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

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.