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Management Theory & Practice for Public Sector (BPA-205)

Dr. Hassan Jalil Shah

Government Public Policy Department (GPP)

School of Social Sciences and Humanities (S3H)

National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Islamabad

Introduction to the course:

a. The "Management" (from Old French ménagement) is defined as "the art

of conducting, and directing”. According to Mary Parker Follett,
management is "the art of getting things done through
people". Management is the process of achieving organizational
objectives through people and other resources. It is the process of
coordinating and integrating work activities so that they are completed
efficiently and effectively with and through other people.
b. Manager’s job is to combine human and technical resources in the best way
possible to achieve the company’s goals. One can also think of management
functionally, as the action of measuring a quantity on a regular basis and of
adjusting some initial plan, and as the actions taken.
c. Having learnt the basics of public administration and other foundational
courses in the first two foundation semesters, students will now be introduced
to the intricacies of public administration, leadership and management of
which forms the back bone. Whereas Public Administration is the broader
term which focuses on producing public policies and coordinating public
programs, Public management is a sub-discipline of public administration that
involves conducting managerial activities in public organizations.
d. This course focuses on the foundations of management, covering the
essential concepts in management with a particular focus on practices in
public administration. Drawing on early and contemporary theories of
management, this course will equip students with the basic understanding
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b. of the management’s core functions and their relevance in public sector

organizations
a. In this course, an effort will be made to expose the students to these
managerial activities, both in internal as well as external domains of the
public organisations to become a good public manager. The different facets
of the public management including political management, programme
management and resource management.
b. On completing of the course, it is hoped that educated public administrators
may join the ranks of political scientists, public administrators, city managers,
and similar professionals who impact public policy in modern societies.
Learning Objectives:
a. This course focuses on the knowledge, skills and abilities that define a
competent public sector manager under the competing influences prevalent
in the sphere of public management.
b. The central theme of this course is the necessary tools for managing any
public organization summarized as political management, program
management and resource management.
c. The course first aims at political management - describing and explain
management of the political actors and institutions external to a government
agency that help determine the success or failure of accomplishing the public
mission.
e. Then focus shifts towards program management which is examining
strategies and structures that public managers must adopt to operate
effectively and efficiently.
f. Lastly, the scope narrows down to investigate government systems designed
for managing human, fiscal and information resources.
Learning Outcomes: After completing the course, students should be able to:
a. Have a working knowledge of political institutions and processes as well as
be able to develop political skills needed to analyze trends, evaluate
consequences of administrative actions and be able to further the
organization’s public mission.
b. Demonstrate management strategies geared towards achieving efficiency
and effectiveness required in the public sector with focus on self-
development in areas such as planning, decision making, organizing, leading
and implementing.
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c. Lead, develop and maintain public workforce to its potential.

d. Manage fiscal resource allocation in government, as well as exhibit
techniques for managing information within and outside agencies.
Course Contents: The topics to be covered would be the nature of:-
a. Public administration,
b. Political Management (The political-legal environment of administration),
c. Intergovernmental relations, Administrative responsibility and ethics,
d. Program Management (Planning, Decision Making, Organizing, Leading and
Implementation) and
e. Resources Management (Human resources management, Public financial
management and Information management)
Course Text / Reference Books: Though not exhaustive, following books are
recommended for reading during the course:-
a. Grover Starling. (2011). Managing the Public Sector, 9th ed. ISBN: 978-0-
495-83319-2
b. Governing the ungovernable : institutional reforms for democratic
governance, Dr. Ishrat Hussain
c. Public Administration with Special Reference to Pakistan, Dr. Sultan Khan
d. Fundamentals of Management: Essential Concepts and Applications by
Stephen P. Robbins , David A. Decenzo and Marry Coulter [8th edition]
e. Public Management: Theory and Practice by Konrad Raczkowski [2016]
f. Selected Case Studies and Papers to be assigned in the due course of time
g. Peer Reviewed journals like Public Policy and Administration, Internal Journal
of Public Administration
Assessment Criteria: Students would be evaluated on the basis of evaluation
policy of NUST. The evaluation will be broken down into following components:-
a. Final Exam - 40 %
b. Mid Term Exam - 20 %
c. Quizes - 5 % (2 quizzes, one before and one after mid term)
d. Assignments - 10 % (2 assignments, one before and one after mid
term)
e. Project - 10 %
f. Presentation - 10 %
g. Class Participation - 5%
Total - 100
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Course Outline
Part One- Intro to Public Management
–Lec-1 Nature and Scope of Public Management
–Lec-2 Islamic Perspective of Public Management
–Lec-3 Approaches to Study Public Management
–Lec -4 District Administration in Pakistan
•Part Two- Political Management
–Lec-5 The Political- Legal Environment of Administration
–Lec-6 Intergovernmental Relations
–Lec-7 Administrative Responsibility and Ethics
•Part Three- Programme Management
–Lec-8 Planning
–Lec-9 Decision Making
–Lec-10 Organizing
–Lec-11 Leading
–Lec-12 Change Management and Innovation
–Lec-13 Implementation
Part Four- Resource Management

Lec-14 Human Resource Management

Lec-15 Public Financial Management

Lec-16 Information Management

Part Five- Projects and Presentations

Lec-17 Project Presentations

Lec-18 Project Presentations