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STRATEGIC PLANNING & PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION.
Term Paper ID:24077
Essay Subject:
Concept & practice of organizational strategizing & public projects. History since Great Depression, bureaucracy, community impact, budget cuts, goals, limitations.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Concept & practice of organizational strategizing & public projects. History since Great Depression, bureaucracy, community impact, budget cuts, goals, limitations.
Paper Introduction:
In the field of public administration, there are countless stories of planning fiascoes. For example, one popular story of poor planning cites the highway department that built a bridge that connected to nothing on the other side of the river. The expected road on the other side was never constructed. Planning is the first rule to wise public management. It seems an obvious presumption and yet, as Mintzberg (1973, p. 38) tells us, managers frequently do not plan carefully. Managers too often spend their time dealing with day-to-day crises rather than planning strategically.
This research examines the concept of strategic planning in public administration. The historical evolution of strategic planning in tracked through the field of public administration, and its contemporary application is scrutinized.
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Today, the lack of coordination between these planning agencies isoften decried as government "waste and inefficiency"--and indeed the lackof coordination does cause inefficiency and undermines the planningfunction. New concepts of strategy will inevitably require or be created by newand different processes. The sheer number of new planning agencies at every levelof government led to a new problem: the coordination of publicadministration planning between all these various agencies. 5). The laissezfaire attitudes of earlier epochs had now been almost entirely abandoned inthe wake of domestic (Depression) and foreign (war) pressures to make surethat social projects were realized in the most efficient way possible. Additionally, many jurisdictions have established advisory groupsto help coordinate planning among communities. A little more than adecade later, World War II also contributed to the rising importance ofplanning in public administration. Simon offered the concept of"satisficing" in strategic planning, which means that managers must seekdecisions which satisfy project demands and which are sufficient for theproblem being addressed (Rehfuss, 1973, p. If we can identify the dimensions of this framework, we candescribe the foundation of a strategy. These dimensions are unique to each business andconstitute a simple, understandable, powerful, and effective way to definean organization's strategic profile. The federal government has been forced to make plans basedon fewer resources, and state and local governments have been forced toturn to their own limited resources for social and infrastructuralplanning. The historical evolution of strategic planning in trackedthrough the field of public administration, and its contemporaryapplication is scrutinized. Mertins, for example, claims that strategic planning has lost"its usefulness as an integrating, encompassing concept" (Mertins, 1971, p.254). Even in today'sInformation Age, a public manager cannot possibly acquire all the relevantinformation for decisionmaking. The goal ofpublic administration planning in this case is the anticipation thatefficiency in public projects would require that all mains be of the samesize so that growth and interlinking is easily accomplished. Once strategy planning sets the goals and framework for a project,the plan must be implemented through strategy management. Organizations. State and local governments had to justify andaccount for each of their federally-supported programs. Their conclusion, therefore,may be misleading. The expected road on the other side was neverconstructed. Lexington: D.C. Strategy has beendescribed as consisting of "hyper-competition," resources/corecompetence/capabilities, population ecology, time/speed, chaos/complexity,and issue management. 38) tells us,managers frequently do not plan carefully. (1975). Strategic management exists when organizations move beyond planningto develop mechanisms for the implementation of strategies. Public administration in America. Later, the Great Depression and World War II forcedpublic management to devise a process of strategic planning in order tohelp understand the available options of decisions. Strategic planning forms the solid ground upon which a managerwill be able to effectuate the decision environment of the organization.The "decision environment" refers to internal and external conditions thatdetermine what is actually possible to achieve through the project(Michael, 1982, p. Many state and local jurisdictions followed suit andcreated their own jurisdictional planning councils. These developments have not spelled the end to publicadministration planning, but have meant that planning of governmentalprojects must face new obstacles and challenges. White(Ed.), The future of government in the United States (pp. So, too, would the conversion of a war-timeeconomy to a peace-time economy. For example, one popular story of poor planning citesthe highway department that built a bridge that connected to nothing on theother side of the river. (1988). For example, most communities are responsible for their own waterprojects. The Great Society of President Johnson inthe 196 s kept social planning in the limelight. Sifting through these multitudinous and individuallypersuasive perspectives to create an integrated, useful, and manageableapproach requires that we take a step back and remind ourselves of why astatement of strategy is needed and what the nature is of the issues thatstrategic planning processes address. Strategic Planning At the core of strategic planning is a framework of fundamentalalternatives. Today's scholars have refined the notion of strategic planning byidentifying some of the preconditions that affect plans. Mintzberg, on the other hand, has focused most of his attention