Leadership Strategy and Performance

Lecture 7 280220
Strategy – use in the public sector

Dr Pauline Jas
School of Sociology and Social Policy
University of Nottingham
Room B28, Law and Social Sciences Building
0115 95 15 425
pauline.jas@nottingham.ac.uk
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Meaning of strategy
(Stewart, 2004)

‘a pattern of purposes, policies, programmes, actions, decisions, or

resource allocations that define what an organization is, what it
does, and why it does it’ (Bryson, 1988: 163).

Give an agency an identity based on its functions

Signal managerial priorities to clients and other stakeholders
Informing management priorities vs. framing activity for public
consumption
Policy strategy, Organisational strategy, Managerial strategy

‘after the event rationalisation by top management of what they

(often wrongly) believe their organisation has been doing’
(Weick, 1979)
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Strategic planning (Berry, 1994)

Management process with four features:

Clear statement of the organisation’ s mission
Stakeholder map and analysis
3-5 year plan of aims and objectives
Strategy development

‘relatively new innovation’ , ‘quiet revolution under way’

(Berry, 1994)
‘novel 20 years ago . . . orthodox practice by now’ (Poister et
al., 2010)

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Strategic management

Developing and managing a strategic agenda – implementing

the plans
‘Embraces the entire set of managerial decisions and actions
that determine the long-run performance of an organization’
(Koteen, 1989; 18)
Organisation capacity, managerial capability, power structure,
culture, leadership, structure
Anchoring low level planning processes in strategic plans
Planning - resource management - control and evaluation

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Strategic management in the public
sector (Poister et al., 2010)
Driven by availability of resources – management support,
skills, finances, stakeholder involvement
Planning is expected to improve outcomes, but no clear
research evidence
Implementation most problematic stage of strategic
management
Works best when linked to budget, communicated effectively,
and integrated into overall (performance) management

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Environment scanning – PESTL
(Bovaird and Löffler, 2009)

Political – globalisation, migration, loss of trust in politicians

Economic/financial – funding from central govt, demand on
services, skills base, employment, resources
Social – reduced influence of traditional institutions, ageing
society, changing expectations of stakeholders and users,
changing perceptions of diversity, work-life balance
Technological – ICT, e-government
Legal – increasing use of courts

Managerial – New Public Management – introduction of private

sector practices, purchaser/provider split, incentives
SWOT analysis

  Support Obstacle

Internal Strengths Weaknesses

External Opportunities Threats

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SWOT analysis in health care (Wijngaarden et
al., 2012)

Confrontation between external developments (opportunities and

threats) and internal capabilities (strengths and weaknesses)
Four normative premises
strategy is leading
organisations are autonomous
organisations have clear demarcations
organisations are rational hierarchies
Regulated SWOT vs. organic SWOT
SWOTs carried out by staff, presented to Board, included variety
of stakeholders

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Strategic planning in community
organisations (Hu et al., 2014)

Survey and focus group of 20 small organisations (18 have

fewer than 10 f/t staff)
Encouraged by leadership experience and motivation
Useful to clarify mission – tool for focusing aims and activities
Emphasised importance of wide range of stakeholders
Restricted by lack of financial resources an lack of time
No clear follow-up activity – lack of implementation

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Successful implementation (Albanna et al.,
2015)

Survey of 1,133 Canadian public sector organisations at

federal, provincial and municipal levels
Formal strategic planning supports successful implementation
Managerial involvement enhances the connection between
planning and implementation
When there is stakeholder uncertainty, strong planning is even
more important for implementation

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Group discussion

Did your case study organisation use any elements of strategic

management? At what points in time? How do you know?
Could strategic management have helped the organisation? In
what way?

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