Yongjin Chang
Director’s Message
Welcome to the Public Management and Policy Analysis Program (PMPP) at the International University of Japan (IUJ)! Our program was launched in 2010 as the first public management graduate program in Japan.
Public management (or public administration) studies better ways of managing public organizations and civil servants, and delivering public services to citizens under legal, political, economic, social, cultural, and other external environments. Public management seeks the ways of getting things done by utilizing limited resources efficiently and effectively.
As problem solvers, public managers should be able to identify and formulate public problems correctly, find appropriate alternatives, mobilize necessary resources (e.g., knowledge, money, and labor forces), and coordinate problem-solving activities. They should have not only knowledge and skills, but also managerial leaderships and ethical standards.
PMPP at IUJ has three unique features. First, it offers American public management curriculum although some courses are customized toward Asian contexts. Second, it emphasizes empirical and quantitative analyses although qualitative approaches are also acceptable. The curriculum requires all students to study basic mathematics, statistics, econometrics, and microeconomics.
Finally, PMPP emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches to analyze and solve public problems. PMPP is tightly coupled with the International Development Program (IDP) of the Graduate School of International Relations (GSIR); students may take IDP courses and choose an IPD faculty member as his or her supervisor. PMPP even encourages students to take courses in the Graduate School of International Management (GSIM) and improve their English and/or Japanese at the IUJ Center for Language Education and Research.
I hope you are able to grasp solid understandings of public management and policy in PMPP and thus prepare for your successful professional career in government or nonprofit sector.