[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Minor courses should begiven on European cultural variety, European history and geography, nego-tiations in complex situations, comparative country studies and special EUpolicy areas.Some European languages would have to be studied as op-tions.Other electives are information retrieval techniques, communica-tion and maybe, as useful for the understanding of political engineering,chemistry (how to control an effect), construction (how to construct a link-age and U-turn) and mechanical engineering (how to make it work).Final-ly, the students would have to complete, both individually and in groups,some exercises, case studies, case-related homework and essays and to par-ticipate for some time in a PA department of an EU-oriented lobby group.Such a university programme would, of course, not be a panacea.It wouldmerely help to develop the talents people may have and to replace costlytrials and errors at the start of a PA job through preliminary training.From Potentials to Limits of EU Public Affairs ManagementAt the end of the third chapter, we explained our choice to start the presenta-tion of EU PA management with the homework for both the external arenaand the home front and of ending with the fieldwork.This design is justi-fied from an educational point of view.The homework should be the basis ofthe fieldwork.To avoid an egocentric or introverted approach towards theEU playing-field, it is better to start with the external arena rather than withthe home front.The alternative design, starting with the fieldwork, wouldonly produce questions and no guiding answers.But, as emphasised be-fore, the various activities of the preparatory work and the fieldwork, all dis-tinguished analytically, are closely interwoven in practice.In daily life, allthe questions and activities found in Figure 3.3 lie, simultaneously on thetable of every lobby group, whether it is conscious of this or not.The paradox is that the more one keeps the various questions and activi-ties separated analytically, the more one can safely interweave them for theproduction of a desired EU outcome.The greatest skill is in interconnectingall questions and activities systematically, thereby acquiring new insightsfor both the fieldwork and the homework regarding both oneself and thearena.To do this perfectly is, of course, only a dream.Even in the easiergame of chess, such a multi-variable decision game cannot be solved per-fectly, but one can strive for it.The more experience with homework andfieldwork one gets, the easier one makes the connections between the two,and the more one grows in expertise.The reward will be a better choice ofthe next activity for the fieldwork and homework, which can bring the lobby278 managing the eu fieldwork group closer to the desired EU outcome.In every case of strong competi-tion, it is the margin that makes the difference.By this interconnection one gets both homework-based fieldwork and field-work-based homework, which is the perfect match.The preparatory work,then, is as much a source of inspiration for playing the game as playing thegame is for preparatory work.Through this process, one also creates a realR&D of EU PA management, resulting in even more options, tools, menusand dilemmas and, in addition, more manageable factors and constructiblevectors.The surplus of potential actions becomes even larger and is, theo-retically, unlimited.For the professional this is not an embarrassing prob-lem, but a pleasant opportunity that provides more ways through the EUlabyrinth.What is unlimited in theory can, however, have many limits inpractice.That is the theme of the next chapter.To jump to a paradoxical con-clusion: the professional, already taking greater advantage from the sur-plus of potential actions than the amateur does, suffers less than the ama-teur does from the limits in practice.from potentials to limits of eu public affairs management 279 CHAPTER 7THE LIMITS OF EU PUBLIC AFFAIRSMANAGEMENTFrom Tantalus to SCAREOur preceding chapters on the management of EU public affairs are full ofbuoyant spirits.The attractive flowers and trees of the EU playing-fieldseem to be within the reach of every lobby group.Cultivating them is, how-ever, not easy as this requires much homework and fieldwork, to be carriedout carefully and energetically.Many lobby groups hold the optimistic be-lief that, after their digging, fructifying and pruning, sooner or later a lot offlowers and fruits can be brought home as trophies.Many see room forplanting even better varieties.Tantalus, in Greek mythology the hero un-able to pick the grapes in Hades, would have loved to go to Brussels.In PAmanagement, however, the sky is not the limit, but the players, the playing-field, the issues, the game, the audiences and all other features of a situationare.Most of them are variables that can indeed be manipulated or managedto engineer a desired outcome, but only to some degree.The limit that isboth most crucial and in reach, or manageable, is intelligence, being thesummary variable of all preparatory homework regarding the three arenasof home front, stakeholders and officials and giving clues for the best possi-ble