Sponsored by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)
In recent years, professionals from a wide range of sectors – including government, education and business – have had to deal with some of the world’s most complex challenges, such as political protests, environmental disasters and climate change, pandemics and public health crises. Faced with this uncertainty, societies across the world are in desperate need of stability and sustainability.
Public managers play a key role in this. By improving the services and performance of public organisations, they ensure that the most crucial functions of society benefit all citizens and improve their daily lives.
But how exactly do public managers operate, and why does the world need them more than before?
Global crises require public managers with greater policy capacity
The past two decades have been characterised by some of the biggest shifts ever seen in society. From rapid technological advances and middle class anxieties to the depletion of environmental ecosystems and the instability of electoral politics, these challenges have required public managers and leaders who are equipped not only with managerial skills but also with analytical abilities and political acumen.
Throughout 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic amplified the importance of governments demonstrating greater policy capacity, whether at analytical, operational or political levels.
Across the world, demands for more capable, trusted public institutions are likely to grow. In 2021 for example, vaccination rollouts and the use of technologies to contain the spread of the virus will demonstrate how good public managers are critical in ensuring the transition back to a sense of ‘normality’.
Because of the volatility of our highly connected globalised economies, public managers of tomorrow must be prepared to operate in a rapidly changing and disruptive world. Degrees such as the new Master of Public Management (MPM) at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) are crucial in helping aspiring public managers develop the right skillsets and mindsets to thrive in complex and uncertain times.
Unlike traditional programmes in public administration, the MPM focuses on helping students gain knowledge and capabilities that are highly transferable across industries, sectors and policy domains, with its core courses such as Managing the Policy Process and Public Management for Technology Innovation.
What’s more, MPM students at HKUST have the opportunity to take electives in other departments or schools so that they can integrate perspectives from other disciplines such as economics, psychology and data analytics. This is extremely important as our interconnected society is set to inevitably face a range of policy challenges – which require a globally oriented, inter-disciplinary approach.
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