CASE STUDY FORMAT
Becky’s revised version (11/3/16)
Updated by Stephanie 6/9/2020
• A key element in this course is the use of the case method. Cases representing real world experiences in local government are used to illustrate the dynamic interaction among management professionals, elected leaders, the community both residents and businesses and various interest groups.
• Please prepare a case study paper as follows:
1. Background and Action Required-Summarize the background or set the stage for the case: Give an overview of the situation-you can do this in bullet points or paragraphs, your choice The background will serve as a basis to work from and should contain the salient points of the case.
2. Stakeholders-List all of the stakeholders in the case. Be as inclusive as you can. Include a short description as to what each stakeholder wants or what their interests are.
3. Issues-What are the issues in the case? You many categorize the issues such as ethical, management, economic, legal, special interests, political, financial, personnel, or boundary issues.
4. Alternatives/Possible Courses of Actions-What are the alternatives to be made in the case? Explain the decision(s) to be made in the case. Indicate what the decision(s) is and who has to make it. You will probably have several decisions with different players making the decision. (For example, the manager may have to decide what recommendation to make and the Council may have to decide whether to approve it or not.) Possible Courses of Action: List 3 possible courses of action that could be taken in this case. Include the pros/cons for each alternative. It is your job as the Manager to be sure the Council understands the possible outcomes/consequences of their decisions. (For example, by widening a road, private property will have to be purchased. The property owners who will be impacted may be upset by the loss of their property or the price they are paid).
5. Conclusions: Justify the three alternative courses of actions. This means you should answer why and how do you know. If you recommend A option to the council, this section details why you chose to recommend option A and how did you know to choose option A (best practices, lectures , reading material, etc.).
6. Your Recommendation What is your recommendation among the courses of action you listed? Why?
• Other instructions:
1. Please identify each section noted above in your write-up.
2. You should provide AT LEAST 3 references to the textbook and/or other material we have talked about in class. Preferred method of citation structure is the APA format. Or you may note the reference in ( ) in your case write-up.
3. All elements singled spaced
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4. All pages numbered
5. Items 3-6 should always have at least one reference to the textbook concepts, instructor lecture concepts or other supporting information references – this is to show you read the material related to the case issues. It is not enough just to toss in a reference in a section, it should be appropriate and connected to the issue being addresses. For instance, a case focused on regional issues should have references regarding regional concepts.
6. If there are numbers in a case, they are asking to be analyzed. You should address the numbers in some way with details.
7. Conclusions are not facts. To conclude is to infer or arrive at by reasoning or to deduce. “City A has a fund balance of $278,490” is a fact. “A fund balance is essential for responding to emergencies” is a conclusion “The water fund has a capital budget of $46,280” is a fact. “Water capital investments have long life spans and funding them out of current revenue is not prudent at current low interest rates given all the other needs of the city” is a conclusion. Conclusions must be cited (how do you know?)
• Case grading criteria/rubric
1. Background (Is it accurate and are key points covered?) (5 points) and Action required (Does it clearly state the main problem to be addressed?) (Is it concise, action oriented and comprehensive?)(5 points)
2. Stakeholders (Are all key stakeholders included and are their interests stated?)(interests are what that stakeholder wants to happen or doesn’t want to happen)(5 points)
3. Issues (Are all key issues listed and explained. Are references to the text and lecture noted?)(25 points)
4. Alternatives (Are there at least three, do they cover the primary approaches, are they creative, are they consistent with the background, action statement and issues. Do they include references to the text and lectures?) Does each alternative have a list of at least three consequences with both positive and negative possibilities mentioned? (20 points)
5. Conclusions (Are they consistent with background, action required and issues, do they cover all essential facts and situations, do they reflect information shared in class or in the textbook, and do they include references to the text and lectures? (20 points) – How do you know?
6. Recommendation (Are both action and process covered, is it consistent with action statement, issues, conclusions and alternatives, does it reflect information shared in class or in the textbook, does it include a process for implementation and is it creative?) (20 points)
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Local Government – Ethics Case Study
Background
Pioneer Falls, situated in Northern Wisconsin, is a small city developing fairly rapidly in terms of infrastructure and population growth. It serves as an administrative center for the county and is also a religious, economic, and healthcare hub for its members (Styka et al. 2014).
Population size growth has resulted in some emerging issues such as vandalism, petty theft, and a rise in drug use among the youth. The local government has been under pressure, primarily due to the higher influx of tax returns from a larger population to resolve these problematic issues before they become entrenched. Consequently, local government officials determined to create more parks and recreational centers.
After receiving a significant endowment by a wealthy landowner, a parks and recreation department was created to enable the facilitation and management of the new project. However, the recruitment of officials for running the newly created department revealed the systemic and ethical flaws in the local governance. The new manager's selection was evidently a case of cronyism (Styka et al. 2014). Moreover, the position of the new manager did not have a formal job description or job requirements. Furthermore, the local council's internal work environment was characterized by low morale, negativity, and lack of team cohesion, employee development, or performance appraisal (Styka et al. 2014). The integration of these factors led to high employee turnover and constant employee complaints so that the previous city administrator retired.