onthe dilemmas posed by external factors. "A study in transitions." PublicAdministration Review, 31, 254-258.Michael, S. (1994). (1958). Plans are aimed atmaking the best use of an organization's resources presently and in thefuture environment and that they provide a solid basis for managerialcontrol over the direction of the project (Bolan, 1975). New York: Wiley.Mertins, H. & Roering, W. State planning councilsusually have fallen under the auspices of the governor's office. These dimensions are unique to eachbusiness and constitute a simple, understandable, powerful, and effectiveway to define an organization's strategic profile. With both the content of strategy and the processof strategy development requiring change, it follows that there is a needto reinvent "strategic planning" in organizations. This is a difficult task.It is difficult to correctly identify these limitations, and thelimitations can change over time. "Organizational change techniques."Organizational Dynamics, 2, 67-8 .Mintzberg, H. & Simon, H. The efficient development of major urban centers required accurateassessments of infrastructural needs--such as roads, bridges, water andsewage--as well as for housing and land use. New York: Harperand Row.Mintzberg, H. Federal grants to stateand local government for education, welfare and infrastructural developmentrequired not only planning at the federal level but also at the state andlocal levels as well. Strategic planning, on the other hand,places more emphasis on strategy than operations and can be thought of as aprocess that constitutes the backbone of strategic management. Urbanization andindustrialization in the early 19 s necessitated some level of foresightin public projects. Fluctuations in the externalenvironment make the task of planning a reactionary process to newly-emerging crises situations (Mintzberg, 1973, p. (1985). The concepts andmethods of strategic planning comprise a specialized function of publicmanagement. In the field of public administration, there are countless stories ofplanning fiascoes. Planningin public administration became of central importance and politicallyacceptable as social demands for efficiency in governmental programsreached new heights. Some of the more important externalconditions that affect strategic planning include economic growth orrecession, demography, and variations in public opinion. These minimalist objectives suggest that an effective strategystatement should (1) flow from or create a shared and enduring vision ofthe future of the organization, (2) inform capital budgeting and humanresource development decisions, (3) guide managerial actions and providebenchmarks of performance, and (4) direct management attention to emergingstrategic issues. This research examines the concept of strategic planning in publicadministration. Following the GreatDepression, New Deal policies ushered public administration planning intothe forefront of social reconstruction, given the policies' emphasis oneconomic and social planning (Vieg, 1942, pp. The need to successfully carry out large-scale projects demanded a new heightened quality of planning. The constant flux of the decision environment poses "planningdilemmas" for the public manager. This task wouldrequire careful planning. Mintzberg has written an obviously premature obituary and projectedthe resurrection of strategic planning (Mintzberg, 1994). It seemsan obvious presumption and yet, as Mintzberg (1973, p. The planning function itself may be brokendown into sub-categories: management by objectives, forecasting, operationsresearch, and risk analysis, to name a few. The power of thisapproach to articulating strategy can be assessed by the ability of theapproach to serve as a basis for meeting four objectives of strategystatements given below and by its applicability in vastly differentorganizations. The objective is toreduce the unit cost of each infrastructural and social project throughaccurately anticipating growing social needs and coordinating these plansaccordingly. (1983). 61).He also argues that humanrationality is limited--a concept he refers to as the principle of boundedrationality (March and Simon, 1958, pp. In agreement withSimon, Minztberg argues that this makes strategic planning an imperfectscience, albeit an important science nonetheless. Lack of coordination between neighboring communities can produceincompatible and thus inefficient water projects. Both planning councils andadvisory groups often employ the services of elected officials as well ascitizens to ensure well-rounded community input into planning decisions. The concept may not have achieved scientific status, but theprinciples of strategic planning help provide important guidance in settinggoals and devising means to achieve those goals. Clearly, these internal and external factors are subject to change.The economy may reverse previous trends, the ethnic composition of thepopulation may change, and the skills of the labor force may heighten withexperience. "Developments in government planning." In L. The emphasis today ison privatization--privatization of functions that have long been regardedas governmental, such as park maintenance and, recently, even welfareadministration. At the core of strategy is a framework of fundamental alternatives.If we can identify the dimensions of this framework, we can describe thefoundation of a strategy. One community may employmain pipes of one size and the community next door employ mains of adifferent size, complicating the task of linking them together. Thus, the manager cannot really make theoptimal decision, but only a satisficing decision. This need is reflectedin the turmoil that is evident in both the practice and theory of strategicplanning. In the shadow of FDR. The significance of the Great Society for preservation of theplanning function in public administration can be seen through the growthof planning agencies at the national, state and local levels of government.With the rapid growth of federal aid, governmental planning staffs grew insize and number. Forexample, nearly 3 million men and women had served in the armed forces whonow had to be discharged back into civilian occupations. Heath.Vieg, J. New York:Free Press.Rehfuss, J. ReferencesBolan, R. Simon has focused much of his efforts on understanding the impact ofinternal planning dilemmas. 