Public Management and Governance

The Public Management and Governance track (PMG track) aims to attract qualified and motivated students that are interested in conducting academic and non academic research on public and non-profit management themes, in times in which the lines between public, non profit and private are blurred.

Besides the research methodology courses, taught in English and held during the first year of the programme, lectures address the following main issues, among others, through a multidisciplinary perspective:
- Public management reform programmes: implementation patterns and evaluation of effects;
- Strategy and performance management in the public sector;
- Organizational change and innovation;
- Transparency, open government and fight of corruption;
- Collaborative governance: network management and co-production;
- Leadership;
- Accounting and accountability;
- Management of healthcare organizations;
- Management of international institutions;
- Good governance and inclusive development;
- Non-profit management, social entrepreneurship and social innovation.

A particular emphasis is put on relevance of research activities for policy-makers, practitioners and public understanding, in addition to methodological rigour.

PhD candidates are encouraged to actively participate in international academic networks such as the International research Society in Public Management (IRSPM), the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA), the Public and non profit management SIG at the European Academy of Management (EURAM), and EGPA-Med among others.

They also take part in teaching activities in the main under- and post-graduate courses in public and non profit management taught at the University of Rome Tor Vergata and have the opportunity to gain practical skills and work experience such as organising international conferences and training courses.

Previous candidates of the PhD track now work as professors in Italian and foreign universities and occupy leadership positions in national and local institutions.

The PMG Track Coordinator is Professor Denita Cepiku.

Track Schedule

First year
It is focused on consolidating the Ph.D. candidate’s basic knowledge about the research skills and the existing body of research in their field. Students are involved in learning activities such research methodology classes, seminars, and other initiatives. In the second half of the first year the PhD student has to identify and select a research theme, with the support of a senior researcher that will play the role of Supervisor, taking into account student’s research interests and study/professional experience, by attending the events promoted by the Program and the partner Universities, in order to obtain the credit points for the various Program activities. At the end of the first year, the Ph.D. candidate present his/her proposal, including the title of the thesis, and a full review of the literature that supports the proposal and stress the importance of the research project to advance the frontier of knowledge on a specific area of interest.
The proposal will be evaluated, and in case of a positive result the Ph.D. Student is admitted to the second year of the program. Whenever the research proposal will not be positively judged, the PhD Student will not be allowed to continue his/her Ph.D. program.

Second year
In the 2nd year of the Program, Ph.D. candidates continue their studies and research activities in order to implement the proposals, also by spending a period of study at another University, business, (public or private) research institute, in Italy or abroad, subject to the prior authorization of the Coordinator and acting on the proposal of the supervisor. Students can attend further different types of events such as seminars and summer schools, and they will participate to academic conferences useful to improve knowledge about the research topic of the thesis. The focus of the second year is the refinement of the research questions and the design and start of the field research.

Third year
In the 3rd year of the Program, the Ph.D. candidate must focus on the completion of the doctoral thesis and the preparation of the related final discussion, presenting papers in academic events and submitting them for publications in peer reviewed academic journals.
Teaching is an integral component of the training of the doctoral Ph.D. candidates from the 2nd year. Ph.D. candidates, therefore, may be asked to provide limited teaching support, with respect to the Program courses or to other (first or second level) courses. Teaching support, however, is optional and, as a rule, unremunerated; however, it may exempt the Ph.D. candidate from the payment of the admission and attendance fees.

The selection of Ph.D. Students for the new academic year (new PhD cycle) usually starts in springtime, with exams (written and oral) during the summer, and the activities of the Ph.D. start in September/October. The list of the activities for the full year (e.g. research methodology classes, seminars, conferences, other learning events) are mainly planned at the beginning of each year.
Every six months (in July and in January), PhD students submit an activities report to the track coordinator, previously approved by the supervisor. In the report they account for the research and teaching activities and report publications and progress with their dissertation. At the end of the first and at the end of the second year, a paper should be presented and submitted to the PhD track coordinator.
In case of a negative evaluation the Ph.D. Student will quit his/her program because will not be allowed to enrol for the next year.
At the end of the third year (October) the PhD Students that complete their thesis can be admitted to the final exam, where a committee made by three members will judge the research work.

