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Papers by Sandford Borins
The Economic Journal, 1992
The rationale for this study is that texts it considers and the narrative fables they instantiate... more The rationale for this study is that texts it considers and the narrative fables they instantiate have important social effects. By codifying genre conventions and expectations, these texts can influence the creation and reception of further narratives, reproducing certain tropes and norms, while potentially making it more difficult for counter-narratives to be developed or distributed. The narratives these texts repeatedly frame then become an important source of influence on how we understand, respond to, and engage with the industries they represent. Narratives circulating within popular culture actively, if unconsciously, influence our cognitive architecture, determining how we make sense of the agents, institutions, and events shaping our world. The analytic approach used in this monograph could be extended to texts from other countries and other industries.
Automobile manufacturing is a highly complex activity, particularly subject to external, macroeco... more Automobile manufacturing is a highly complex activity, particularly subject to external, macroeconomic, and geopolitical factors. Its narratives, however, center on transformative CEOs. It is a structure that dates back to the earliest years of the industry with the representation of Henry Ford and Alfred P. Sloan as exemplary business leaders. This chapter analyzes turnaround and debacle texts to explore the function of leader-centered narratives. Using the construct of the attribution to leadership it charts the ways in which heroicized CEOs like Lee Iacocca, Allan Mulally, Elon Musk and, paradoxically, conspicuous failures like GM’s Roger Smith and Rick Wagoner, serve to reaffirm the agency of the individual in an increasingly impersonal, globalized, and corporatized world.
Allan Blakeney has been identified with Saskatchewan politics and government for forty years as a... more Allan Blakeney has been identified with Saskatchewan politics and government for forty years as a public servant, cabinet minister, premier, and leader of the opposition. A Rhodes scholar with an intellectual's perspective on governing, Blakeney brings a unique and valuable perspective to this study of political management. Presented in the form of a dialogue between the authors, the book provides a thorough examination of the roles of politicians and public servants and techniques of management in Westminster systems. What emerges is a sophisticated philosophy of statecraft that recognizes both politics and management, and underlines the importance of balancing the two. First published in 1992, Political Management in Canada is now available in a revised and updated edition. A new appendix shows how the book can complement the major political science and public administration texts currently in use in Canada.
International Public Management Journal, 2021
The idea of teaching and learning about public administration through pop culture has exploded in... more The idea of teaching and learning about public administration through pop culture has exploded in recent years. Borry (2018) details how to incorporate the popular television series Parks and Recre...
Negotiating Business Narratives, 2018
Digital State at the Leading Edge, 2007
Télescope: Revue d’analyse comparée en administration publique, 2013
Cet article traite des effets de la mise en oeuvre des deux politiques les plus tentaculaires des... more Cet article traite des effets de la mise en oeuvre des deux politiques les plus tentaculaires des cinq dernières années – la stimulation économique en réponse à la crise économique mondiale et l’austérité en vue de réduire les déficits gouvernementaux – sur l’innovation dans le secteur public. L’immédiateté que suppose la stimulation économique a limité la capacité des fonds de relance à soutenir l’innovation dans le secteur public. L’austérité a un effet mixte : une impulsion positive à trouver de nouveaux mécanismes de prestation de services, mais un impact négatif en raison d’une réduction de la marge de manoeuvre utilisée pour soutenir l’innovation. Cet article présente également les résultats d’une étude sur les demandes déposées aux Innovations in American Government Awards 2010. Les résultats montrent une hausse pour des partenariats interorganisationnels, dont les partenariats de cofinancement, comparativement à il y a deux décennies.
Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, 1982
Public Money & Management, 2012
ABSTRACT This article uses a structural narratology approach to define four archetypal fables con... more ABSTRACT This article uses a structural narratology approach to define four archetypal fables concerning managers and organizations, based on whether the narrative involves growth or decline for the protagonist and growth or decline for the organization which the protagonist leads. This approach is applied to three cases: a celebratory-political narrative about the Conservative Party of Canada's victory in the 2011 federal election; Charles Ferguson's Academy Award-winning documentary ‘Inside Job’ about the 2008 financial meltdown; and the ideological-polemical narratives of the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States. The article concludes that narrative analysis helps us understand the structure of these stories and helps us examine and question the assumptions about economic causation that they incorporate.
Public Administration Review, 2010
Journal of Urban Economics, 1981
International Public Management Journal, 2000
International Public Management Journal, 1998
International Journal of Public Administration, 2009
ABSTRACT Barack Obama has pioneered the use of online technology, in particular social networking... more ABSTRACT Barack Obama has pioneered the use of online technology, in particular social networking approaches, in his presidential election campaign and the transition period. This paper outlines how President Obama is applying this online approach in the early days of his presidency. It discusses the implications of the online presidency in terms of example-setting for senior officials and departments, online mobilization of his constituency, transparency of decision-making and implementation, and the hiring of a cadre of members of the Net Generation into new media positions.
Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques, 1982
The Dubin Commission on Aviation Safety made recommendations designed to maximize aviation safety... more The Dubin Commission on Aviation Safety made recommendations designed to maximize aviation safety in Canada. Dubin found that the Canadian Air Transportation Administration of Transport Canada gave safety too little precedence relative to other policy goals, and therefore recommended an organizational structure that would give aviation accident investigators and safety inspectors substantial independence from the Canadian Air Transportation Administration. This review supports Dubin's contention that the senior management of the Administration managed their safety organization ineffectively. The review concludes by urging Transport Canada to undertake the benefit-cost analyses of aviation infrastructure and safety enforcement policies that were not done by the Dubin Commission.
