5224 - PUBLIC MANAGEMENT AND THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

Recent developments worldwide are challenging the simplistic views about the superiority of market mechanisms and the primacy of private interests, and emphasizing instead the need to take the public interest into account when shaping the future of the economy and society. In a globalizing world, specific skills in this area are very important for every manager willing to operate across national boundaries. At the completion of this course, students are able to:

• appreciate how public sector organizations influence the strategies and performance of business firms, and vice versa;
• understand the multi-faceted interplay between business firms and public sector organizations;
• develop the skills required to manage effectively the interaction with public sector organizations, and to play a role in policy formulation and implementation (public affairs function).

• From government to governance: public management and the competitive advantage of nations.
• Key features of public sector organizations in a managerial perspective. Developmental trends in public management: bureaucratic and managerial approaches.
• Political and technical aspects in the analysis and management of the public-private interface.
• The concept and practice of lobbying, corporate political activity and regulatory capture.
• Corporate best practices in the design and management of the "public affairs" function.
• Marketing to public sector organizations.
• Financial interactions with public sector organizations: taxation, incentives and subsidies.
• Public-private partnerships: fashion and fundamentals.
• Ethical issues along the public-private interface.
• International public governance: the patterns of interaction between business firms and international and supranational organizations.

• L. BRUSATI, Public Management and the Business Environment: A Primer, in press.

Attending students
Students attending classes on a regular basis will be offered the opportunity to prepare a group report addressing the role of government in a selected industry in comparative perspective, which will weight for one third of the final mark. The exam for students attending classes on a regular basis will be in a written form, and will weight for two thirds of the final mark. 

Non attending students
For non attending students exams will be oral.