Reflection of Robert Merton's essay "Bureaucratic Structure and Personality"

The efficacy of Robert Merton’s concern in Bureaucratic Structure and Personality is as relevant today as it was then. In 1940, Merton wrote Bureaucratic Structure and Personality to illustrate the inherent dysfunctions of bureaucracy. His purpose was not to shame the field of public administration but to recognize that public administration could not be solely driven simply by measures of efficiency as adopted by scientific management because it requires employers to be cognizant of the importance of human behavior and motivation. In addition it requires public servants to balance efficiency with responsiveness without fear of taking initiative on projects that may slow down their agencies efficiency but increase the overall quality of service. At the time, the impacts of WWI, the Depression and New Deal, and WWII had dramatically increased the size, scope, and reach of government. The American public also exhibited a higher interest in government and showed more trust and expectations that government could solve societal problems (Cayer, Baker, & Weschler, 2010, p. 77).

Today, the efficacy of Merton’s article remains the same as U.S. public administrators continue to struggle to find the appropriate balance between efficiency versus responsiveness. The pathological and inherent dysfunctions of bureaucracy mainly due to the negligence of human behavior and motivation are now ever more present due to the move to reduce the size of government and increase efficiency.

Thank you PAAZ

Esteemed Public Allies Arizona Staff,

Thank you for the opportunity to be a contributing member of this phenomenal program, it has truly been an honor and a complete privilege to work alongside so many passionate and talented individuals to support and empower the future leaders of our community. At my age and relative inexperience, you have supported my professional development through coaching, career mentoring, practical training and countless opportunities to develop my network. You have given me the opportunity to be at the forefront of program development and have also trusted me with the responsibility of spearheading various projects throughout the semester representing Public Allies to the community. As an organization, I know these invaluable opportunities are very difficult to grant to an employee nonetheless an intern, but your commitment to develop my personal and professional skills has been nothing short but a blessing and a true testament to the integrity of this program.

Everybody Leads was the silly motto that first caught my attention when I applied to this position. Not necessarily because I believed it, but because the message was simple and I desperately needed to regenerate my sense of optimism towards leadership as I entered the last year of my academic career feeling overwhelmed, muddled, and unenthused by the leaders of the public sector and my future as one of them. You have restored a deep belief and commitment in how leadership development can restore and inspire active civic engagement. You have taught me the value of diversity and the true meaning of empathy.

With the outmost respect, thank you. For all that you do, your commitment, and public service to the Phoenix community.  

Kind Regards,

Josue Macias

Service-Learning

Public Allies is a phenomenal leadership development program that functions both as an incubator for the effective training of tomorrows nonprofit leaders and a model for the power of apprenticeship and mentorship. This past semester with them has truly been an amazing experience both professionally and personally.

During the course of this semester I put into practice my leadership development and management background into supporting the infrastructure of a new curriculum based on value based leadership and collaborative action. From this I learned first hand the difficulties of program implementation and evaluation.

The most important things I learned from this internship were less broad than my initial objectives and more technical in nature than I anticipated.

In the course of this semester I learned how to scale my projects and understand how my skills become relative to the populations I am working with. By this I mean, no amount of knowledge of management theory x and management theory y is required or requested when talking to someone about the nonprofit sector, its interactions with the profit and public sectors.  In addition, I also learned from and experienced the new trend of of collective impact that attempts to bridge all three sectors to meet a specific social need.

I also go the opportunity to meet CEO’s, directors,  and board members from countless nonprofits around the state and was able to expand my sensitivity and awareness to the most pressing issues affecting the Metro-Phoenix area. Through this internship I learned what it takes to put a program together from start (collecting donations, obtaining space, food, drinks, invitations, participants, programing) to finish (running logistics, creating surveys, evaluation, audit).  I can sincerely say I met all of my objectives and in many cases surpassed them. For these experiences and more I cannot thank Public Allies enough for the growth I’ve had this past semester.  

CGUI

Over the last couple of weeks a group of fellow Spirit of Service Scholars and I came together to figure out a innovative idea or proposal to enter into CGIU and ASU Innovation Challenge. The raod to completion was defiantly full of obstacles from working through schedules and work assignments to coming together and agreeing on a topic. The struggles were definitely real. As Spirit of Service Scholars though the expectation is that you are working with and around brilliant minds, however when too many of those minds are type A personalities, which we tend to be, there is bound to be conflict. In our case, our application was mainly carried through by two of our team members. In all honestly I was one of those two people and it drove me insane. Not only did I feel I was talking over too much responsibility while others were satisfied giving input, but I was letting my studies become second to completing project. I began noticing right away the leadership and work ethic was not there from some of my team members and it was upsetting. I think what was most disappointing to me personally, knew the sheer talent these people have as distinguished scholars, and that even at that level they were still playing these types of games. Ultimately, my groups submission is done, solid, and very well put together thanks to the help of some of my group members. Hopefully you see us selected to complete. Our name is Local Exchange, Global Change.