Assignment
Case Study 1: BP Federal Contracts
Following the aftermath of the BP oil spill in 2010, the dismantling of the Minerals Management Service, and the charges against BP officials for misconduct-including counts of manslaughter-the U.S. EPA suspended further contracts for drilling. In late 2012, the EPA temporarily barred BP from oil leases until BP could provide sufficient evidence that the company meets federal business standards.
Strategy:
You work for the EPA and been tasked with reassessing the qualifications for oil leases, based on this event. Provide a strategy for reevaluating these contracts. As you prepare it, consider the following questions to prepare your response:
1. What caused the failure of the lease with BP? How could this failure have been avoided?
2. How should BP or any other lessee be evaluated following a spill? Should the evaluation be based on the severity of the spill? Explain.
3. What, if anything, should be changed about how leases are evaluated prior to signing an agreement? Explain your reasoning.
4. Who will evaluate the contracts? Is an outside audit necessary? Why or why not?
Case Study 2: Cost Projection
Budget allocations are among the most concrete expressions of an organization's priorities, but the budget is a very blunt instrument of influence. It is important to use other management tools in addition to budget to influence an organization's behavior. Sometimes pilot projects can be used to demonstrate the legitimacy of a project by showing that it is cost effective on a smaller scale.
Memo or business plan:
Utilize your agency and as the deputy administrator of the agency, compose a memo or business plan proposing a pilot project to the director. The pilot project should address a current issue within the agency for which your director may consider it too risky to allocate funds to a large-scale project. Consider the following questions to prepare your response and remember to cite your responses:
1. Explain your pilot project. Why should your pilot project be implemented?
2. Propose a budget for your project. Defend the allocation of resources for that project.
3. What determines or how do you measure the success of the project?
4. What is the potential scale of this project if the pilot goes well? How might this project be brought to scale?
Case Study 3: Sizing E-Government
At all levels of government, agencies are increasingly using e-government to expedite their services and remove inefficiencies. They are also shifting their services to appeal to their customers, who increasingly use the Internet to accomplish tasks. The City of New York has integrated many forms of e-government, soliciting feedback through social media campaigns and providing services like 311 online. The goals of e-government include maximizing efficiency, resources, and access.
Memo:
You work for the city of your choice in the Digital Office. You have been asked to evaluate the City of New York's integration of e-services and make a recommendation for your city to implement one major addition to their internet- based offerings. Consider the following questions to prepare your response and remember to cite your responses:
1. What does your city currently offer online? Do these offerings gain efficiencies over in-person services?
2. What services could be implemented to increase efficiency?
3. How will the affected agencies support these services? Will the managers need to be retrained? How will the agencies ensure that personnel will be available for situations that necessitate personal interaction?
4. How can free resources like social media be maximized to garner input and feedback from the public?
5. What are the risks with switching to an internet-based system from the current system? How will the agency mitigate these risks?
Case Study 4: Maintaining Excellence in the Public Sector
This text explores how the public sector should be lean, innovative, and effective, and agencies must be able to attract and maintain the brightest individuals. They also must not be afraid to demonstrate where policies fail, so that they can adopt flexible strategies that work better based on outcomes.
Strategy:
Choose a city and an agency or utilize your own agency. Develop a strategy to attract individuals and a track within that agency to keep them engaged and motivated. Your plan should provide opportunities for these public managers to plan and execute projects within that agency. Consider the following questions to prepare your response and remember to cite your responses:
1. How can the recruitment process be changed to attract ideal candidates in your agency?
2. How will your strategy keep these employees growing within the agency?
3. Is there a promotion track? Why or why not? If so, is a raise included? Why or why not?
4. How can this project be funded? Will there be a cap on funds allocated to pilot projects of these individuals? How will the agency decide the value of the project?
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also Include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.