James wilson
James wilsonWilson's main theme throughout this book is that the reason American agencies are operated the way they are is, because of the way we as a society have designed them to be run. Wilson argues that bureaucrats are people who are behaving in response to the incentives, laws, rules and organizational structures that make up our public agencies.
Wilson identifies three organizational levels, the technical or operator's level, the manager's level, and the executive or organizational level.
* The operators deliver the services people associate with a specific agency or department. They are closely in touch with the needs of clients and are in a good position to comment on how well specific policies, when implemented, affect clients. These include teachers, police officers, fire fighters, etc. They know their role in the organization as a whole, but only their part. The organization's credibility depends on how well these operators do their jobs.
* The executive's responsibility is to convince people and groups who can influence agency mission and resources that what the operators are doing is worthwhile. Credibility is established as executives convey agency needs along with information about those needs and the importance of the agency's mission to those who can support the agency. The executives are also responsible to translate political and value concerns in the agency's environment into direction, mission, goals, objects that the agency can fulfill as a way of inserting the agency into politically important context. The goal is to link the world of influence outside the agency into support for the agency and its mission.
* The managers are responsible for making the operators life easier by providing the operators with the resources they need and by protecting them from political or other outside influence so the operators can concentrate on doing their job. Managers are also responsible for...
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