Ines Mergel

Spring 2010

PPA730 Networked Governance

This course provides an overview of topics related to networked governance, network government and the coordination mechanisms in (social) networks in the public sector. In order to understand effective information management within and across public sector organizations, we will look at network concepts, knowledge management and governance theories as well as organizational social capital theories. Levels of analysis include individual, intra- and interorganizational information management to understand how we can break up knowledge silos within and across public sector organizations. This new information management paradigm in the public sector brings challenges to existing bureaucracies that goes beyond markets and hierarchies by focusing on the network as the ideal information management mechanism. The course will give students the opportunity to analyze information collection, distribution and interpretation mechanisms from a networked governance perspective. Primary course objectives. The first objective of this course is for you to arrive at informed responses to each of the listed topics in managerial networking. This will be done through discussions of the assigned readings and how they relate to your personal experience and current events. The secondary objective is to enable you to analyze cases by applying theoretical concepts in real life problem settings.

PPA730 Government 2.0

This course provides an overview of contemporary practices for managing the information assets of public sector organizations. The course highlights the challenges of managing the information assets of government organizations in a network economy, practical applications for building the information capabilities of organizations, and understanding the information infrastructure. The special focuses of this course are current topics such as Web 2.0 applications in public sector organizations. Students will examine through active learning exercises how management, technology and organizational components work together to create information systems in order to understand the behavioral aspects of IT usage in government. We will use Twitter, Wikis, YouTube, and other social networking sites as class tools. Topics that will be covered include: prediction markets, virtual worlds, and other Web 2.0 tools. The course is mainly focused on IT management aspects and makes therefore no assumptions about the student’s prior experience with computer hardware, software, and telecommunications.

Fall 2009

PPA709 Public Organizations & Management

This course introduces students to the study of organizations and public management. We will focus on the impact of organizations on individuals who work in the public sector by stressing the significance of key management competencies. Specifically, we will discuss topics such as human motivation, networked governance, conflicts, and decision making. There are two main objectives of this course. First students will learn various theories and concepts to develop their capacities for understanding organizational phenomena. They will apply these frameworks to “real world” problems through simulations and case analyses. Second, students will apply their decisions skills and formulate them in short memos and briefings by diagnosing problems and prescribing concrete solutions.

The primary objective of this course is for you to arrive at informed responses to each of the discussed topics in public management. This will be done through discussions of the assigned readings and real-life situations described in the weekly cases. The secondary objective is to help you work on your memo writing and presentation skills.

PPA730 Information Strategy and Management in the Public Sector (I): New Media Management

This course is designed for non-IT professionals and public managers who want to be prepared for future technology challenges. The course focuses on the emerging topics and problems public managers are facing in the networked world. The Internet has created opportunities and possibilities for more direct participation of all stakeholders, such as citizens, media, businesses and non-profit organizations. At the same time it poses threats and challenges such as information overload or privacy and security concerns. Effective public managers now have the challenging task to provide public data in meaningful ways in times of shrinking budgets and more complex mandates. The topics covered in this class include governance concepts, technology and infrastructure, mobile government, enabling i-governance, open source, knowledge management, global solutions and an outlook into emerging technology trends of the social web. How can we support information-enabled government, the use of new technologies, and track the performance of these tools? This course can be combined with the sequel “Information Management in the Public Sector II: Government 2.0” during the spring semester 2010.

Spring 2009

PPA730-7 Information Strategy and Management in the Public Sector (II): Networked Governance

Fall 2008

PPA709-2 Public Organizations & Management

PPA730-12 Information Strategy and Management in the Public Sector (I): Government 2.0

Spring 2008

STM 504: Network Analysis for Managers and Analysts, Prof. David Lazer, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Teaching Fellow

OBHR E 110 - Organizational Behavior, full term course, Harvard University Extension School, Master of Liberal Arts in Management

OBHR E 107 - Organizational and Career Networking for Managers, full term course, Harvard University Extension School, Master of Liberal Arts in Management

Fall 2007

OBHR E 110 - Organizational Behavior, full term course, Harvard University Extension School, Master of Liberal Arts in Management

Tutorial on "Application of Social Network Analysis in Digital Government Research", May 22, 2007, dg.O 2007, together with Prof. David Lazer (Harvard U.), Prof. Noshir Contractor (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)

Spring 2007

STM 504: Network Analysis for Managers and Analysts, Prof. David Lazer, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Teaching Assistant

Tutorial on "Application of Social Network Analysis in Digital Government Research", May 24, 2006, dg.O 2006, together with Prof. David Lazer (Harvard U.), Prof. Noshir Contractor (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Dr. Timothy Huerta (Texas Tech University)

Spring 2006