67). The nature of managerial work. Preconditions for Today's Strategic Planning In brief, strategic planning has come to mean that objectives arecarefully chosen for a project and the means to reach these objectives arecharted. President Eisenhower ensured that the United States would remainon alert and ready for war, if necessary, throughout the period of the ColdWar (Leuchtenburg, 1983, p. Strategic management and organizationdecisionmaking. Ithaca: CornellUniversity.March, J. 63-65). New York: St.Martin's Press.Leuchtenburg, W. In addition, even whatwas left of government planning had to gear towards planning for peace. Similarly, ina well-planned sewage system among neighboring communities, gravity flowwould be used to the maximum extent possible so that fewer expensivepumping stations would have to be built and operated. (2) Offer a framework for action that ensures consistency acrossprojects and managers. Not long ago, the federal government encouraged coordination ofplanning in public administration through the creation of area and regionalplanning councils. The power of this approach toarticulating strategy can be assessed by the ability of the approach toserve as a basis for meeting the four objectives of strategy statements andby its applicability in vastly different organizations. The general concept of planning first became recognized as animportant function of public administration in the late 18 s and early19 s. As the decades wore on, planning in the public sector remainedimportant. 63-87).Chicago: University of Chicago Press. NewYork: Scribner's Press.Steiss, A. The Great Society,in effect, extended planning beyond the physical dimension ofinfrastructure and into the dimension of social planning as well. Based on a study of eight government units in Minnesota, Bryson andRoering (1988, p. Following the "Reagan Revolution," however, the challenges to publicadministration have become ever more acute. The Full Employment Act of 1946represented the national economic policy immediately following the war andobviously would require a major role for planning in public administration. Localplanning councils often have taken the form of cooperative conferences,such as the County Superintendents Association or the Council of RuralCounties. Typical internalfactors include composition of the labor force, skills and experiences ofemployees, and the general work environment. Federal planning councils weredisbanded in 1984 and federal aid to state and local jurisdictions forsocial projects has continued to decline ever since. "Initiation of strategic planning bygovernments." Public Administration Review, 48, 995-1 4.Gordon, G. Strategy statements--the declaration of strategy planning--at thevery least need to: (1) Provide direction, preferably in an evocative and inspirationalfashion that ensures consistency over time, especially as reflected inresource allocation decisions. Managers too often spend theirtime dealing with day-to-day crises rather than planning strategically. (1973). The comprehensive planning process: Several views.Washington D.C.: American Institute of Planners.Bryson, J. Public administration as political process. The planning function is theactivity that helps managers anticipate specific problems in programimplementation and operations. 1), for example, defines strategic management as the "process wherebygoals and objectives are identified, policies are formulated, andstrategies are selected in order to achieve the overall purposes or missionof an organization." He describes the process in systemic terms consistingof three component processes: (1) Strategic planning to determine organizational objectives andstrategies; (2) Resource management to configure and allocate resources amongunits within an organization to implement the plans; and (3) Control and evaluation to ensure the implementation ofstrategies. (1971, May-June). This approach hasbeen adopted in dozens of organizations. Thefears of government that is "too big" or "counter-productive to freeenterprise" had clearly been sacrificed to national mobilization. Althoughstrategic planning is a central component of strategic management,strategic planning and strategic management are not the same thing.Strategic management is a process carried out at the top of theorganization which provides guidance, direction, and boundaries for allaspects of operational management. (1982, Summer). 2 3-2 4). Conclusion Over the past century, and especially over the last few decades,planning public projects has grown from a simple concept of planning to amore refined concept of strategic planning. And in contemporarytimes, public administration has attempted to make a science of strategicplanning. Public managers must keep an eye to both theinternal and external limitations on a project. Steiss (1985,p. During the Great Depression and World War II, planning ingovernmental administration was easily accepted by academics and the publicalike. (1942). (1973). The rise and fall of strategic planning. Planning is the first rule to wise public management. 171). Emergence of Strategic Planning Planning is one component of well-crafted public administrationPlanning as a managerial function is a prelude to organizing, staffing andother elements of implementing public works. But in order for the planning function to continue to be acceptableafter the war, the field of public administration had to integrate socialplanning with a renewed emphasis on market forces. He approaches the issue from the perspective ofthe limitations imposed by human faults. (1986). 995) cautioned that "normal expectations have to be thatmost efforts to produce fundamental decisions and actions in governmentthrough strategic planning will not succeed." In stating this conclusion,however, the authors fail to distinguish between failed attempts toimplement comprehensive organizational change from judgments about thegeneral applicability and potential usefulness of strategic planning andmanagement for public sector organizations.
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