B0077 - DIGITALIZZAZIONE E INNOVAZIONE DI PROCESSO NELLE PPAA

Learning outcomes

The course aims to offer overall knowledge of the digitization processes that have affected the main areas of PPAA, with particular reference to process innovations. At the end of the course, the student can recognize and evaluate the roles of different institutional and non-institutional actors; can assess the effects of digitization processes in different areas of PPAA; can identify organizational criticalities of these processes; and can identify potential solutions on the basis of cases and empirical examples.

Course contents

How is public administration being innovated in Italy? What model of innovation is being consolidated? What differentiates it from that in other European and non-European contexts? How is digitization contributing to this process of innovation? This course aims to answer these questions, providing students with the theoretical, analytical, and empirical tools to understand the 'innovation taking place in Italian public administration. As an advanced course in the science of administration, the empirical instrumentation of the 'political science of administration' will be privileged, although not neglecting the contribution made to the knowledge of the administrative phenomenon by other disciplines (in particular, the sociology of organization, law, public management).

Outlining the most recent post-NPM reform paradigms, the first part of the course will present the main processes of innovation taking place in the Italian public administration with reference to: i) personnel (the civil service and its transformations); ii) structures (new organizational models of public institutions); iii) finance (the public-private partnership); iv) technology (smart city and sharing economy in public services).

The second part of the course, which is seminar-based, will see an in-depth study of the four dimensions mentioned above, through the presentation of case studies aimed at understanding the role that ICT technologies are taking on in public administration innovation. Ample space will be devoted to the evaluation of the innovation processes analyzed, making use of the most advanced process evaluation methodologies.

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

- Francesco Longo, Alex Turrini, Giovanni Fattore, Maria Cucciniello, Elisa Ricciuti. 2018. Management Pubblico. Egea, Milan [limited to Part IV - How to innovate public administration?].
- Scientific essays selected by the lecturer and made available at virtual.unibo.it
- Teaching materials and lecture slides made available on virtual.unibo.it

Teaching methods

Traditional frontal lectures will be alternated with the analysis and discussion of case studies, also with the presence of experts in the field. The pedagogical approach predominantly adopted is inductive in nature: starting from the analysis of public problems and/or studies of specific public administrations, an attempt is made to conceptualize and construct interpretative theory and related suggestions related to innovation processes in Italian public administrations.
Class attendance is strongly recommended. Lecture slides and additional teaching materials (case studies and exercises) will be uploaded to virtuale.unibo.it.

Assessment methods

For students who attend classes regularly, the final grade will take into account the following parameters:
- Written midterm on the first part of the course (50% of the final grade);
- In-class participation and presentation of organizational case studies (30% of the final grade);
- Short final oral exam on the second part of the course (20% of the final grade).
For students NOT regularly attending class, the final exam will be written on the entire exam syllabus and will consist of 3 questions (0 to 10.5 points each).
For all students, the assessment will consider the ability to: a) appropriately use the theoretical and methodological tools acquired during the course; b) master scientifically adequate language to interpret the main processes of public administration reform; c) make correct connections between different topics covered in the course; d) discuss and present scientific papers; e) contextualize individual case studies within the main paradigms of administrative reform. For the purpose of grade graduation, the following criteria will be considered:
- 30 cum laude (outstanding achievement, demonstrating extraordinary mastery of all material and many original contributions)
- 28-30 (very good result, demonstrating excellent mastery of all the material and some original contributions)
- 26-27 (very good result, demonstrating solid mastery of all the material)
- 24-25 (good result, showing good mastery of some material)
- 21-23 (satisfactory result, demonstrating partial understanding of material)
- 18-20 (sufficient result, demonstrating just sufficient mastery of the material)
- 17 or lower (poor result, demonstrating insufficient understanding of the material)

Teaching tools

- Power point slides

- Consultation of websites and online archives

- Presentation and discussion of case studies

- Suggested readings and articles for further study

- Thematic seminars given by consultants and experts

 

Office hours

See the website of Mattia Casula