Over the last few decades Strategic Planning (SP) has become a central feature in the Public Sector (PS) in developed nations. Some authors have suggested that SP is capable of generating beneficial outcomes, such as helping managers become clearer about future directions, identifying new opportunities and better utilization of resources (Joyce, 2015). SP also plays an important role supporting coordination among the different units of an organization (Mintzberg, 1994).
In this paper we will compare and contrast contemporary uses of SP in local government in Italy (Bellò & Spano, 2015) and in Australia (Kloot & Martin 2000). Public administration in these two countries stems from different traiditions, a function of their historical background and resulting legal systems. We will explore how SP has been used in recent times in local government jurisdictions with the aim of understanding the usefulness of aspects of SP and the process, overall, as outlined by Bryson (2011) in his seminal contributions to this field.
We know from the literature that there are indications that a strategic approach is associated with the effectiveness of government and, to some extent, to economic performance over time (Joyce, 2015; Mulgan, 2009). There are also contrasting positions to the effectiveness of SP, in particular regarding its impact on the performance of public sector organizations (Favoreu, Carassus, & Maurel, 2015).
In this paper we are interested in understanding the reasons why and how SP is actually used in the PS. In the literature several answers are provided, and they range from a mere compliance with the existing legislation to a full awareness of its usefulness.
To frame our paper we will propose a model that contrasts SP awareness with political support for SP processes to better understand why, how and when SP is used in local government organizations. Political support is a necessary prerequisite for achieving the effective use of SP. At the same time, PS organizations and their managers and employees need to be aware of what SP is, its features, its strengths and limitations in order to successfully implement this approach.
REFERENCES
Bellò, Benedetta, & Spano, Alessandro. (2015). Governing the purple zone: How politicians influence public managers. European Management Journal, in press. doi: 10.1016/j.emj.2015.04.002
Bryson, John M. (2011). Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Favoreu, Christophe, Carassus, David, & Maurel, Christophe. (2015). Strategic management in the public sector: a rational, political or collaborative approach? International Review of Administrative. doi: doi: 10.1177/0020852315578410.
Joyce, P. (2015). Strategic Management in the Public Sector, New York: Routledge.
Kloot, L. and J. Martin (2000). Strategic performance management: A balanced approach to performance management issues in local government. Management Accounting Research, 11(2), 231-251.
Mintzberg, Henry. (1994). Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning. New York: The Free Press.
Mulgan, G. (2009), The Art of Public Stragtegy: Mobilizing Power and Knoweldedge for the Commong Good. Oxford: Oxford Universiry Press.
