MPA-013: PUBLIC SYSTEMS MANAGEMENT (TMA)

Course Code: MPA -013

This assignment consists of Sections I and II. There are ?ve questions in each section. You have
to answer a total of ?ve questions in about 500 words each. It is necessary to attempt at least two

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questionsfrom each section. Each question carries 20 marks.

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SECTION-I

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1) Analyse the constitutional environment of public systems in India.

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2) “There are different social factors that affect the organisation and working 20

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environment of public systems” - Examine.

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3) Write a note on various mode
ls of governance. 20

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4) Describe the role of the judiciary in governance.
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5) Discuss the principles and techniques of Total Quality Management. 20

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SECTION-II

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6) Trace the evolution of Managementformation
In System and explain its structure.
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7) Describe the techniques for improving the ef?ciency and productivity of public
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systems.

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8) Discuss the various mechanisms to ensure the responsiveness in public systems.
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9) Explain the important mo
dels of change management. 20

10)Write a note on the issues and strategies of women’s empowerment 20

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 ASSIGNMENT SOLUTIONS GUIDE (2018-2019)
M.P.A.-13
Public Systems Management
Disclaimer/Special Note: These are just the sample of the Answers/Solutions to some of the Questions given in the

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Assignments. These Sample Answers/Solutions are prepared by Private Teacher/Tutors/Authors for the help and guidance
of the student to get an idea of how he/she can answer the Questions given the Assignments. We do not claim 100%

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accuracy of these sample answers as these are based on the knowledge and capability of Private Teacher/Tutor. Sample
answers may be seen as the Guide/Help for the reference to prepare the answers of the Questions given in the assignment.

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As these solutions and answers are prepared by the private teacher/tutor so the chances of error or mistake cannot be

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denied. Any Omission or Error is highly regretted though every care has been taken while preparing these Sample Answers/

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Solutions. Please consult your own Teacher/Tutor before you prepare a Particular Answer and for up-to-date and exact

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information, data and solution. Student should must read and refer the official study material provided by the university.

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This assignment consists of Sections I and II. There are five questions in each section. You have to answer

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a total of five questions in about 500 words each. It is necessary to attempt at least two questions from each

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section. Each question carries 20 marks.

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SECTION-I

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Q. 1. Analyse the constitutional environment of public systems in India.

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Ans. The Constitution is the basic law of the land. It not only establishes institutions of government but also lays

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down the goals of the State. Governance, in its political sense means the exercise of legal power and authority vested

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in the institutions and bodies of the Constitution to carry out the avowed goals and purposes of the State. The system

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of governance in India is in accordance with some of the basic objectives having been laid down by the planners in

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the light of the Constitution of the country. In the context of these objectives, public systems have to be managed.

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The main thrust of these systems has been on self-reliance, economic growth, industrialization, modernization and

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social justice.

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The Indian Constitution is not merely a document dealing with responsibilities and powers of the Union and the
States, it lays down the basic philosophy of governance and provides a kind of direction to administer the country.

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The Constitution of India is a remarkable document. It occupies an important place not only among the newly

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emerged States but also in the constitutional history of the world. The Constitution of India deals, in an elaborate
manner with the problem of relations between Union and the States, problems relating to public services, special

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classes like Anglo-Indians, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The Constitution embodies an elaborate list of
Fundamental Rights and also the Directive Principles of the State Policy. The Preamble of the Constitution declares
India to be a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic. A study of its features reveals that it is a unique

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document in size, form and content.
Constitutional Environment of Public System
Governments of today’s age are constitutional governments. Constitutions take into consideration not only the
three branches of government i.e. the executive, the judiciary and the legislature. Therefore, apart from these, there
has to be an adequate understanding of the important constitutional provisions with respect to the operating of
public systems and also the provisions pertaining to various authorities and commissions provided for, in the
constitution that help in achieving the constitutional goals and objectives. In the Indian context, the features of the
Indian Constitution broadly determine the atmosphere in which public systems work in are:
(i) Preamble: The preamble provides us the gest regarding the philosophy of constitutional governance. It
declares our country as a “Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic”. The four pillars on which our
democracy stands are justice, liberty, equality and fraternity.

