Introduction
Political forces are the pressure groups that constitute the different organizations that are involved in the agreement and transactions of the political affairs of the society in question; personalities that participate in the running of the political affairs of the society; and pressure groups which are the non-profit voluntary organizations that hold a common course of action that they seek to influence to achieve a given objective. All these forces hold the common goal of powerfully influencing the political and economic establishment of a nation through their actions and pronouncements. Economic forces on the other hand are the nature and course of the financial system under which business operates. Economic forces have a great impact on various commerce firms, as well as the broad nature of the financial system that covers areas of recession and depression; balance of payments, and commercial investment and employment. The major effects of economic forces can create a reduction in gross national product amount; inflation; reduction or increment of interest rates; and affect the value of the currency that in turn affects the business operations within a given area to a great extent. (Simon, 1954)
Essay Body
Program manager discretion is the ability of a manager to oversee the running of a program in terms of the capability and willpower to make the right decisions about the common goals and current conditions of the given program. Program manager discretion however is affected by several factors that include the type of program; the motive of the program, either profit or non-profit; the time available for the decision-making process; the source of funding, and the complexity of decisions or choices to be made. According to Bartlett’s positive model, developed in the work ‘Economic Foundations of Political Power’, there are basic assumptions, followed by government, bureaucrats, consumers, and producers; they are self-interest, rationality, and uncertainty. Political and economic forces affect program manager discretion because they place guidelines on the outcomes expected; process to be followed and goals to be achieved. An example of this is a Job Creation Program that holds the major goal of creating new employment openings. These forces also affect program manager discretion in the attempts to understand; increase or verify the impacts of the program; improve delivery mechanisms; verify the rightness of programs; manage facilitation action; provide comparisons; and in the description and analysis of programs to avoid duplication. (Simon, 1954)
The roles of public administrators in regulating the social costs of the private economy include; ensuring that ethics are adhered to in the decision making and running of the private sectors like; helping reduce the misappropriation and mismanagement of funds that result in the loss of funds that are accounted for as more costs. They administer public budgeting that seeks to allocate the limited funds that are to be used to meet the unlimited demands; as a measure to cut the costs on society in the operations of the private economy through the use of policies among other tools. Public administrators also regulate the public economy through analyzing the policies that this government has put into action; that serve as empirical tools towards the decision making and by this, it disregards the policies that bring about costs increments. Public administrators also evaluate the structures of these sectors of the economy to ensure that they cut down on costs that can be shed off through reviewing their structural organization. Public administrators also help in managing the human resources within the private economy to ensure equitability in cost allocation and the promotion of a merit-based system. (Simon, 1954)
Public administrators organize partnerships with private economies in development programs helping to reduce the costs that would be borne if the two sectors were to work independently. Public administrators organize for capacity-building towards programs that the public economy is investing in; therefore reducing costs of research and study among others to do with sustainability and self-sufficiency of the programs among others. Public administrators also champion and organize for aid sourcing; coordination; management and accountability that help reduce the costs to be borne by the society. (Kobrak, 2002)
Among the parties involved in program administration are; citizens; interest groups; stakeholders; and public administrators. The above named are the parties that are involved in program administration; they engage in auditing activities that involve the analysis of the management, profitability, and financial stability of the programs. This interaction is important because it enables the different parties to evaluate the levels of management and self-sufficiency of the different parts and adapt aspects of the program. The interest of different parties is a major area of interaction between the members within the program; as a measure to help analyze the levels of achievement of the goals and expectations of different organizations. The area of integrity and ethical behavior in program management is another area that greatly affects the interaction of the different parties in attempting to ensure that the standards preferred are maintained. More areas of interaction of the different parties include disclosure and transparency; oversight and risk management; balance of power; remuneration and competition. Other areas of interaction by the different parties include assessment of performance statistics; demand for information; monitoring of costs; and supply of accounting information. This is the case because the different organizations have different interests in such economic areas; therefore, interact in an attempt to reach a compromise on the balance seen from the different indicators of the programs. (Shelagh, 2003)
Agency constituency building is the effort to control public attitude to stimulate people to move towards making cooperative action to achieve an aspired social or policy change. Bureau-stakeholder relationships on the other hand; are the relations that exist between the organization and the different parties involved in the investment, running of the organization or program. ‘Agency constituency building is effective in that it helps identify areas of common view and those of varied perspectives and interests. (Shelagh, 2003). This is the case because the collective control of ideas helps unify measures of action by addressing the different views on the areas of contrast; therefore establishing a balance that is helpful in policy formulation; problem solution; future projection and program management. (Shelagh, 2003)
Agency constituency building is also an important tool in assessing the sustainability of both internal and external purposeful change. This is helpful in that the program or organization management can collect information on the views of the different parties based on their expectations of the efficacy and projective success of the different modes of change that may be applied as explored from the views of the different members of the constituent parties. (Simon, 1954)
Agency constitution-building also forms an important tool in detecting new opportunities as well as availabilities of small areas of modification. They can be used to improve the program’s success and support from the different parties, as well as being involved in the running or management. The process of ideas politicizing and controlling different parties also acts as an important tool in achieving more levels of support and cooperation from the parties involved in the program. (Bartlett, 1973)
Public serving organizations are both government and non-government-run organizations that have a mission to serve the public; have official associations with government agencies and programs and; do not function on a profit-making basis. The organizations have their dealings linked with employment and training bureaus; societal economic progress corporations; housing assistance agencies and compensatory education enterprises. Other economic institutions that are linked to the public serving organizations include; health and welfare commissions; neighborhood rejuvenation institutions; small enterprise development corporations; credit information institutes; micro-loan firms; early childhood education centers and charter schools among others. The linkages of public-serving organizations and these organizations are that they help in funding the expenses of citizens who can not manage to pay for their dues at these different institutions; and are also an important tool in sourcing for funds for the running of these institutions and; provision of funds for aid towards the help of individuals within these institutions. (Kobrak, 2002)
Conclusion
Economic and political forces are not static. It is necessary to stress the idea that they undergo shifting under the following impacts: economic instability, no unity in dominating political or economic power, and unpredictable economic conditions. Political and economic forces greatly influence the choices and decisions made by program managers; due to the command they have on these programs as provided for by policy and social standards. Public administrators form an important tool in the mitigation of societal costs that result from the operations of the private sector. The interactions that take place between citizens, stakeholders, and public administrators form a major role in influencing the direction taken by public programs. Constituency building helps improve the correspondence of organizational and stakeholder views on matters of program management. Public serving organizations form a major influence on economic institutions due to the linkages they share.
References
Bartlett, R. (1973). Economic Foundations of Political Power. New York: The Free Press
Kobrak, P. (2002). The Political Environment of Public Management, 2nd edition. New York: Longman.
Shelagh, H. (2003). “The Effect of UK Building Society Conversion on Pricing Behaviou” (PDF). Faculty of Finance.CASS, Business School. City of London. Web.
Simon, Herbert A. (1954). Sciences of the Artificial.Chichester: John Wiley and Sons Ltd.