Profile
Dr Muhammad Afzal holds a PhD in Business and Management (2024) and a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) (2017) from the School of Business and Management at Queen Mary University of London. He has over a decade of professional experience as a career civil servant in Pakistan, serving in various managerial and operational roles within police organizations at the local and provincial/state levels. His diverse background combines academic rigor with practical expertise in public administration and organizational management.
Teaching
Muhammad Afzal has been working as a Teaching Associate in SBM since 2020 and has provided teaching and learning support on the following modules:
Undergraduate
- BUS328 Managing public services
- BUS249 Managing under regulation
Postgraduate
- BUSM145 Research methods for management
Research
Research Interests:
Muhammad Afzal’s research lies at the intersection of public administration, digital transformation, and policing. His doctoral research examined the implications of digital transformation—particularly data and algorithms—for public sector officials, focusing on street-level bureaucracy. By analysing police officers’ responses to data-driven policing, his work contributes to contemporary behavioural approaches in public administration and digital government. He offers innovative recommendations for integrating discretion into the training of public officials, ensuring the effective use of data-driven decision-making tools.
His broader research interests include:
- Public management, behavioral public administration, street-level bureaucracy, leadership, and performance management.
- Digital government and transformation, with a focus on data, algorithms, and AI.
Public services, especially policing and police management.
Publications
Journal articles
- Afzal, M., & Panagiotopoulos, P. (2024). Coping with digital transformation in frontline public services: A study of user adaptation in policing. Government Information Quarterly, 41(4), 101977. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2024.101977
- Afzal, M., & Panagiotopoulos, P. (2024). Data in Policing: An Integrative Review. International Journal of Public Administration, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2024.2360586
Conference publications and presentations
- Afzal, M., & Panagiotopoulos, P. (2023) Coping with Digital Technologies in Street-Level Bureaucracy: A Study of Smart Policing, Public Management Research Conference (PMRC 2023), Utrecht, Netherlands, June 2023.
- Afzal, M., & Panagiotopoulos, P. (2023) Understanding Discretion via Algorithms in the Public Sector: A Study with Police Officers in the UK, American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) Annual Conference, March 2023.
- Afzal, M., Panagiotopoulos, P. (2022). Coping with the Opportunities and Challenges of Smart Policing: A Research Model. In: Janssen, M., et al.Electronic Government. EGOV 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13391. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15086-9_30
- Afzal, M., Panagiotopoulos P. (2020) Data-driven Policing - A Systematic Review, Netherlands Institute for Government Annual Work Conference, November 2020.
- Afzal, M., & Panagiotopoulos, P. (2020). Smart Policing: A Critical Review of the Literature. In: Viale Pereira, G., et al.Electronic Government. EGOV 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 12219. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57599-1_5