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 (ii) Parliamentary Democracy: India stands by the definition of a democracy as a government for the people,
of the people and by the people. In this system of government, the executive occupies a very important part of the
parliament and is responsible for it.
(iii) Federation with Strong Centre: India is described as a “Union of States” by the Constitution. The basic
structural features of federal government though, not mentioned are incorporated in the Constitution. The basic
principle of a federal government is a strong centre. In India, this ensures national unity and growth at one end and
surprisingly regional autonomy at the other.
(iv) Fundamental Rights and Duties:
These are divided into six groups:
(a) Right to equality,
(b) Right to particular freedom,

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(c) Right against exploitation,
(d) Right to freedom of religion,

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(e) Cultural and educational rights.

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(f) Right to constitutional remedies.

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None of the rights are absolute and the state can impose reasonable restrictions on these rights.

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(v) Directive Principles of State Policy: Part IV of the Constitution containing Articles 36 to 51 looks into the

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directive principles of state policy. Some of the Directive Principles entrust the state to:

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(a) Promote the welfare of the people and secure a just social order.

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(b) Ensure equal justice and free legal aid to the poor.

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(c) Take steps to organise village panchayats and to endow them with such powers as may be necessary to

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enable them to function as units of self-governments.

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(d) Make efforts to secure a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.

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These Directive Principles are not enforceable by courts.

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(vi) Independent Judiciary: In India, the Supreme Court is the apex court and all the High Courts and the

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subordinate courts work under it. The President of India appoints the judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts

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but the terms and conditions of their service are regulated by the Constitution.

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(vii) Judicial Review: In Indian context, judiciary has the power to interpret the Constitution and to pinpoint the

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relationship of various aspects of the Constitution. Some of the other features of the Constitution include single
citizenship, bicameral legislature, and special provision for minorities, scheduled castes and tribes. Though over the

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years there have been a large number of amendments to our Constitution, the basic characteristics remain in place.

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Q. 4. Describe the role of the judiciary in governance.

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Ans. Role of the Judiciary in Governance: The Judiciary plays an important role in the governance of a
country like India. It is an integral part of our democratic set-up and helps in the well-being of the society at large.

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India has seen a lot of legal professionals deeply involved with the country’s governance right from the days of

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our freedom struggle. the judicial system was set up in such a way that it is an independent entity without any
interference from the executive or the legislature.

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Independence of Judiciary
Judiciary plays a very important role in imparting good governance in a democratic set-up like India. The
constitutional set-up provides for an independent and impartial judiciary and the key element to maintain this cardinal

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element is the appointment of the judges. The constitutional provisions regarding the appointment of a judge is that
only those persons are eligible for becoming a judge of the Supreme Court, firstly has to be a citizen of India:
(a) has been judge of a High Court of two or more such courts in succession at least for five years,
(b) has been an advocate of a High Court or of two or more such courts in succession at least for 10 years, or
(c) is a distinguished jurist, in the opinion of the President.
The age of retirement of judges is 65 and 62 years for Supreme Court and High Court respectively and most
importantly supreme court judges are barred from practicing law before any court of authority within the territory of
India after retirement. The financial emoluments and other perks and privileges are up to the standards and all the
actions and decisions of the judges in their official capacity are immune from criticised and most importantly the
Supreme Court has been authorised to have complete control over it. It is also authorised to make appointment of
officers and servants of the court and determine their service conditions.

