Award Date
5-2010
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Educational Leadership
Department
Educational Leadership
First Committee Member
Cecilia Maldonado-Daniels, Chair
Second Committee Member
Yeonsoo Kim
Third Committee Member
Sterling Saddler
Graduate Faculty Representative
Lori Olafson
Number of Pages
112
Abstract
Public managers are a key component of a bureaucracy. The reliance on a public manager by an elected official is high as is the expectations that these managers have the necessary skills to manage a public organization. The goal of this study was to explore what elected officials perceive are skills needed by managers to lessen the impact on the human resource, financial, and political challenges when faced with significant change efforts in order to meet their expectations and that of the citizens to whom the organization is responsible.
Findings indicate that managing upward and managing the political impacts are within the necessary skills required by a public manager as is the ability to manage interpersonal relationships to overcome the human resource challenges of a public organization. In addition to the human resource challenges, public managers face financial and political challenges (McGuire, 2002) to managing effectively. In order to overcome those challenges and accomplish any transformational changes (Rothwell et al., 2009) a public manager must hold themselves to a high standard of values that includes honesty, integrity, consistency, and accuracy. A public manager must also have, in addition to interpersonal skills, an ability to negotiate, act quickly and decisively, think strategically, and provide accurate data.
Keywords
City managers; Elected official; Local government; Municipal government; Organizational change; Public administration; Public manager; Public officers; Public Organization; Transformational change
Disciplines
Educational Administration and Supervision | Public Administration
File Format
Degree Grantor
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Language
English
Repository Citation
Knudsen, Brian Paul, "A Change management effort in one large public organization: An exploration of the perception of needed skills for managing change" (2010). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 834.
http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/2177034
Rights
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