Track Program Overview

The PMG track program is a three years program and Ph.D. students are required to take part in the scheduled activities, namely, (i) attendance of lectures, and (ii) the completion of a research project, individually and/or as a member of a team, aimed at finalizing the doctoral thesis. During the years PhD candidates accrue credits, as follows: 120 ECTS for the thesis; 50 ECTS for attendance of lectures; 10 ECTS for supplementary and other training activities (overall credits 180 ECTS).
Individual study plans may provide for sections of the Program to be undertaken at other Universities or research institutes, in Italy or elsewhere, for a period of no more than one year. The Program encourages Ph.D. candidates to take part in international conferences and/or visiting period.

Special Lectures in Public Management and Governance

Special Lectures_2023/2024

November 8-10, Palazzo dei Congressi, Roma,
Convention FIASO

November 16, 3:30 - 6:00 pm, Aula Teatro - Via Porta di Castello 44 – Università LUMSA Roma,
Conference in Italian: "Come valutare il sistema penitenziario. Organizzazione, performance e percorsi di riforma".

November 28, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm, and November 29, 10:45 am - 12:30 pm, room F (2nd floor, Bldg B),
PMG Doctoral Colloquia 2023,
PhD students presentation and session chair and discussant, organized by Professors Denita Cepiku and Marco Meneguzzo.

December 1, 10:30 am - 12.30 pm, Library Living Room,
Navigating the Arts. Best Practices in Cultural Institution Management,
Mark Volpe (CEO of the Boston Symphony Orchestra 1997 - 2021),
Filippo Giordano (Professor of Business Administration, LUMSA),
Roberto Ferrari (Direttore esecutivo Museo Galileo),
Sonia Martone* (Direttrice Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti Musicali),
moderates: Denita Cepiku (PhD track coordinator).

March 21, 3:00 - 5:00 pm, classroom A:
How Can Virtuous Real Estate Public-Private Partnerships Be Developed? Towards a Co-Evolutionary Perspective,
Gianpaolo Abatecola.
(mandatory BMA-PMG interTrack lecture)

March 22, 2:00 - 5:00 pm, classroom A:
A Management Accounting Framework to Implement the Novelty Introduced by the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
Ivo Hristov
(BMA Track lecture, elective for PMG students)

March 25, 2:00 - 5:00 pm, classroom B:
Human Resource Management and Performance: What is Next?
Giulia Flamini (U. Politecnica delle Marche
(BMA Track lecture, elective for PMG students)

March 26, 2:00 - 5:00 pm, classroom B:
Dynamic Capabilities in a Flux: An Evolutionary Research Perspective,
Matteo Cristofaro.
(mandatory BMA-PMG interTrack lecture)

March 27, 2:00 - 6:00 pm, classroom B:
Contemporary streams of institutional theory and their application to management and accounting,
Giuseppe Grossi (Kristianstad U, Sweden).
(mandatory PMG-BMA interTrack lecture)

April 3, 10:00 am - 1:00 pm, classroom B:
Management studies in higher education: research trends and emerging paradigms
Rocco Frondizi
(mandatory PMG lecture)

April 3, 2:00 - 5:00 pm, classroom A:
Managerialization and Professionalization of Family Business
Lucrezia Songini (U. of Eastern Piedmont)
(BMA Track lecture, elective for PMG students)

April 10, 2.00 - 6.00 pm, classroom B:
Publication process: editor perspective

Prof. Giuseppe Grossi (Kristianstad U., Sweden)
(mandatory, from the Research Methodology course)

April 15, 2:00 - 4:00 pm, classroom A:
The Social Impact of Universities through Teaching, Research and the Third Mission,
Silvia Baiocco
(mandatory BMA-PMG interTrack lecture)