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Role and Functions of Supreme Court
The most important role of the judiciary is to carryout the constitutional message and its responsibility to keep
an eye over the functioning of democracy in accordance with the Constitution. The following are the roles and
functions of the Supreme Court:
(i) Original Jurisdiction (Article 131): The Supreme Court has an exclusive jurisdiction in any dispute between:
(a) The Government of India and one or more states,
(b) The Government of India and any state or states on one side and one or more states on the other or
(c) Two or more states.
(ii) Appellate Jurisdiction (Articles 132 to 136): This refers to the power of reviewing and revising the orders
of lower courts and tribunals. This covers both the civil and criminal appeals from the High Courts under certification

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from these courts or in its absence, permitted by the Supreme Court itself.
(iii) Advisory Jurisdiction: Under Article 143, the Supreme Court is incharge of the power of advisory jurisdiction.

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The Supreme Court on its behalf when consulted by the President, may or may not give its opinion. The opinion
thereafter is not binding on the president.

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(iv) Supreme Court as a Court of Record: According to Article 129, the Supreme Court shall be a court
of record and is vested with all powers of such a court, even the power to punish for contempt of itself.

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(v) Appeal by Special Leave: This is covered under Article 136 and under its discretion grant special leave to

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appeal from any judgment, decree, determination, sentence or order in any matter passed by any Indian Court or

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tribunal.

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(vi) Writ Jurisdiction: The Supreme Court being the custodian of individual liberties and fundamental rights

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has the authority to declare a law passed by any legislature null and void if it violates the fundamental rights guaranteed

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to the people by the Constitution. To enforce these fundamental rights, it can issue writs in the nature of Habeas

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Corpus, Mandamus, Certiorari, Prohibition and Qua-Warranto.

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(vii) Judicial Review: Judicial Review implies the power to review and determine the validity of a law or an

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order. It refers to “the power of a court to inquire whether a law, executive order or other official action conflicts with

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the written Constitution, and if the court concludes that it does, to declare its unconstitutional and void.

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The court can challenge the constitutional validity of a law on the following grounds:

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(i) The subject matter of the legislation is beyond the corpulence of the legislature which has passed it.

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(ii) It is repugnant to the provisions of the constitution.

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(iii) It infringes one of the fundamental rights.

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Q. 5. Discuss the principles and techniques of Total Quality Management.

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Ans. Total Quality Management (TQM) is an approach that seeks to improve quality and performance which
will meet or exceed customer expectations. This can be achieved by integrating all quality-related functions and

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processes throughout the company. TQM looks at the overall quality measures used by a company including managing

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quality design and development, quality control and maintenance, quality improvement, and quality assurance.
TQM takes into account all quality measures taken at all levels and involving all company employees.

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Total quality management has evolved from the quality assurance methods that were first developed around the
time of the First World War. The war effort led to large scale manufacturing efforts that often produced poor quality.
To help correct this, quality inspectors were introduced on the production line to ensure that the level of failures due

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to quality was minimized.
After the First World War, quality inspection became more commonplace in manufacturing environments and
this led to the introduction of Statistical Quality Control (SQC), a theory developed by Dr. W. Edwards Deming.
This quality method provided a statistical method of quality based on sampling. Where it was not possible to inspect
every item, a sample was tested for quality. The theory of SQC was based on the notion that a variation in the
production process leads to variation in the end-product. If the variation in the process could be removed this would
lead to a higher level of quality in the end-product.
After World War-II, the industrial manufacturers in Japan produced poor quality items. In a response to this, the
Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers invited Dr. Deming to train engineers in quality processes. By the 1950’s
quality control was an integral part of Japanese manufacturing and was adopted by all levels of workers within an
organization.

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 By the 1970’s the notion of total quality was being discussed. This was seen as company-wide quality control
that involves all employees from top manage-ment to the workers, in quality control. In the next decade more non-
Japanese companies were introducing quality management procedures that based on the results seen in Japan. The
new wave of quality control became known as Total Quality Management, which was used to describe the many
quality-focused strategies and techniques that became the center of focus for the quality movement.
TQM can be defined as the management of initiatives and procedures that are aimed at achieving the delivery of
quality products and services. A number of key principles can be identified in defining TQM, including:
l Executive Management: Top management should act as the main driver for TQM and create an environment
that ensures its success.
l Training: Employees should receive regular training on the methods and concepts of quality.
l Customer Focus: Improvements in quality should improve customer satisfaction.

