Common Good Essay

MANAGEMENT

Importance of taking into account the environment while making decisions
Managers should take their surrounding environment into account before making plans and decisions. In the era of Eisenhower, Americans achieved a level of prosperity never known before. The United States citizens witnessed the surpassing of their living standards that remained a dream to other generations1. Eisenhower deserves a credit for this growth in the economy. He employs the appropriate combination of reduced taxes, balanced budget in addition to public spending that gave room for the economy to hum along at a steady clip. There were benefits from the continued growth in spending on new homes and consumer good citizens turned away from older notions of prudence .the united states economy grew by 37% in the 1950s.Towards the end of the decade, the median American family had 30% more purchasing power in comparison with the beginning.
There was minimum inflation that inflicted devastation on the economy immediately after the world war 11.Eisenhower practiced persistence in balancing the federal budget. There was a mild recession in 1954 and a severe one in 1958. The unemployment rates were decreasing.The G.I bill offered the military veterans affordable access to college education. There was the adding of productive pool of extremely educated personnel to the workforce. The American businesses had the will to pay generously for engineering in addition to management skills. The cheap oils from the Wells kept the industrial engines running. The advancement in science and technology encouraged productivity. Increase in consumer spending fueled prosperity in the United States. Americans enjoyed a living standard inconceivable to the whole world.
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Dennis R. Judd and Todd Swanstrom, City Politics (Boston: Longman, 2012).
Currently, there is the practice of the above in United States and the rest of the world. Public managers ought to follow the steps of Eisenhower when making their plans and decisions. Successful guidance of the economy gives the citizens a sense of a security in addition to a better life.
A conflict exists anytime people have contacts. An ethnic group is a community of people sharing linguistic and cultural characteristics. There is a development of a theoretical approach to ethnicity and public management. In today’s world, countries are experiencing ethnic conflict in public management that has deep foundations in many states. The conflicts involving race, religion, language, and identity has a strong influence in the public management. It is increasingly becoming difficult to manage and solve these conflicts. They arise to secure more power and resources. Conflict is inevitable in the presence of inequality.
Conflict still influences the plans and decisions of public managers in the United States and the rest of the world. African countries today face greater challenges to peace and stability. Majority of the countries lack political will and fall prey to continuous armed ethnic conflicts.
There is the argument that pubic managers ought to embrace politics more effectively. The current reform trails in the United States pushes in the other directions through concentrating on the development of technocratic capability instead of political dynamics2. Politics has failed. Politicians do not receive any trust from the people. Due to the complexities of the current governance, there is the temptation to look for technical fixes instead of embracing politics in the round. There is denial of the role of policy in the public managers. It is evident by the increasing partnership arrangements and the enhanced role given to commissions and bodies.
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Dennis R. Judd and Todd Swanstrom, City Politics (Boston: Longman, 2012).
Politics administration dichotomy involves a theory constructing the boundaries of public and government. It proclaims the normative association between designated officials and the administrators of a democratic society.
Technology has destructive and constructive effects on the government. Firstly, the government holds confidential information for individuals and the country specific security data. The information becomes digital and accessible to anyone. The security breaches become unavoidable. Scandals relating to customers make government more susceptible because it attracts the best IT people. Secondly, the governments are not leaders in technology and reacts to the environment around them looking for new efficiency ways.it is expensive to change everything and dispense large sums to meet equipment needs and training of staff. Thirdly, there is the issue of transparency at work.
Citizens have interests in knowing what the employees and the government officials are doing. Internet serves the role for this type of society. All the business and personal activities are available online. It adversely affects the state. There are the conversations, and the actions, decisions, and motives played on the internet, videos, social networking sites, and personal blogs. The government is no longer hiding in a burial garment of secrecy. Finally, it enables the government to bridge the gap between the citizens, the global environment, and the government employees. Access to information allows governments to lay foundation policies and make improvement conditions commitments.
Technology has influence on the way public administrators interact with the public. The transformation experienced in the last twenty years in the private sector has spontaneous and intensive power in the public administration. It concerns the customer service and information technology in business management. Many of the reforms taken by the government in the world indicate technological organizational and sophistication if not technologically centered. Technology in the public management is a means towards performance. It is a complex human factor concept.

Common good refers to the interest of an entire group. In public administration, public officers are required to put the interest of the group before their individual interests. It is important for an organization to serve the common good since each organization has a number of stakeholders with different interests3. For instance, the interest of employees is to maximize their salaries and wages while that of shareholders is to maximize returns. The organization cannot prosper if each stakeholder is focused on its interest while ignoring the interests of others. In public entities, the vision to serve a common interest is essential to ensure that public administrators put the interests of the public before their own.
Accountability of officers evidences the vision to serve a common goal in an organization. In an entity that serves the vision, leaders are held accountable for their actions. They must be able to explain and justify the impact of their actions on the interests of different stakeholders4. In addition, involving of various stakeholders in decision-making processes indicates that the organization embraces ‘the common good.’
The concepts I learned from this course that will advance the vision of the common good are ethics and responsibility. Being both ethical and responsible will enable me improve the vision. Ethics enhances ability to act in the interest of the common good while being responsible will allow me to explain and justify my actions thus being accountable.
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Terry L Cooper, The Responsible Administrator (San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass, 2012).

Bibliography

Cooper, Terry L. The Responsible Administrator. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass, 2012.
Judd, Dennis R, and Todd Swanstrom. City Politics. Boston: Longman, 2012.
Bibliography
Francis, Edward. 2013. Digital Public Administration and E -Government.
Potter, Charles L. 2008. Guide book to Pennsylvania Taxes.