STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: A TOOL FOR PUBLIC MANAGEMENT?
AN OVERVIEW OF THE BELGIAN FEDERAL EXPERIENCE
International Journal of Public Sector Management, Volume 21, 2008
Abstract
Purpose of this paper The aim of this contribution is to propose a first overview of the strategic plans in the Belgian Federal Administration and to analyse the process of strategic planning itself.
Design/methodology/approach In the first part, the strategic plans are analysed in order to understand the intentions regarding various public policies. A content analysis will be provided in order to propose a typology or at least a comprehensive framework of the intentions. In the second part, the strategic process itself is investigated more into details on the basis of interviews of the presidents of the Federal Public Services. The contribution tries to formalise several behavioural hypotheses in accordance with a model of strategic action in a public context. Finally, the article concludes on the relation between intention and action.
Findings Three models characterize the management plans in Belgian federal administration: external polarization, internal polarization and balanced polarisation. Furthermore, the survey carried out confirms the existence of some effective «behaviours » of public top managers related to the nature of the public sector and to specific constraints. This result is fully coherent with behavioural assumptions formulated by a contextual model of strategic management. All these elements assess the possible divergence between the intentional strategy and the emergent strategies that would result from a more flexible behaviour.
Research limitations/implications This result ...