Tim Thacher
Thursday 9:30 – 11:30 AM
January 12 through March 2, 2006
D.O.C. House
Bureaucracies are everywhere. We complain about them, but do we really understand how they operate, what's good or bad about them, and whether or not they can be changed? The course will begin by defining bureaucracy, its characteristics and its strengths and weakness, exploring briefly a classical historical bureaucracy, the Mandarins of China, and reviewing the observations of Ibn Khaldun regarding bureaucracy in the ancient Muslim world. The second section will focus on whether and how failing bureaucracies can be modified to become more effective, looking at examples of significant change accomplished both in the U.S. and in Europe. Finally, having identified some potentially successful strategies for bureaucratic change, we will analyze and discuss bureaucracies currently in the public eye: the Department of Homeland Security; the United Nations; and the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Classes will be balanced between presentation by the course leader and active discussions among all participants. Weekly reading requirements will be about two hours.
Familiarity with the Internet as a research tool will be helpful.
TIM THACHER holds a B.A. degree from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. He made his living as a security analyst (CFA) and investment manager of corporate, eleemosynary, and mutual fund portfolios in New York and Boston (where he grew up). He and his wife, Barrie, are now full-time residents of the People's Republic of Vermont, living in Pomfret where Barrie tends her gardens and her zoo while Tim manages to keep busy with a number of hobbies and interests.
