Public management reform efforts at European level included recently quite some attention for strategic management. Investigations focused on the link between strategy and performance. The review of Boyne and Walker (2010:S189) recommends, among others, to broaden the theoretical approaches, and expand the data and settings of the research conducted. Comparative research efforts have been so far rather limited (Junjan, 2015:49). In order to address this research gap, the efforts of several European partners have been joined within the ISCH COST Action IS1207 - Local Public Sector Reforms: An International Comparison ('LocRef'). One research project organized within this framework conducts a comparative analysis of strategic planning within local governments across a number of European Union member states.
The topic is has both theoretical and practical relevance. Within the continental European setting, strategic planning seems frequently associated to the spatial planning (Junjan, 2015). In the Netherlands, recent legislative reforms outline for the local governments new tasks and responsibilities within the process of strategic planning. These provisions raise new challenges regarding the organizational capacity currently existent in Dutch local governments, given the recent wave of decentralization reforms. Current research can provide a baseline measurement in the long-term development of strategic planning for local governments. Through several case studies, this inquiry aims to capture the efforts conducted by the Dutch local governments in preparing for the implementation of the new reform.
Three variables are central to the analysis conducted through this research project: purpose of the planning, process of planning, and results (which are separated in outputs and outcomes). The paper presents the results of the investigation conducted as part of this research project in the Netherlands. This investigation consisted of two steps: a survey (the instrument was developed by the research team) of the civil servants responsible in the local governments with the organization of the strategic planning in the Dutch local governments (n=393 as of 2015), and content analysis of relevant strategic documents in a number of Dutch local governments.
Boyne, G., & Walker, R. (2010). Strategic Management and Public Service Performance: The Way Ahead. Public Administration Review, 70, S185-S192.
Junjan, V., (2015), ‘Strategic Planning in Local Governments in Europe:'Where Do We Go Now'?’, Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, 11:45-54
Strategic management and public service performance in the New Public Governance era
