Theodore H. Poister

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR Concepts, Models, and Processes

Lffective public administration in the age of results-oriented management requires public agencies to develop a capacity for strategic management, the central management process that integrates all major activities and functions and directs them toward advancing an organizations strategic agenda. Strategic management is concerned with strengthening the long-term viability and effectiveness of public sector organizations in terms of both substantive policy and management capacity. It integrates all other management processes to provide a systematic, coherent, and effective approach to establishing, attaining, monitoring, and updating an agencys strategic objectives. Strategic management is integrative in nature in the sense of (a) focusing attention across functional divisions and throughout various organizational levels on common goals, themes, and issues; (b) tying internal management processes and program initiatives to desired outcomes in the external environment; and (c) linking operational? tactical, day-to-day decisions to longer run strategic objectives. Particularly given the dynamic political and institutional environment within which many public agencies operate, an effective strategic management capability is essential for maintaining or strengthening the fit between the organization and its external stakeholders and managing for results within a clearly defined context of mission, mandates, values, and . . vlslon. Strategic management has been addressed in the public administration literature (Koteen, 1989; Nutt & Backoff, 1992; Rabin, Miller, & Hildreth, 1989; Steiss, 1985) but by no means as extensively as has its most critical component, strategic planning, or other management approaches such as total quality management. However, a more recent article by Mlnzant and Vlnzant (1996a) goes a long way toward refocusing appropriate attention on the role of strategic management in the public sector and discussing implementation issues and strategies in an instructive manner. The purpose of the present article is to raise awareness of the central importance of strategic management in government, define the critical elements in a holistic model of strategic management, discuss the strategic management process, and

Strategic Management Research in the Public Sector: A Review, Synthesis, and Future Directions

Although there is considerable literature on strategic planning and management in the public sector, there has been little effort to synthesize what has been learned concerning the extent to which these tools are used in government, how they are implemented, and the results they generate. In this article, the authors review the research on strategic planning and management in the public sector to understand what has been learned to date and what gaps in knowledge remain. In examining the 34 research articles in this area published in the major public administration journals over the past 20 years, the authors find substantial empirical testing of the impacts of environmental and institutional/organizational determinants on strategic management, but efforts to assess linkages between strategic planning processes and organizational outcomes or performance improvements are sparse. Large-N quantitative analyses and comparative case studies could improve the knowledge base in this critical area.

Citizens, Accountability, and Service Satisfaction The Influence of Expectations

Understanding how citizen-consumers form evaluations of public services is critical to understanding account ability in democratic governance. The task of using citizens’ assessments of service quality as an accountability mechanism, however, may be more complex than is commonly understood. In particular, little research has examined how citizens’ expectations about the quality of services may influence their levels of satisfaction with public services. In this article, we examine empirically the relationship between perceived performance, expectations, and satisfaction. We examine these relationships across three service areas: trash, police, and schools, relying on survey data from a statewide survey of Georgia residents. Our results suggest higher subjective assessments of service quality are positively related to satisfaction. They also suggest, however, that an “A” service is not always associated with the same level of satisfaction; holding citizens’ assessments of service quality constant, positive disconfirmation of expectations increases citizen-consumers’ levels of satisfaction with services.

Assessing the Validity, Legitimacy, and Functionality of Performance Measurement Systems in Municipal Governments

There is now great interest in the use of performance measurement and there have been a number of studies that focused on municipal governments. The findings to date tend to be descriptive. This analysis seeks to add to this discussion by comparing real world conditions with the criteria outlined in a prescriptive model. The authors look at the validity, legitimacy, and functionality of municipal performance measures. The data on the use of performance measures come from a detailed survey that was mailed to all municipalities with populations larger than 25,000. The analysis identifies weaknesses in all of the areas that were examined, though there are a number of municipal governments that have developed very sophisticated performance measurement systems. The authors also offer some thoughts on what can be done to enhance municipal performance measures.

