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Case
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Reference no. HKS1748.0
Published by: Harvard Kennedy School
Published in: 2004
Length: 10 pages
Data source: Field research
Topics: Human resources

Abstract

This letter to a Kennedy School faculty member from a former student is a plea for advice about one of the most difficult dilemmas faced by public employees in a bureaucratic chain of command: what to do when one thinks a new boss is moving an organization in a dangerous and ill-advised new direction. This case focuses on the Education and Training Command of the 'Department of Drugs and Crime Control,' whose program for new drug control law enforcement officials, the letter writer believes, has been a proven success. A new director, however, signals that he wants to undertake a 'Training Modernization Initiative' - including, among other things, a shift from classroom-based learning to distance learning. The letter writer, who has devoted much of his career to developing the classroom-based approach, fears that the new boss is really most interested in saving money and is ignoring research about what sorts of training are most effective.

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Abstract

This letter to a Kennedy School faculty member from a former student is a plea for advice about one of the most difficult dilemmas faced by public employees in a bureaucratic chain of command: what to do when one thinks a new boss is moving an organization in a dangerous and ill-advised new direction. This case focuses on the Education and Training Command of the 'Department of Drugs and Crime Control,' whose program for new drug control law enforcement officials, the letter writer believes, has been a proven success. A new director, however, signals that he wants to undertake a 'Training Modernization Initiative' - including, among other things, a shift from classroom-based learning to distance learning. The letter writer, who has devoted much of his career to developing the classroom-based approach, fears that the new boss is really most interested in saving money and is ignoring research about what sorts of training are most effective.

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