April 24, 2:00 - 5:00 pm, classroom A:
The healthcare system: managerial issues and research frontiers,
Chiara Fantauzzi
(mandatory PMG lecture)

April 29, 2:00 - 4:00 pm, classroom B:
Knowledge Management and Artificial Intelligence,
Luna Leoni
(BMA Track lecture, elective for PMG students)

May 2, 10.00 am - 2.00 pm, classroom B:
- Heuristics and Biases in Decision-Making;
- Nudge Theory and Behavioral Public Policy.
Martin Horák (Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Czech Republic)

May 3, 10.00 am - 2.00 pm, classroom B:
- Smart Cities: Czech Republic Approach and Current Trends in the World;
- Smart Governance and Citizen Participation.
Martin Horák (Tomas Bata University in Zlín, Czech Republic)

May 15, 11:00 am - 1:00 pm, classroom A:
La motivazione al servizio pubblico: una contestualizzazione all'ambito universitario,
Rocco Palumbo.

Special Lectures_2022/2023

November 20-30,
PMG Doctoral Colloquia 2022, Sala del Consiglio,
PhD students presentation and session chair and discussant, organized by Professors Denita Cepiku and Marco Meneguzzo.

November 30, 2.30 - 4.00 pm, room C,
Fundraising For The Arts: An American Perspective,
Mark Volpe (former President and CEO of the Boston Symphony Orchestra).

April 12 and 13, 9.00 - 13.00, room F,
'Sustainable Development' and 'Data for Good Governance'. A 2030 Agenda approach,
Elira Karaja (Senior Sustainability Specialist UN System Affiliate, C-RASC at George Mason University).

May 22, 9.00-11.00, room B,
"Introduction to System Thinking & System Dynamics",
Prof. Gloria Fiorani.

May 26, 10.00 am - 1.00 pm, room F,
“Participatory budgeting as a tool of citizen engagement”,
Prof. Giorgia Mattei (U. Roma Tre).

June 19, 10.00 am - 1.00 pm, room A,
“Public Sector Audit”,
Prof. Giorgia Mattei (U. Roma Tre).

Special Lectures_2021/2022

September 16, 2021, 9.30 am - 4.30 pm, on-line conference:
Lo sviluppo della ricerca sulla governance e management pubblico in una prospettiva transfrontaliera (Italia, Svizzera e Austria), organized by Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI) and Eurac Research;

November 24, 10.00 am - 12.00 pm:
Welcome Meeting 2021 to the 1st year PMG Track PhD students, Denita Cepiku, classroom B (1st fl, Bldg B);

November 25, 2.30 - 4.30 pm, online international lesson:
Co-production in Scotland: International Lessons on Tackling Inequality, organized by GCVS (Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector);

December 15, 10.00 am - 1.00 pm, classroom A (1st fl, Bldg B):
Determinants of co-production in social and healthcare services, Anna Kozak (U. of Economics in Katowice, Poland);

January 13, 9.00 - 11.00, ELECTIVE on-line lecture:
Circular economy and bioeconomy for a greener and healthier planet, Fabio Fava (U. of Bologna);

January 14, 5.00 - 6.30 pm, online lecture:
The Neo-Weberian State: From ideal-type model to reality?, Geert Bouckaert (KU Leuven and UCL);

March 29, 11.00 am - 1.00 pm, room A (1st floor, Bldg B):
Academic journals and conferences on public management, Visiting Professor Elke Loeffler (Strathclyde University);

March 30 and 31 , and April 1, 6, 7, 8, 11.00 am - 1.00 pm, room T4 on Wednesdays, Aula Magna other days (Bldg A):
Research Design, Visiting Professor Elke Loeffler (Strathclyde University);

April 12, 9.30 am - 12.30 pm, room S7 and Teams:
L'efficientamento organizzativo: una leva per il "New Normal" in Sanità, Prof. Angelo Rosa (LUM);

May 12, 9.30 am - 1.30 pm, room A and Teams:
Performance Management, Prof. Antonio Nisio (U. Bari);

May 19, 9.00 - 11.00 am, just on Teams:
Value-Based Management, Prof. Angelo Rosa (LUM),

May 27, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm, room A and Teams:
The impact of Digital transformation for public and private companies, Prof. Valentina Ndou (U. Salento).