The Economic Journal, 1992
The rationale for this study is that texts it considers and the narrative fables they instantiate... more The rationale for this study is that texts it considers and the narrative fables they instantiate have important social effects. By codifying genre conventions and expectations, these texts can influence the creation and reception of further narratives, reproducing certain tropes and norms, while potentially making it more difficult for counter-narratives to be developed or distributed. The narratives these texts repeatedly frame then become an important source of influence on how we understand, respond to, and engage with the industries they represent. Narratives circulating within popular culture actively, if unconsciously, influence our cognitive architecture, determining how we make sense of the agents, institutions, and events shaping our world. The analytic approach used in this monograph could be extended to texts from other countries and other industries.
Automobile manufacturing is a highly complex activity, particularly subject to external, macroeco... more Automobile manufacturing is a highly complex activity, particularly subject to external, macroeconomic, and geopolitical factors. Its narratives, however, center on transformative CEOs. It is a structure that dates back to the earliest years of the industry with the representation of Henry Ford and Alfred P. Sloan as exemplary business leaders. This chapter analyzes turnaround and debacle texts to explore the function of leader-centered narratives. Using the construct of the attribution to leadership it charts the ways in which heroicized CEOs like Lee Iacocca, Allan Mulally, Elon Musk and, paradoxically, conspicuous failures like GM’s Roger Smith and Rick Wagoner, serve to reaffirm the agency of the individual in an increasingly impersonal, globalized, and corporatized world.
Allan Blakeney has been identified with Saskatchewan politics and government for forty years as a... more Allan Blakeney has been identified with Saskatchewan politics and government for forty years as a public servant, cabinet minister, premier, and leader of the opposition. A Rhodes scholar with an intellectual's perspective on governing, Blakeney brings a unique and valuable perspective to this study of political management. Presented in the form of a dialogue between the authors, the book provides a thorough examination of the roles of politicians and public servants and techniques of management in Westminster systems. What emerges is a sophisticated philosophy of statecraft that recognizes both politics and management, and underlines the importance of balancing the two. First published in 1992, Political Management in Canada is now available in a revised and updated edition. A new appendix shows how the book can complement the major political science and public administration texts currently in use in Canada.
International Public Management Journal, 2021
The idea of teaching and learning about public administration through pop culture has exploded in... more The idea of teaching and learning about public administration through pop culture has exploded in recent years. Borry (2018) details how to incorporate the popular television series Parks and Recre...
Negotiating Business Narratives, 2018
Digital State at the Leading Edge, 2007
Télescope: Revue d’analyse comparée en administration publique, 2013
Cet article traite des effets de la mise en oeuvre des deux politiques les plus tentaculaires des... more Cet article traite des effets de la mise en oeuvre des deux politiques les plus tentaculaires des cinq dernières années – la stimulation économique en réponse à la crise économique mondiale et l’austérité en vue de réduire les déficits gouvernementaux – sur l’innovation dans le secteur public. L’immédiateté que suppose la stimulation économique a limité la capacité des fonds de relance à soutenir l’innovation dans le secteur public. L’austérité a un effet mixte : une impulsion positive à trouver de nouveaux mécanismes de prestation de services, mais un impact négatif en raison d’une réduction de la marge de manoeuvre utilisée pour soutenir l’innovation. Cet article présente également les résultats d’une étude sur les demandes déposées aux Innovations in American Government Awards 2010. Les résultats montrent une hausse pour des partenariats interorganisationnels, dont les partenariats de cofinancement, comparativement à il y a deux décennies.
Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, 1982
Public Money & Management, 2012
ABSTRACT This article uses a structural narratology approach to define four archetypal fables con... more ABSTRACT This article uses a structural narratology approach to define four archetypal fables concerning managers and organizations, based on whether the narrative involves growth or decline for the protagonist and growth or decline for the organization which the protagonist leads. This approach is applied to three cases: a celebratory-political narrative about the Conservative Party of Canada's victory in the 2011 federal election; Charles Ferguson's Academy Award-winning documentary ‘Inside Job’ about the 2008 financial meltdown; and the ideological-polemical narratives of the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States. The article concludes that narrative analysis helps us understand the structure of these stories and helps us examine and question the assumptions about economic causation that they incorporate.
Public Administration Review, 2010
Journal of Urban Economics, 1981
International Public Management Journal, 2000
International Public Management Journal, 1998
International Journal of Public Administration, 2009
ABSTRACT Barack Obama has pioneered the use of online technology, in particular social networking... more ABSTRACT Barack Obama has pioneered the use of online technology, in particular social networking approaches, in his presidential election campaign and the transition period. This paper outlines how President Obama is applying this online approach in the early days of his presidency. It discusses the implications of the online presidency in terms of example-setting for senior officials and departments, online mobilization of his constituency, transparency of decision-making and implementation, and the hiring of a cadre of members of the Net Generation into new media positions.
Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques, 1982
The Dubin Commission on Aviation Safety made recommendations designed to maximize aviation safety... more The Dubin Commission on Aviation Safety made recommendations designed to maximize aviation safety in Canada. Dubin found that the Canadian Air Transportation Administration of Transport Canada gave safety too little precedence relative to other policy goals, and therefore recommended an organizational structure that would give aviation accident investigators and safety inspectors substantial independence from the Canadian Air Transportation Administration. This review supports Dubin's contention that the senior management of the Administration managed their safety organization ineffectively. The review concludes by urging Transport Canada to undertake the benefit-cost analyses of aviation infrastructure and safety enforcement policies that were not done by the Dubin Commission.