MPA 13
PUBLIC SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT
IGNOU MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment
MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment July 2023 & January 2024
SECTION-I
Q. 1. Explain the concept public systems management and bring out its characteristics.
Ans. The term organisation, generally to a layman means a group of systems working towards a predetermined goal. For a business or a private organisation the penultimate goal is generally to make profit.
But for a public system, though it has a goal as in private organisation here, the goal is not profit making but public interests. Therefore, the framework of functions and characteristics are totally different.
External factors such as globalisation have an impact on public system while formulating guidelines and goals.
For example: For over the years, the management of public administration has become more responsible and answerable.
The bureaucratic setup is slowly being weared off and there is more emphasis towards achieving the formulated or predetermined targets.
The public systems work within the framework of the public interest without overstepping the law, politics or state.
Private enterprises are mainly focused on profit earning and are driven by market forces whereas, public systems are mainly focused on the public at large and are generally not affected by the market forces.
Therefore, it can be said that PSM involves the framework and functioning of public services. This gives the state bureaucracies to give a facelift to the government as in corporate functioning. MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
Though the concept of public administration looks very efficient and effective, practically there have been large gaps between what has been formulated and the achievements per see.
The answerability factor was very low, therefore the seriousness in achieving the desired results was lacking. This over the years has led to drastic changes in the concept of public administration itself.
After all these institutions were supposed to be working with the interest of public at large in view.
The main changes brought about in this area were in regard to:
(i) Privatisation and de-regulation.
(ii) Setting up of market like mechanisms.
(iii) Decentralisation.
(iv) Debureaucratisation.
The different theories that have emerged over a period of times in this respect are: MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
(a) New Right Philosophy: The school of thought emphasised the idea of non-interference by the government or independent functions.
It assumes that in involvement of state leads to overshooting budgets non-performance of administrators, over production of unwanted services and therefore leading to inefficiency and waste.
The other key measures of this philosophy are reduction in inflation, lower taxation, increasing the role of the market in providing public services and institutional and constitutional reforms.
(b) Public Choice Approach: This approach broadly believes in reducing the role of the state, limiting the discretionary power of the politicians, keep public monopolies at the minimum and control functions of government agencies.
(c) Property Rights Theory: This theory looks into the performance based incentives prevalent in private sector with respect to their effectiveness in public sector domains.MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
(d) Principal Agent Theory: This theory propagates clear demarcation between the owner and management which is very helpful in assigning responsibilities and therefore increases the answerability function as well.
(e) Organisation and Management Literature: This looks into adapting private sector functioning modules into public. sector for effective results.
This propagates decentralised management for effective delegation and responsibility bearing management, in adopting market type mechanisms for making services more consumer friendly and lastly focusing on performance instead of blindly following the procedures that are laid down.
Broadly speaking, Public Systems Management looks into giving a freehand to the public units for effective functioning and also reducing unnecessary and unwarranted interference of external agencies.
It is more customer centric and thereby more accountable and goal-oriented. The basic characteristics of Public Systems Management can be broadly pointed out as follows:MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
(i) Improving the service quality provided to the customers.
(ii) Taking into consideration and also give serious importance to customers’s needs and choices.
(iii) Reduce the rigidity in the working of these organisations.
(iv) Unnecessary hierarchical positions are done away with.
(v) Each individual is given tasks which can be evaluated with respect to the targets achieved
(vi) There is an aspect of practicality aspect of competition and dealing with it is an effective and efficient manner.
(vii) It is a more democratic way of performing tasks.
(viii) Market mechanisms are given more importance in comparison to bureaucratic mechanisms.MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
(ix) It believes in anticipating the problems that are likely to arise and be ready with the solutions.
An important fact of Public Systems Management is not to undermine the involvement of the state in totality, but to:
(a) Ensure there is high degree of transparency and accuracy instead of following procedures.
(b) De-centralising of activities and involving the state in strategic areas.
(c) Changing the overall work culture in a way compromising for better results.
Q. 2. Economic factors affect the nature, organisation and functioning of public systems-Elaborate.
Ans. Economic factors play a key affect on the nature, organisation and functioning of public systems. The economic factors differ from one country to another depending on its legal and administrative systems.
India, as a country is dependent on agriculture for a long time. But with passage of time, the productivity of land has reduced and the population has increased manifold. MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
We’ve slowly moving away from predominantly depending on agriculture alone. But this has led to a new set of problems despite considerable economic growth such as wide spread poverty, unemployment, paucity of resources etc.
The broad features of the economic system in India within which the public systems operate are:
(i) Agriculture Based Economy: The real India, is its rural areas, but those are the places which are badly lagging behind in economic development. Therefore, steps have to be taken accordingly so that these areas are once again the providers.
(ii) Poverty: The Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation has estimated that 2603 million people both in rural and urban areas of the country in 1999-2000 are in poverty.MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
(iii) Unemployment: As India’s population kept increasing, the rate of employment when compared to the increase in population was not up to the mark. And this gap is widening at an alarming rate over the years.