June 27 - July 1:
IIAS-Euromena Annual Conference hosted at Tor Vergata, and
PMG Doctoral Colloquia 2022, PhD students presentation and session chair and discussant, organized by Professors Denita Cepiku and Marco Meneguzzo.

September 30, 2022, 3.00 - 5.00 pm, room S12 and Teams (as second best):
Trasformazione digitale, organizzazione del lavoro e creazione di valore pubblico, Prof. Andrea Cordella (London School of Economics).

September/October:
Comparing Internal Control Approaches in EU Countries, more details will follows.

Local Governments’ Financial Vulnerability: Analyzing the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic, Prof. Emanuele Padovani (U. Bologna), postponed from June 17th, 2022 to the Fall 2022.

Special Lectures_2020/2021

November 10 at 11.00 am, "Advanced Defence Technology - Public Procurement as Industrial Policy: The case of Air Combat Systems" by Col. Andrea Truppo. This is the LINK to the event.

November 10 at 4.00 pm: Lesson with Prof. Ippolito (Ospedale e laboratori di Ricerca Spallanzani). This is the LINK to the event.

November 16 at 9.00 am - 6.00 pm, Virtual Workshop "Governance and performance in universities: a missing link?", organized by JMG & SIW SIDREA.

November 17 at 11.00 am - 12.30 pm, "From Covid to Co-production?", organized by Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland -compulsory attendance-

November 25 at 2.30 - 6.00 pm and November 26 from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, Doctoral Colloquium 2020, PhD students will be asked to present their paper and act as a session chair and discussion for the other papers.

December 2 at 2.30 -4.45 pm, ELECTIVE online seminar series on 'Collaborating for digital transformation' organised by the EU Horizon 2020 research project TROPICO (Transforming into Open, Innovative and Collaborative Governments): Digital Transformation: The Challenge of Better Collaboration within Government

This seminar will focus on the digital transformation in governments, and will explore how to successfully organise and manage collaboration between government agencies and specifically connected to the development of Smart Cities.
Speakers include Professor Jane Fountain (Distinguished professor of political science and public policy and founder and director of the National Center for Digital Government, University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA), Professor Gerhard Hammerschmid (Hertie School, Germany) and a panel with practitioners from leading European Smart Cities.

December 9 at 2.30 -5.00 pm, ELECTIVE online seminar series on 'Collaborating for digital transformation' organised by the EU Horizon 2020 research project TROPICO (Transforming into Open, Innovative and Collaborative Governments): Public-private collaboration for ICT-enabled service innovation.

This seminar is on the effects of public-private collaboration for the development of new, ICT-enabled services (with a focus on eHealth services), and will explain how the joint creation of such services by different actors (like private sector firms, non-profit organisations and citizens) affects their innovativeness.
Speakers include Vincent Dupont (Federal Public Service Health, Belgium), Professor Koen Verhoest (University of Antwerp, Belgium) as well as a panel with participants from across Europe.

January 14 at 9.30 pm, ELECTIVE Panel Discussion: "Unpacking the Chaos at the Capitol", organized by the Central Michigan University.

January 25 - 29 at 9.00 am - 6.00 pm, ELECTIVE on-line conference "Ripensare la Pubblica Amministrazione", organized by SNA - Scuola Nazionale dell’Amministrazione. Registrations are accepted by January 24.