Challenges and strategies in applying performance measurement to federal public health programs

Performance measurement is widely accepted in public health as an important management tool supporting program improvement and accountability. However, several challenges impede developing and implementing performance measurement systems at the federal level, including the complexity of public health problems that reflect multiple determinants and involve outcomes that may take years to achieve, the decentralized and networked nature of public health program implementation, and the lack of reliable and consistent data sources and other issues related to measurement. All three of these challenges hinder the ability to attribute program results to specific public health program efforts. The purpose of this paper is to explore these issues in detail and offer potential solutions that support the development of robust and practical performance measures to meet the needs for program improvement and accountability. Adapting performance measurement to public health programs is both an evolving science and art. Through the strategies presented here, appropriate systems can be developed and monitored to support the production of meaningful data that will inform effective decision making at multiple levels.

U.S. Maritime Ports: Trends, Policy Implications, and Research Needs

Major changes in ports and marine shipping in the United States since 1960 resulted from (a) containerization, intermodalism, and increasing scale; (b) reduced rail and over-the-road freight shipping costs; (c) advances in freight logistics and information technology; and (d) the integration of world markets. Consequently, ports face great uncertainty, their benefits are increasingly dispersed and locally less significant, and their adverse impacts remain localized. Yet, fragmented and ineffective public responses remain rooted in a tradition of economies achieved through vast scale and long-lived, inflexible investments spurred by excessive (subsidized) competition. We propose a future-oriented research agenda to improve public policy toward ports through (a) reviews of other nations’ approaches, (b) comparative scholarly case studies of the economic roles of U.S. maritime ports and whether their institutional and funding arrangements match these roles, (c) prospective benefit-cost analyses of publicly funded port expansion plans, and (d) research to identify variables that affect ports and are amenable to policy influence.

Strategic Management Innovations in State Transportation Departments

Building a strong capacity for strategic management is critical for governmental agencies in this era of results-oriented management, but considerable confusion remains about what strategic management involves and how to go about doing it. This article provides a framework for a holistic approach to strategic management in the public sector and explores innovative approaches along these lines in selected leading edge state transportation departments that are proactive in this area. Several guiding principles are distilled from their collective experience that are generalizable to other kinds of public agencies.

Strategic Planning in U.S. Cities: Patterns of Use, Perceptions of Effectiveness, and an Assessment of Strategic Capacity

For this study of the use of strategic planning in American cities, data were collected by a survey of all American cities with populations between 25,000 and one million. Key issues covered were strategic planning applications, perceptions of effectiveness, strategic capacity, and methods of monitoring and evaluation. The findings show that a large number of cities use strategic planning with a high level of satisfaction; however, questions are raised about the true level of strategic capacity.

Strategic Planning and Management in State Departments of Transportation

Abstract This article examines current strategic planning and management practices in state transportation departments based on information solicited through a survey and follow up telephone interviews. Several of these departments have developed comprehensive strategic management processes that drive decisions as they move into the future, but remaining challenges include the need for increased selectivity concerning strategic goals and objectives, the relation of agency strategic plans to transportation system plans, building ownership for strategic agendas, and institutionalizing strategic planning processes in order to survive transitions in top level administrations.

Managerial Practices, Trust in Leadership, and Performance: Case of the Georgia Department of Transportation

This research explores relationships among managerial practices, trust in leadership, teamwork, and organizational performance. It seeks to contribute to the existing knowledge of trust research by exploring several antecedents and outcomes. Based on the social exchange theory, the research examines whether managerial practices are associated with trust in leadership. Trust in leadership, then, is expected to improve teamwork and organizational performance by several leadership theories. Using data from an employee survey conducted for the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) in 2010, we test the ideas by structural equation model analysis. Three kinds of trust in leadership—trust in department leadership, trust in leadership team, and trust in supervisor—are investigated. The analysis confirms that several managerial practices are substantially associated with the three kinds of trust, which in turn affects teamwork and organizational performance. Trust in department leadership is directly related to performance, whereas trust in leadership team and trust in supervisor are more likely to affect performance through teamwork.