Strategic Planning and Management? Not Necessarily

Abstract

Strategic planning and strategic management seem to be key phrases in the vocabulary of business managers. Professional publications in management and related fields devote much space to articles about the practice and advantages of strategic planning. But is it of any value to public managers? Is it a temporary fad that will dominate professional discussions and practice for a while before disappearing like such previous fads as PPB, MBO, and ZBB?1 Strategic planning has a lot to offer to the individual manager, but its general applicability to the public sector has yet to be established. However, the overselling of its promise may backfire and prevent more modest but nevertheless important attempts to improve decision making and management in the public sector. Granting that the strategic planning experience may be applicable to individual agencies or situations, this paper attempts to illuminate some of the reasons that may undermine an indiscriminate effort to introduce strategic planning into all public agencies as a common and a required practice. The growing number of publications and conference panels on the use of strategic planning in the public sector indicates the existence of an undercurrent, and the temptation among some academicians and practitioners is to capitalize on such successful experiences in