(iv) Industrial Policy Resolution: Industrial policy is a very broad term and includes all the procedures, principles, policies, rules and regulations which ensure the industrialisation of a country in a particular pattern.
It covers all the fiscal and monetary policies, the tariff policy, labour policy and looks at the government’s attitude towards both public and private sectors.
The industrial policy resolution was framed in 1948, with objectives such as achievement of rapid industrialisation, balanced development of various regions, prevention of concentration of wealth and expansion of cottage, village and small scale industries.
(v) Mixed Economy: In India, though the state exercises control over core areas such as defence, the private sector is given as much importance in various other sectors.
There is a balanced existence of both public and private sectors so that there is a mix of socialism and capitalism Of late, the role of the state has become that of being promotional. MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
There is a constant endeavour to keep politics and bureaucracy away from the organisational working.
(vi) Corruption: India is notorious for its levels of corruption in public undertakings. This is so rampant because of bureaucratic values not being community centred or citizen centric.
To overcome these, the new public management practices have ensured that the consumer remains the core of public service managements.
Q. 5. Examine the areas of judicial activism.
Ans. Judicial activism can be seen best in the form of public interest litigation by which the citizens are getting access to justice.
Nature and Meaning
In the words of Justice Krishna Iyer, “By way of judicial activism, the judiciary is trying to reach where either the government has failed or has been indifferent”.
The term ‘judicial activism’ refers to and covers the action of the court in excess of and beyond the power of judicial review. Judicial activism refers to the interference of the judiciary in the legislative and executive fields.
This happens because of non-functioning of the state actors. This acts as a reprieve to ordinary citizens who were otherwise deprived of judicial access.
This ensures that the Supreme Court and local courts become activists and compel the authority to act and also direct the government regarding matters of policies and also administration. MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
Judicial activism has come to the force mainly because of the failure of the legislature and executive to deliver the goods. Other factors affecting the rise of judicial activism are:
(i) Failure of legislature in discharging its responsibilities.
(ii) When there is hung parliament.
(iii) When an honest, efficient and good system of law and administration is not in place.
(iv) When the party in power misuses the courts of law.
6(v) When the courts of law try to expand their jurisdiction and confer on themselves more functions and powers. Areas of
Judicial Activism
The areas in which judicial activism has gained prominence are:
(i) Health: Health has been termed basic right of every individual by the Supreme Court in 1995. The doctors, on their part are punishable if they refuse treatment to patients whose conditions are serious in nature.
(ii) Environment: One of the examples of judicial activism in the field of environment is the Supreme Court order saying that no construction of any type shall be permitted within a radius of 5 kms of the Badhkal Lake and Surajkund in Haryana.
(iii) Child Labour: The Supreme Court while disposing of a public interest litigation directed setting up of a Child Labour Rehabilitation Worker Fund in which the employers of child workers were directed to pay a compensation of Rs. 20,000 per child worker and gave suggestions regarding the rehabilitation of these workers in a phased manner.
(iv) Education: Education forms a very important feature of any country to flourish and, therefore, in India too, the Supreme Court declared that the Counselling sessions of engineering and medical institutions have to be regulated and the Delhi High Court made it compulsory to set aside a mandatory number of seats for economically and socially backward sections of the society in Public schools.
(v) Corruption: One of the major ills of our democratic set up has been corruption. There are however, a few examples where the judiciary has tackled many corruption cases with courage, creativity and circumspection.
The court in 1995 imposed exemplary damage of Rs. 60 lakhs on former Housing and Urban Development Minister, Shiela Kaul, for her action in allotting 52 stalls and shops in a prime location in Delhi to her grandsons and close friends.
(vi) Regulation of Traffic: Over the years, the Supreme Court has come out with a series of rulings such as making pollution check compulsory for all private vehicles, making seat belts compulsory even for back seats occupants.
(vii) Political Front: The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to ensure the candidates to disclose personal details such as pending and previous criminal cases carrying a sentence of two or more years wealth and income of self, spouse and also dependents.
Public Interest Litigation: An Innovative Step Towards Judicial Activism
A Public Interest Litigation literally means a suit filed in a court of law for the protection of public interest on issues such as population, terrorism etc.
It is not defined in any statute or act, but interpreted by judges to consider the intent of public at large. PILs are considered as an inexpensive legal remedy as the costs involved in filing the litigation are nominal.
There are a few guidelines governing the PIL such as entertaining of writ petitions by an individual or social action group for enforcement of the constitutional or the legal rights of a person in custody due to reasons of poverty, disability, socially or economically disadvantaged position find it difficult to approach the court for redressal.
Judicial Activism: An Appraisal
Judicial activism has transpired the courts in maintaining and preserving the character of the Constitution as the custodian of citizen’s rights.
There is a fine line between judicial activism and a balance has to be maintained to ensure that there is no overstepping in the name of the judiciary.
