Annual Performance Agreement in Bangladesh
An Analysis on Implementation of Mandatory Strategic Objectives
Keywords:
Annual Performance Agreement (APA), Strategic Objective (SO), (Mandatory Strategic Objective (MSO), Government Performance Management System (GPMS)Abstract
The Government of Bangladesh has introduced performance evaluation system,
known as Annual Performance Agreement (APA), for all government offices since
2014-15 financial years. The purpose was to encourage activities that are resultoriented as well as to ensure institutional transparency, accountability, proper
utilization of resources and above all enhancing institutional efficiency. During
preparation of APA documents, each government organization has to select its
respective strategic objectives (SO) for performance enhancement. There are two
types of SO’s; strategic objectives that are set by respective offices according to
the major responsibilities of the office and mandatory strategic objectives (MSOs)
that are set by the Cabinet Division to ensure good governance, improve service
delivery and enhance financial management in government offices. Every MSO
has some activities that describe the tasks to achieve it. Some of the activities
include promoting E-filing, implementation of National Integrity Strategy, use of
Unicode in office documents, introduction of Innovation/Small Improvement
Projects, Citizen’s Charter and Grievance Redress System etc. Although MSOs are
evaluated by the respective office every year, no research has yet been conducted
to understand the challenges and prospects especially by the Cabinet Division. As
the Cabinet Division determines the activities under different MSO, a research was
necessary to facilitate the works of Cabinet Division in this regard. This study aims
to fulfill this need. In this study, primary data were collected from the respondents
through interview by using structured questionnaire. Relevant information was also
collected from secondary sources. This study revealed that the provision of MSO
in APA has created some positive impacts in ensuring accountability and
transparency in public administration of Bangladesh. However, there exists an
implementation gap between ministry and field level offices. This study also stated
some challenges and made some recommendations to overcome the existing
challenges for implementation of MSOs
