Improving public management as a development imperative: Developing a practical research approach for Bangladesh

Abstract

Public management in developing countries like Bangladesh is characterized by long bureaucracy, unnecessary
procedures, and they are not customer (citizen) friendly. Many a times, there is good intention from politically
elected officials and career public managers. But they are not aware of the basic rules of the game and modern
management practices. Most of the public sector management reform studies are done or coordinated by national
or international bureaucrats. There are few comprehensive and integrated studies, particularly from business
management perspective, particularly in developing countries like Bangladesh. A study is needed which will try to
argue that awareness of the simple management principles can improve the performance and quality in public
administration/management immediately, just with strategic support from top (policy and regulatory reforms), and
basic management training (business management principles). The research approach and methodology will be
broadly qualitative and will involve in depth observation and case study. The outcome of the study is not expected
to be a prescription for any single ministry; rather it will provide examples led framework that can be applied to
any government run initiatives to improve day to day management. This paper tries to propose a research
approach for a study that will develop a practical road map for solving everyday citizen experience problems right
away.