SECTION II
Q. 7. Write a note on the characteristics and structure of Management of Information System.
Ans. Management Information System (MIS) is characterized by:
(i) MIS’s core orientation is the management and concerns all the employers of the organisation. MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
(ii) The management is involved in direction, review and participation to ensure the information implemented is as per the organisation needs.
(iii) Integrated concept forms an integral part of MIS.
(iv) Planning of MIS is a very organised and skillful process.
(v) MIS Books like a single entity can be divided into various sub-systems.
(vi) MIS should be able to adapt to any organisational setup.
Structure of MIS
The basic components on MIS are:
(i) Hardware: This includes the physical equipments used is computing data.
(ii) Software: This comprises the set of instructions that control the hardware.
(iii) People: When computers were initially introduced, people involved in MIS tended to be programmers, design analysts. as a few external users. In present scenario most of the employees are involved with the information system.
(iv) Procedures: These are helpful in guiding people use the systems. They include items such as user manuals. Documentation and procedures to ensure that backups are made regularly.MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
(1) Database: These are collections of related data that can be retrieved easily and processed by the computers. Data in at statement accepted at face value.
Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs) are designed to show how system is divided into smaller portions. and to highlight the flow of data between those parts.
The key elements of DFD are:
(a) External entities which are some components that communicates with the system.
(b) Process is an activity involving the data. Each process must have at least one flow of data entering it and every data process must transfer data somewhere else.
(c) Data store a place which holds a data for a particular period of time.
(d) Data flow represents the inputs and outputs of each process or subsystem.
The structure of MIS can be classified as under:
(a) Operating Elements: The components of MIS ensure continuous flow of information as per requirement.
(b) MIS Support for Decision-making: MIS forms the basis of the decision-making process.MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
(c) MIS Structure Based on Organisational Activities: The MIS structure encompasses the organisational activities. A Management Information System (MIS) is a system or process that provides information needed to manage organizations. effectively.
Management information systems are regarded to be a subset of the overall internal controls procedures in a business, which cover the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures used by management accountants to solve business problems such as costing a product, service or a business-wide strategy.
Management information systems are distinct from regular information systems in that they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the organization. MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information management methods tied to the automation or support of human decision making, e.g. Decision Support Systems, Expert Systems, and Executive Information Systems.
Q. 8. Discuss important work measurement techniques.
Ans. Work measurement literally means determining the exact amount of time required to perform a unit of work. This is generally referred to as ‘standard’ or allowed time.
This helps in arriving at the exact amount of workforce required for a particular kind of work and for what time period will they put in their effort to achieve the desired results.
The main objectives that are achieved because of work measurement in an organisation are:MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
(i) Give the advantages of comparing with other methods of measurement and, therefore, the choice of choosing the best alternative available.
(ii) This ensures that there is the right amount of quality and quantity of workforce for efficient work atmosphere.
(iii) Helps in co-ordination of and optimal utilisation of resources.
(iv) Work measurement ensures a bench mark for the organisation to keep up to.
(v) It proves as an important step in the assessment of the costs involved in advance.
(vi) The workforce knows what exactly the best way to achieve the results and, therefore, helps in distinctly identifying the performers and the non-performers.
(vii) This serves as a tool of measuring the efficiency of the organisation in terms of its actual results vs the standards set.
(viii) This makes decision-making at the top level more accurate.
(ix) The most important characteristic of work measurement is that steps are laid down for areas which need to be worked upon.
Work measurement refers to the estimation of standard time, that is, the time allowed for completing one piece of job using a given method.
This is the time taken by an average experienced worker for the job with provisions for delays beyond the worker’s control.
The International Labour Organisation (1974), defines work measurement as “the” application of teachniques designed to establish the work for a qualified worker to carry out a specified job at a defined level of performance”.
The objectives that are achieved with the help of work measurement in an organisation are:MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
Choosing between various alternatives: A job can be done in various methods and the choice that suits the organisation based on the time taken by one method in comparison to another etc. is an example of this.
Arriving at the optimum number of workforce to be employed for a particular job so that it is neither overstaffed nor understaffed to enable maximising the quality and quantity of production.
With work measurement, the possibility of accuracy in planning and scheduling of operations is that much easier. It takes into consideration the availability of resources with respect to personel, money and material.
Work measurement acts as an effective means of control as there is clarity in all the procedures and maintenance of records is as per standards, and
Standards are of great use in estimating costs that is being taken up. These can be compared with respect to evaluation of forecasts.
If there is no parity amongst these two tenures or if the difference is huge the reasons can be evaluated so that the system can be revamped to be more effective.
The workforce understands exactly the optimum standards which can be achieved and which is expected from them. This helps a great dealing performance based pay packages.MPA 13 Solved Free Assignment 2023-24
Standards act as a base to measure the effectiveness by way of comparison with the actual results/achievements.
Standards help in discharging the managerial functions more efficiently.
Standards also pave way for finding practical solutions to likely problem areas.