January 28 at 8.45 am - 12.00 pm, ELECTIVE EIPA Open training on EUPAN Strategy Paper 2019-22: "Intergenerational Management inside public administration"

January 28 at 10.00 am, ELECTIVE conversation: “Startup Nation – how We Do it” with Anya Eldan (Vice President, Israel Innovation Authority), in the framework of the Global Governance Online Lecture Series: “Lessons and Challenges on Innovation Learned from the Israeli Experience”. This is the link to join it.

January 29 at 2.00 - 5.00 pm, ELECTIVE GOVTRUST Annual Symposium on “Trust and the COVID-19 Crisis: Regulation and Compliance in Multi-level Governance”.

February 17 at 10.00 am - 4.30 pm, MANDATORY Digital CAF Forum: "CAF2020 - Towards Public Administration Reform and European Integration".

The CAF – the European Common Assessment for better Public Administration – celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2020 with CAF2020, the fifth version of the CAF, which is designed as the European guideline for good governance and excellence in public sector organisations. This digital CAF-Forum presents the new book “Transforming Public Administration with CAF” and is also a milestone of BACID II CAF-programme with the Western Balkan countries which is co-funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation.

February 24 at 8.45 am - 12.00 pm, ELECTIVE EIPA Open training on EUPAN Strategy Paper 2019-22: "New Work: new or old normal? – The modern working environment in public administration".

February 25 at 8.45 am - 12.00 pm, ELECTIVE EIPA Open training on EUPAN Strategy Paper 2019-22: "Skills for a modern and digital environment".

February 26, at 9.30 am - 1.00 pm, ELECTIVE “Empirical Research Methodology: Conducting Interdisciplinary Research”, funded by the AHRC-TECHNE and organized by Brunel University London. Awards will be assigned to the best presentation, best topic and best methodology.

March 5, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm, "Intellectual Capital nell’Evoluzione Teorica negli studi Economico Aziendali", Dr Federica Ricci (U. Rome "La Sapienza"), in Italian language.

March 12, 9.00 am - 1.00 pm, "La Corporate Governance e il Capitale Intellettuale: un approccio integrato", Dr Federica Ricci (U. Rome "La Sapienza"), in Italian language.

March 12, 2.00 - 5.00 pm, "Il Lean Management e la sua applicazione nella P.A. e in Sanità", Prof. Angelo Rosa (U. LUM - LBSC), in Italian language.

April 8, 5.00 - 6.30 pm, ELECTIVE conference organized by Eurac Research “Spendere bene per ripartire meglio”, Dr Carlo Cottarelli, Prof. Gisela Färber, Prof. Kurt Promberger. Registration is needed at this link. Simultaneous translation Italian/German will be provided.

April 23, 10.00 am - 1.00 pm, ELECTIVE ACTIVITY: "Managing University Technology Transfer Networks: Improving the Impact through Co-evolution", Dr Silvia Baiocco.

April 28, 9.00-11.00 am, Seminars on Qualitative Research in Accounting and Organization: "Issues in Publishing Qualitative Research", Prof. G. Grossi (Nord U.), and Prof. Z. Hoque (La Trobe U.), to register, please follow the link: https://nettskjema.no/a/185062 .

May 12, 9.00-11.00 am, Seminars on Qualitative Research in Accounting and Organization: "Photo and Film Elicitation Methods", Prof. L. Parker (RMIT U.), please follow the link: https://nettskjema.no/a/185062 .

May 17 - 21, ELECTIVE activity: "OPEN GOV WEEK", a global call to action to transform the way governments serve their citizens.

May 25, 11.00 am -1.00 pm, on-line seminar "Nudge e Politiche Pubbliche: Economia comportamentale e scienze cognitive nell'organizzazione, comunicazione e regolamentazione pubblica e privata", organized by U. Milano-Bicocca.

June 9, 9.00-11.00 am, Seminars on Qualitative Research in Accounting and Organization: "Case Studies in Accounting Research", Prof. S. Ji (RMIT U.), and Prof. M. Major (ISCTE_IUL, Lisbon), please follow the link: https://nettskjema.no/a/185062 .