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Public administration refers to the officials, institutions and processes involved with implementing the laws, rules and policies passed by legislatures and executive. It was originally a branch of political science, but public administration has developed into a field of study of its own during the 20th century, thanks in part to groundbreaking writings by early scholars in the field. These classic works laid the foundation for a new discipline that combines academic study with professional training for people interested in government careers. In public administration the organizational success largely depends on its structure and leadership. Over the years many theories have been developed regarding the structure of organizations. I will be focusing on Fredrick Taylor and Adam Smith. These theorists provided different models of organizational structural theories. Frederick Taylor was considered to be the father of modern efficiency model. Around early 1900's, he formalized the principles of Scientific Management and developed a set of ideas designed focusing on the individual to help maximize efficiency. His main idea was that every job could be done in a scientific method which maximizes profit. He also believed that workers are lazy and their rational thought made them maximize their own utility. Taylor states that Management and not workers are to develop a science for every job, which replaces the old rule of thumb method.(Diprete,1991) In order to do that, workers should be scientifically selected, trained and placed in jobs for which they are mentally and physically suited.(Diprete, 1991) This scientific training is one of the most important principles of Taylor's Scientific Management. The job to be done should also be analyzed scientifically to determine the best way to do that job. The employee’s should have standard times for jobs and work processes to be established. Incentives should be offered so that workers behave in accordance with principles of the scientific management that have been developed. Also, management and leaders must support workers by carefully planning and helping implement their work and training. If training is not provided then how can the employer achieve success. Taylor stated that there are "misfortunes of industry" which hinders the progress of improving work. (Rimer, 1993) Taylor referred to one of these misfortunes as the "soldiering" of the worker; which means that the worker is not working at its full potential.(Rimer, 1993) In today’s society this is also an issue when an employee is not working to their full potential and completes just enough work but does not complete the caseload given to them.
The processes of Adam Smith were that productive labor is the real source and measure of the wealth of a nation. Labor can be more or less productive. How productivity evolves depends in part on the proportion of the population that works. Even more important, the productivity of labor depends on machines and technology. These beliefs would hold true today because technology is ever changing. One practice that could work today in a particular system could change tomorrow and utilize an updated version of the same system. Smith believed that government's proper roles in society should be limited, but well defined: government should provide national defense, the administration of justice, and public goods.(Lipford, 2007) The theorists’ of past have similar ideas of what public administration should encompass today. For more than a century, the U.S. government's size was small and its functions well defined. Many of the original Founders feared the growth of government, and classical economists such as Smith clearly identified what they deemed the proper roles for government in a free society. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, however, governments began to change their emphasis from carrying out these traditional roles to advancing the welfare state. This change in emphasis brought about a variety of programs to redistribute income, all of which were promoted and justified in the name of the social good. The consequences of this marked change have been numerous. Focus has been on the potential for social-welfare expenditures to crowd out the traditional functions of government that Smith, Taylor and others deemed necessary for a well-functioning, free society. The longer these trends continue, the more difficult it will be to change them. The public administration at the state level here in Rhode Island is that the citizens are collecting unemployment or receiving assistance from the state. New policies have been put into place that requires anyone receiving assistance to work for the first thirty days and a set number of hours each week. In my experience of working with these individuals that will only do what is required and nothing more than that. We have many diverse populations within any workplace and must always adhere to the rules and regulations set before us as to not offend anyone. The field of public administration will always be tough employment. From past experiences even when you are helping it could be looked upon as showing favoritism is you time is not utilized wisely. If one individual feels he is not getting the same as another, then complaints are filed. This is said to be true in the diverse populations and every populations helps there own.
References
Rimer, E. (1993). Organization theory and frederick taylor - taylorism transfo. Public Administration Review, 53(3), 270-270. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.library.capella.edu/docview/197165236?accountid=27965

DiPrete, T. A. (1991). Human resources, personnel, and organizational behavior -- frederick taylor and the public administration community: A reevaluation by hindy laurer schachter. Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 44(2), 379-379. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.library.capella.edu/docview/236319158?accountid=27965

Lipford, J. W., & Slice, J. (2007). Adam smith's roles for government and contemporary U.S. government roles: Is the welfare state crowding out government's basic functions? The Independent Review, 11(4), 485-501. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.library.capella.edu/docview/211226657?accountid=27965

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