support lobby to assure success.This summary variable is dependenton many factors that can pose limits to success and hence deserve closer at-tention here.The various limits can be classified under different headings.One dis-tinction is between limits that are endogenously linked to a lobby group andthose that exogenously come from outside.Another one differentiates be-tween structural limits caused by patterned behaviour and cultural ones setby the individual and the collective minds.More concrete is the typologythat is based on communication categories or SCARE.The limits in thiscase come from the Sender or lobby group, the Channels that transmit mes-sages, the Arena where all information is exchanged, the Receivers such as281 EU officials and stakeholders, and the Environment conditioning the otherfour categories.In this approach, all limits of PA in the EU are viewed fromthe perspective of the lobby group sending a message.This message canhave substantial form and contents but also be a non-message; for example,silence or absence meant to convey a position.We shall now examine this SCARE typology and identify a few typicallimits for each category.Their identification mirrors that of potential ac-tions, shown in the preceding chapters, in two respects.Firstly, like poten-tial actions, limits cannot be listed exhaustively.Theoretically, their num-bers are infinite.We confine our description to some major ones existing inthe daily life of PA management in the EU, as published by practitioners ininterviews or by scholars in case studies mentioned earlier.Secondly, forthe management of these limits, we shall discriminate again between ama-teurish and professional lobby groups.The catchword for the amateur isnonchalance and for the professional it is prudence.More than the amateur,the professional is scared of making unforced errors and thus of becomingone of his own strong opponents.As a prudent player, the professional re-mains conscious of the many possible limits, tries to escape or to removethem in advance, and respects the unmanageable ones.The assessment of a limit is once again a matter of expertise on realisingthe formula E = MI2 and basically not different from that of a challenge, dis-cussed in chapter 5.Every lobby group must, firstly, establish whether ornot a limit exists in a specific situation.The same channel, arena and receiv-er may set limits on one stakeholder, but give free passage to another, aslimits are relative and not absolute.The group has, secondly, to determinewhether a limit is a problem or a blessing [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl przylepto3.keep.pl
.Minor courses should begiven on European cultural variety, European history and geography, nego-tiations in complex situations, comparative country studies and special EUpolicy areas.Some European languages would have to be studied as op-tions.Other electives are information retrieval techniques, communica-tion and maybe, as useful for the understanding of political engineering,chemistry (how to control an effect), construction (how to construct a link-age and U-turn) and mechanical engineering (how to make it work).Final-ly, the students would have to complete, both individually and in groups,some exercises, case studies, case-related homework and essays and to par-ticipate for some time in a PA department of an EU-oriented lobby group.Such a university programme would, of course, not be a panacea.It wouldmerely help to develop the talents people may have and to replace costlytrials and errors at the start of a PA job through preliminary training.From Potentials to Limits of EU Public Affairs ManagementAt the end of the third chapter, we explained our choice to start the presenta-tion of EU PA management with the homework for both the external arenaand the home front and of ending with the fieldwork.This design is justi-fied from an educational point of view.The homework should be the basis ofthe fieldwork.To avoid an egocentric or introverted approach towards theEU playing-field, it is better to start with the external arena rather than withthe home front.The alternative design, starting with the fieldwork, wouldonly produce questions and no guiding answers.But, as emphasised be-fore, the various activities of the preparatory work and the fieldwork, all dis-tinguished analytically, are closely interwoven in practice.In daily life, allthe questions and activities found in Figure 3.3 lie, simultaneously on thetable of every lobby group, whether it is conscious of this or not.The paradox is that the more one keeps the various questions and activi-ties separated analytically, the more one can safely interweave them for theproduction of a desired EU outcome.The greatest skill is in interconnectingall questions and activities systematically, thereby acquiring new insightsfor both the fieldwork and the homework regarding both oneself and thearena.To do this perfectly is, of course, only a dream.Even in the easiergame of chess, such a multi-variable decision game cannot be solved per-fectly, but one can strive for it.The more experience with homework andfieldwork one gets, the easier one makes the connections between the two,and the