ABSTRACT: Public management research has demonstrated that strategy matters for public service performance and public value creation. Most studies consider strategy as something public organizations “have” ̶ a result of a planning and decision-making process or document ̶ but say little about what practitioners “do” as they are engaged in a fairly continuous process of strategy formation. Public managers, policymakers and other professionals must think, act and learn strategically, and not just when developing plans. We define strategizing as a set of interconnected activities undertaken by practitioners to enhance ongoing strategic thinking, acting and learning. Because efforts to conceptualize and measure strategizing have been limited, we integrate insights from ten “strategy schools” and public administration research to conceptualize and measure strategizing using a survey instrument. The survey includes 15 activities validated through expert review and tested among 281 management team members in Flemish municipalities. Factor analysis reveals four components with acceptable reliability and validity, namely purposeful, analytical, place-based, and implementable (PAPI) strategizing. The conceptualization and survey provide a starting point for further research and help practitioners assess their strategizing capacity.

Increasingly, government agencies and non-profit organisations are called on to address challenges that go well beyond any individual organisation’s boundaries and direct control. Strategic management for single organisations cannot respond effectively to these cross- boundary, cross-level, and often cross-sector challenges. Instead, a new approach called strategy management-at-scale is required. This article compares strategic management with strategy management- at-scale. It responds to the question, what does strategy management- at-scale look like, and what seems to contribute to its success? The new approach helps foster – but hardly guarantees – direction, alignment and commitment among the multiple organisations and groups needed to make headway against the challenge.

Strategic planning’s popularity in public organizations cannot be denied, with legislative initiatives even making it mandatory for certain public organizations. Due to strategic planning’s continued popularity in practice, recent years have seen a surge in research on the topic. A synthesis of said research is necessary to identify empirical, conceptual, theoretical, and methodological challenges that remain to be tackled. Drawing from a systematic review of 75 studies through a Strategy-as-Practice lens, this paper contributes to public management theory, research, and practice in three significant ways. First, it provides a structured synthesis and integration of a growing and disparate body of literature, offering a roadmap for future research on strategic planning in public organizations. Second, it proposes a middle-range theoretical framework that captures the complex and dynamic nature of strategic planning in public organizations, providing insight into how strategic planning is conducted and why it may or may not work in certain contexts. Finally, it offers practical relevance for public managers and other public professionals by providing an overview of the various strategic planning choices available and how to optimize them according to their unique contexts and desired outcomes.

It was published online earlier this month in the International Public Management Journal -see citation below. 

Laure Vandersmissen & Bert George (2023) Strategic planning in public organizations: reviewing 35 years of research, International Public Management Journal, DOI: 10.1080/10967494.2023.2271901

https://us06web.zoom.us/rec/share/eCHnJBZ9Gs0BP0r8nVXHy_dBA4SscRZMJrVEbKdFfjQekVHQa-emr7ecJj-d3p_4.zrdzHLsWrzDI5jmb

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5wckz9vyhk78hhk/zoom_0.mp4?dl=0

https://zoom.us/rec/share/5RjHeTCgZ0t35l4PcvKiaumkKmxFA9o-8bgqE_nqVvi5_-X9IacUnEog9FBFGcqv.3aDNmgzXMJXqu_GQ