Managing Global Public Affairs
P A 385D (60149) Fall 2024
The two learning objectives of this course are to acquire knowledge about and to develop understanding of global public affairs operations dynamics from the perspective of a practitioner. Students will learn of the special factors involved in managing a public affairs organization outside the organization’s home country. This covers government organizations like embassies and international organizations like the United Nations agencies. The course will also consider private sector contractors and not-for-profit organizations which often implement public affairs programs. Students will gain a degree of the knowledge and understanding a manager must possess to address these factors successfully. Experience in the field will do the rest.
Through lectures, readings, guest speakers, class discussions, and writing assignments, students will examine the unique aspects of managing a public affairs organization outside the organization’s home country. They will develop an understanding of external factors that affect an organization’s operations such as the host government and society, security, the economy, and local availability of resources, including human resources. They will also consider internal management functions most affected by operating in a foreign location: human resource management, administrative services for expatriate staff, and other topics. For this course, “foreign” refers to a country other than that where the organization’s headquarters is situated. Note that international organizations (i.e., UN agencies) are inherently “foreign” everywhere.
This course considers managing the platform of an organization operating in a global context in a manner that best facilitates achievement of the organization’s goals. The course does not cover producing the desired outcomes (advancing foreign policy, providing humanitarian aid, etc.). The course focuses on those aspects of management that are most shaped by the international context (human resources, for example). Aspects that are less shaped by the international context receive less attention.