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l Decision Making: Quality decisions should be made based on measurements.
l Methodology and Tools: Use of appropriate methodology and tools ensures that non-conformances are

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identified, measured and responded to consistently.
Continuous Improvement: Companies should continuously work towards improving manufacturing and quality

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procedures.
Company Culture: The culture of the company should aim at developing employees ability to work together

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to improve quality.

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l Employee Involvement: Employees should be encouraged to be proactive in identifying and addressing quality

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related problems.

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A core concept in implementing TQM is Deming’s 14 points, a set of management practices to help companies

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increase their quality and productivity:

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l Create constancy of purpose for improving products and services.

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l Adopt the new philosophy.

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l Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality.

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l End the practice of awarding business on price alone; instead, minimize total cost by working with a single
supplier.

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l Improve constantly and forever every process for planning, production and service.

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l Institute training on the job.

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l Adopt and institute leadership.

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l Drive out fear.

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Break-down barriers between staff areas.

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l Eliminate slogans, exhortations and targets for the workforce.
l Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce and numerical goals for management.

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l Remove barriers that rob people of pride of workmanship, and eliminate the annual rating or merit system.

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l Institute a vigorous programme of education and self-improvement for everyone.
l Put everybody in the company to work accomplishing the transformation.

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SECTION-II
Q. 6. Trace the evolution of Management Information System and explain its structure.
Ans. Evolution System MIS: Initially in businesses and other organizations, internal reporting was made manually

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and only periodically, as a by-product of the accounting system and with some additional statistic(s), and gave
limited and delayed information on management performance. Previously, data had to be separated individually by
the people as per the requirement and necessity of the organization. Later, data was distinguished from information,
and so instead of the collection of mass of data, important and to the point data that is needed by the organization was
stored.
Earlier, business computers were mostly used for relatively simple operations such as tracking sales or payroll
data, often without much detail. Over the time, these applications became more complex and began to store increasing
amount of information while also interlinking with previously separate information systems. As more and more data
was stored and linked man began to analyze this information into further detail, creating entire management reports
from the raw, stored data. The term “MIS” arose to describe these kinds of applications, which were developed to
provide managers with information about sales, inventories, and other data that would help in managing the enterprise.

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Today, the term is used broadly in a number of contexts and includes (but is not limited to): decision support
systems, resource and people management applications, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain
Management (SCM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), project management and database retrieval
applications.
An ‘MIS’ is a planned system of the collection, processing, storage and dissemination of data in the form of
information needed to carry out the management functions. In a way, it is a documented report of the activities that
were planned and executed. According to Philip Kotler, “A marketing information system consists of people,
equipment, and procedures to gather, sort, analyze, evaluate, and distribute needed, timely, and accurate information
to marketing decision makers.”
The terms MIS and information system are often confused. Information systems include systems that are not

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intended for decision-making. The area of study called MIS is sometimes referred to, in a restrictive sense, as
information technology management. That area of study should not be confused with computer science. IT service

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management is a practitioner-focused discipline. MIS has also some differences with ERP which incorporates elements
that are not necessarily focused on decision support.

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Any successful MIS must support a businesses Five Year Plan or its equivalent. It must provide for reports based
upon performance analysis in areas critical to that plan, with feedback loops that allow for titivation of every aspect

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of the business, including recruitment and training regimens. In effect, MIS must not only indicate how things are

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going, but why they are not going as well as planned where that is the case. These reports would include performance

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relative to cost centers and projects that drive profit or loss, and do so in such a way that identifies individual

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accountability, and in virtual real-time.

