Discussion

For your blackboard discussion, I'd like you to read & consider "Ethics and Internal Hiring" (pg 105-109) in "Managing Local Government: Cases in Effectiveness". As you heard from our guest speaker, the Human Resources disipline is a critical component of efficient and effective public sector organizations. As Gary mentioned, HR duties vary from the "transactional" to the "transformational" and City Manager's rely on human resources professionals to guide a City through all types of challenges.

Building on our class discussion, please craft a brief response to the following questions, which stem from the case. Remember that this is a case study review and I am not as concerned with "accuracy" in the traditional sense, I am more interested in your ability to reflect on the situation and provide a reasoned response. Please limit your post to no more than 3 paragraphs.

1 - What are the ramifications that City Administrator Susan Hanson should consider before deciding not to hire Paul Garrett as parks and recreation manager? What ethical dilemmas confront her?

2- How can the city administrator maintain a high level of employee morale when it is not appropriate to hire an eager internal candidate?

3- How could the new city administrator have addressed personnel issues originating in a previous administration?

4- Could the job description or hiring policy been written differently to anticipate this situation of having only one internal applicant?

5- Would you call this type of action "transactional", "transformational", or both?