Shortly after, a vastly qualified candidate, Susan Hanson, was selected to be the next city administrator. The park and recreation manager soon resigned so that Susan Hanson worked diligently to create what she thought was a suitable hiring policy that would promote employee
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performance and boost morale (Styka et al. 2014). Afterward, she promptly advertised the vacant position so that an ideal candidate could be selected as soon as possible. However, the new city administrator found herself in significant difficulty when only one internal candidate applied for the job. The weaknesses of the position advertised lies in the vague academic qualifications required, and the fact that it did not consider the event that only a single internal candidate applied (Styka et al. 2014). Additionally, the lack of performance appraisal culture in the company meant that an internal applicant could not be appropriately evaluated for the job. Susan Hanson was torn in between following her internal hiring policy and her desire to select the best possible candidate for the job.
Stakeholders
There are several key stakeholders in the current case study. First are the citizens of the Pioneer Falls who will benefit from the parks and recreation project. The main aim of the park and recreation project is to engage the community members, especially the youth, of Pioneer Falls in productive endeavors that will steer them away from trouble. As a body, the city council is also a stakeholder because they have a fiscal and social responsibility in the management and proper expenditure of taxes remitted by Pioneer Falls citizens in the facilitation of the current project. The city council's employees are also stakeholders because the execution of this project through the newly created hiring policy represents the hope of a better work environment. Finally, the city administrator, with her supreme qualifications, needs to execute the current project successfully, starting with the hiring of the new park and recreation manager.
Project Issues
Management Issues
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The city administrator is required to conduct the hiring of the new park and recreation manager in such a manner that will result in the fulfillment of the required code of ethics, selection of the best candidate, preservation of the trust of city council employees, and maintenance of a high level of employee morale (Duggan & Woodhouse, 2011). Additionally, the internal hiring process needs to be adjusted to address the deficiencies noted in this project's implementation. Finally, employees' future management needs to improve, especially in terms of ensuring employee development, motivation, and performance appraisal.
Ethical Issues
In the current case study, the hiring process of a new park and recreation manager must be conducted in fulfillment of the professional ICMA code of ethics (ICMA, 2018). Therefore, in light of the sensitivity and importance of the Pioneer Falls community's problematic issues, a qualified candidate must be picked. Finally, the city council needs to create its customized code of professional to guide and regulate internal operations.
Social Issues
The root cause of the issues highlighted above is the creation of alternative recreation centers. This way, members of the Pioneer Falls society and especially the youth, can engage in productive endeavors rather than resort to deviant behavior.
Possible Courses of Action
The first possible course of action involves deciding whether to hire Paul Garrett or not. The hiring policy that Susan Hanson created was intended to prioritize internal recruitment for the sake of improving staff morale. However, even though unsuitable for the new managerial position, Paul Garret has a high chance of securing the job because he achieved the minimum qualifications. Freyss (2009) provides a solution for this instance, including selection methods
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that assess the applicant's ability to fulfill the current job requirements. Therefore, in the interview process, a performance test of sorts can be improvised to assess the candidate's skill. For instance, written or performance tests and interviews can be incorporated to measure indicators related to job performance (Freyss, 2009).
Secondly, it is important that the city administrator once again reviews the internal hiring policy to include a more flexible system that assesses the qualifications and fitness of an individual rather than affiliation or lack of organization. Even though internal recruitment presents its advantage, organizational needs must be prioritized above individual needs. Freyss (2009) indicates in the recruitment of a high-performance workforce, the criteria of internal policies must be established to decide the specifics of using considering both internal and external candidates. In the current case, the civil recruitment procedure should be adjusted to address only a single candidate from the company that applies for a job.
Finally, the city council should incorporate evaluation criteria for assessing employee performance. Freyss (2009) indicates that these periodic reviews ensure individual accountability to the goals of an organization. Further, Freyss (2009) provides two kinds of evaluative measures that can be implemented: summative and formative evaluations to assess the strengths or weaknesses of employees, respectively. Additionally, team performance can also be included in such an assessment (Tim & Holzer, 2016). Lastly, managers and employees alike should appreciate the importance of appraisal systems' performance to be effective.
Conclusion
The local government of Pioneer Falls needs a rehaul of its human resource and ethical policies to ensure better governance of the city. Firstly, the city council should implement selection methods such as written or performance tests and interviews to assess a candidate's suitability for
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a position. Thus, a useful selection method will ensure that an unfit candidate such as Paul Garrett is not selected. Secondly, the hiring policy must consider both internal and external applicants to view the most qualified candidates. In the current case study, the system should be adjusted to emphasize on minimum qualifications and prevent only one candidate from applying. Lastly, the city council's future management should be characterized by performance evaluation for employees to ensure the development and maintenance of a high-performance workforce.
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References
Duggan, K., & Woodhouse, K. (2011). Public management. ICMA Publishing.
Freyss, S. F. (Ed.). (2009). Human resource management in local government: An essential guide. ICMA Press.
ICMA, (2018). Ethics matter! Advice for public managers. ICMA Publishing.
Kim, T., & Holzer, M. (2016). Public employees and performance appraisal: A study of antecedents to employees’ perception of the process. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 36(1), 31-56.
Styka, T., Konitzer, A., Richards, M., Jablonicky, D., & Kitz, L (2014). Ethics and internal hiring: Cases in effectiveness: essential management practices. ICMA Publishing.
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