OECD Public Sector Leadership for the 21 st Century, 2001 Laurence G. Boldt Zen and the Art of Making a Living: A Practical Guide to Creative Career Design, Compass 1999, 640 p. United Nations Public Administration Network 31

What leadership practices work internationally and Why? Darlene Fisher: Core team member - IB Leadership Pathways Developers

What leadership practices work internationally and Why? Darlene Fisher: Core team member - IB Leadership Pathways Developers My reality and research Some questions for today What is leadership? Where does