more one grows in expertise.The reward will be a better choice ofthe next activity for the fieldwork and homework, which can bring the lobby278 managing the eu fieldwork group closer to the desired EU outcome.In every case of strong competi-tion, it is the margin that makes the difference.By this interconnection one gets both homework-based fieldwork and field-work-based homework, which is the perfect match.The preparatory work,then, is as much a source of inspiration for playing the game as playing thegame is for preparatory work.Through this process, one also creates a realR&D of EU PA management, resulting in even more options, tools, menusand dilemmas and, in addition, more manageable factors and constructiblevectors.The surplus of potential actions becomes even larger and is, theo-retically, unlimited.For the professional this is not an embarrassing prob-lem, but a pleasant opportunity that provides more ways through the EUlabyrinth.What is unlimited in theory can, however, have many limits inpractice.That is the theme of the next chapter.To jump to a paradoxical con-clusion: the professional, already taking greater advantage from the sur-plus of potential actions than the amateur does, suffers less than the ama-teur does from the limits in practice.from potentials to limits of eu public affairs management 279 CHAPTER 7THE LIMITS OF EU PUBLIC AFFAIRSMANAGEMENTFrom Tantalus to SCAREOur preceding chapters on the management of EU public affairs are full ofbuoyant spirits.The attractive flowers and trees of the EU playing-fieldseem to be within the reach of every lobby group.Cultivating them is, how-ever, not easy as this requires much homework and fieldwork, to be carriedout carefully and energetically.Many lobby groups hold the optimistic be-lief that, after their digging, fructifying and pruning, sooner or later a lot offlowers and fruits can be brought home as trophies.Many see room forplanting even better varieties.Tantalus, in Greek mythology the hero un-able to pick the grapes in Hades, would have loved to go to Brussels.In PAmanagement, however, the sky is not the limit, but the players, the playing-field, the issues, the game, the audiences and all other features of a situationare.Most of them are variables that can indeed be manipulated or managedto engineer a desired outcome, but only to some degree.The limit that isboth most crucial and in reach, or manageable, is intelligence, being thesummary variable of all preparatory homework regarding the three arenasof home front, stakeholders and officials and giving clues for the best possi-ble support lobby to assure success.This summary variable is dependenton many factors that can pose limits to success and hence deserve closer at-tention here.The various limits can be classified under different headings.One dis-tinction is between limits that are endogenously linked to a lobby group andthose that exogenously come from outside.Another one differentiates be-tween structural limits caused by patterned behaviour and cultural ones setby the individual and the collective minds.More concrete is the typologythat is based on communication categories or SCARE.The limits in thiscase come from the Sender or lobby group, the Channels that transmit mes-sages, the Arena where all information is exchanged, the Receivers such as281 EU officials and stakeholders, and the Environment conditioning the otherfour categories.In this approach, all limits of PA in the EU are viewed fromthe perspective of the lobby group sending a message.This message canhave substantial form and contents but also be a non-message; for example,silence or absence meant to convey a position.We shall now examine this SCARE typology and identify a few typicallimits for each category.Their identification mirrors that of potential ac-tions, shown in the preceding chapters, in two respects.Firstly, like poten-tial actions, limits cannot be listed exhaustively.Theoretically, their num-bers are infinite.We confine our description to some major ones existing inthe daily life of PA management in the EU, as published by practitioners ininterviews or by scholars in case studies mentioned earlier.Secondly, forthe management of these limits, we shall discriminate again between ama-teurish and professional lobby groups.The catchword for the amateur isnonchalance and for the professional it is prudence.More than the amateur,the professional is scared of making unforced errors and thus of becomingone of his own strong opponents.As a prudent player, the professional re-mains conscious of the many possible limits, tries to escape or to removethem in advance, and respects the unmanageable ones.The assessment of a limit is once again a matter of expertise on realisingthe formula E = MI2 and basically not different from that of a challenge, dis-cussed in chapter 5.Every lobby group must, firstly, establish whether ornot a limit exists in a specific situation.The same channel, arena and receiv-er may set limits on one stakeholder, but give free passage to another, aslimits are relative and not absolute.The group has, secondly, to determinewhether a limit is a problem or a blessing [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]