Selecting and Training Public Managers

Business Skills versus Public Administration

Bibliographic Data

ID6364281
AuthorsHoward E Mccurdy (corresponding author)
Year1978
Volume38
Issue6
Pages571-571
Publication date1978-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenuePublic Administration Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-3352 • E-ISSN: 1540-6210
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.2307/976040
OpenAlexW2330727595
LanguageEN
Citations received9

The doctrine that government is has been mainstream public administration for thirty years, serving as a guide to the selection and training of public managers and suggesting that a background in public affairs-not business administration-is the best preparation for public management. The business approach, as reflected in B-schools around the nation, tends to emphasize specific skills (such as accounting, finance, statistics, data processing, and management control) and a much more technical approach to administration than most P.A.'ers are comfortable with. P.A. schools, by contrast, have acquired a reputation for teaching attitudes-in particular, an awareness of the political process. 2 The emphasis on P.A. training for public management received a symbolic boost by President Carter's recent decision to exclude business majors from his Presidential Management Intern Program. Carter apparently forgot that the government is different ' doctrine extends to performance on the job as well as selection, for he proposed as part of his civil service reform that productive public servants be rewarded, in business-like fashion, with increased pay. An employee of the National Park Service rose at a presidential town meeting to remind him

Administration (probate law · Business · Business administration · Medical education · Political science · Public relations · Training (meteorology · Medicine · Psychology · Public Policy and Administration Research

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