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Anytime a business is looking at implementing a new business system it is very important to use a system

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devlopment method such as System Development Life Cycle. The life cycle includes Analysis, Requirements, Design,

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Development, Testing and Implementation.

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Professor Allen S. Lee states that “...research in the information systems field examines more than the technological

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system, or just the social system, or even the two side by side; in addition, it investigates the phenomena that emerge
when the two interact.”

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Structure of MIS: Management Information System (MIS) is basically concerned with processing data into

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information. which is then communicated to the various departments in an organization for appropriate decision-

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making.

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Data Information Communication Decisions and Data Collection involves the use of Information Technology

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(IT) comprising: computers and telecommunications networks e.g. E-Mail, Voice Mail, Internet, telephone, etc.

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Computers are important for more quantitative, than qualitative data collection, storage and retrieval. Special
features are speed and accuracy, and storage of large amount of data. Telecommunication provide the means for one-

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way or two-way communication and for the transmission of messages. A combination of IT is used: telephone,

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computer, processor, printer, etc. A lot of time and money are saved and the security of data and messages is ensured.
MIS provides several benefits to the business organization. The means of effective and efficient coordination

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between departments; quick and reliable referencing; access to relevant data and documents; use of less labour;
improvement in organizational and departmental techniques; management of day-to-day activities (as accounts,
stock control, payroll, etc.); day-to-day assistance in a department and closer contact with the rest of the world.

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It is important to note that whatever IT is installed must be appropriate to the organization, and to each department.
Q. 8. Discuss the various mechanisms to ensure the responsiveness in public systems.
Ans. Responsiveness: Concept: Responsiveness in plain terms refers to the point to which the public service
providers is open to criticism and complain in order to improve the quality of the service being provided.
Responsiveness is a very dynamic process and evolves on a continuous basis. It also takes into considenation the
willingness on the part of the service provider to engage in this process. This process has to be two-way to improve
the service of the public organisation and there should be cohesiveness in between both the service providers as well
as the public which is on the demand side to ensure effective response programme.
Responsiveness Mechanisms
The service providers in order to improve the pattern of responsiveness work to evaluate the present responsive
measure and adopt changes as per requirements. Some of these measures are consultations with the users to bring

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about the exact changes that they are working forward to, setting a certain standard to which they promise to adhere
to and performance targets such as training, giving importance to organisational learning and also providing legal
rights for service users in case of delivery of substandard services.
Citizen Monitoring: In present day and age, we can safely say that because of various reasons. The consumer
is adhere at the helm of affairs. There has been a lot of change in the responsiveness of the organisation towards
citizen grouses. This has led to the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) by public servies organisations. This process
has envolved from its traditional setup into participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM & E) PM & E is based on
the following principles:
(i) Participation
(ii) Negotiation
(iii) Learning

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(iv) Flexibility.

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This process is being used by various governmentss and aid organisations to make themselves more accountable
and also inclusive.

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Setting Standards: Setting standards works on a two pronged approach. From the service providers side,

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it ensures they maintain a minimum set target and from the consumer side, they have a set standard to compare

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to the actual service provided to them.

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Incentives and Performance Measurement: This tool is effective in ensuring effective performance from

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public organisations. It is a well known fact that performance based pay acts as a good tool in improving the individual

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efficiencies.

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Organisational Culture Ethos: This concept includes training and orientation to ensure change in the bureaucratic

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way to working and also aims at improving job satisfaction levels. Because change is work ethics result most of the

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times in effective administration.

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Transparency: When an organisation is based on the fundamental premise that it is working for the public, the

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public definitely should have access to their way of functioning and this definitely ensures efficiency.
Information access: This ensures that the service receivers have all the information they wish to know.

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One stop shops: These initiatives are aimed at access to service at a local level.

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New Rights for Citizens: This ensures that public is entitled to a particular service within the constitutional

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gambit and failure of providing the service within the specified time period upto the quality standards specified the

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public can sue the organisation for compensation or a public interest litigation to ensure things fall into place.

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