Adoption Of Strategic Planning Research Articles

JERUSALEM, A HOLY AND CREATIVE CITY: Advisory Practices and the Grounding of Urban Mobilities within the Context of Ethnic Conflict

AbstractThis article assesses how the agency of international advisors can provide policy recommendations that, instead of introducing urban policy initiatives for multicultural encounters, sharpen political and spatial segregation within the context of ethnic conflict. The article explores the variegated nature of neoliberalization and argues that the adoption of strategic planning and creativity discourses enables the development of a sophisticated political rationale for governing ethnic diversity. The analysis focuses on a range of advisory practices—including the role played by Michael Porter at the Harvard Business School and Richard Florida at the Creative Class Group in advising former Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat—in order to understand the dynamics of grounding imaginaries concerning a neoliberal role for the state and the depoliticization of the public sphere in a disputed city. By surveying official policy documents, journalistic interviews and two reports submitted by Porter and Florida to Barkat, the author examines how the branding of Jerusalem as a creative city involved managerial practices that classified the city's diverse population according to categories of creative and non‐creative labor rather than political subjects. The adoption of such discourses facilitated a novel approach for enhancing the state‐building ethno‐nationalistic project while at the same time reproducing the dynamics of occupation and annexation.

Effect of Strategic Planning on the Performance of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Nigeria, Evidence from Delta State

The study investigated the connection between success in the SME sector and the adoption of strategic planning. Despite what appears to be improved institutional support for the sector and an apparent increase in interest in starting small and medium-sized businesses in Nigeria, performance seems to be falling short of expectations. According to several reports, the poor performance of SMEs may be caused by a variety of attitudes toward strategic planning. With the use of SPSS, a descriptive and regression analysis was performed. Findings of the study include the fact that market share growth in Delta state was significantly and favorably impacted by the implementation of strategic plans. In Delta State, there was a substantial and favorable correlation between the development of the strategic plan and the profitability of small and medium-sized enterprises. The examination of cross-functional decisions has a considerable and favorable impact on customer satisfaction in Delta State. The use of strategic planning as a concept and method to achieve organizational performance is recommended for the Small and Medium Enterprises in Delta State, Nigeria.

Strategic Planning Practices and Performance of National Sports Federations in Kenya

Strategic Planning (SP) is a systematic process used to improve performance of an organization by prioritizing its use of resources according to identified goals. Organizations embracing SP tend to achieve varied levels of success depending on their level of commitment to SP practices. In developed countries, Sport organizations, both amateur and professional have integrated SP practices which has led to improved on field and financial performance. However, most NSFs in Kenya are struggling in their performance almost two decades after adoption of SP as a policy. Most NSFs frequently fall below their annual budgets by approximately 50-60%. Whereas studies conducted in Kenya positively link SP to improved performance of commercial firms, the relationship between SP and performance of NSFs in Kenya remains unknown. This paper presents findings of a study on status of SP and performance of NSFs in Kenya. A target population of 156 officials drawn from 39 NSFs was used. Out of a sample of 144 a total of 112 respondents returned filled questionnaires giving a response rate of 77.80% which was considered sufficient for a scientific study Content and construct validity were tested. Cronbach alpha for measurement items showed high reliability with the least established at 0.781. Financial performance was used as a measure of performance. Financial statements provided information on financial performance. Descriptive analysis using means, frequencies and standard deviations was adopted. The indicators used were extent to which NSFs had: established strategic planning platform; formulated strategies; developed clear implementation framework as well as their efforts in monitoring and evaluation. Combined means and standard deviations representing extent of agreement/disagreement with practices that promote strategic planning based on each strategic planning practice showed that strategic planning in NSFs is weak. Analysis of financial statements revealed poor financial performance confirming that strategic planning practices by NSFs were not geared towards improving their financial health.

ADDITIVES AND PREMISES USED TO OBTAIN HIGH QUALITY SILAGES

Abstract: The use of additives in silages is increasing worldwide, based on the premise of the better material preservation or because of an aggregation of nutritional value with the use of some types of additives. This review aims to present information on a series of additives that can be used in a variety of silages according to their needs. The main classes of additives currently available are: fermentation inhibitors, nutrients, aerobic deterioration inhibitors, fermentation stimulants and humidity absorbent additives. It is fundamental that the properties adopt the practice of producing quality roughage as a primary investment, aiming on a greater financial return through the adoption of strategic planning in the short, medium and long term. There are several additives available in the market, but it is ideal to know if its use in the silage is necessary, what is the form of application, its dosage, and how the additive will benefit the silage. Thus,, it is essential the search for additives that gives additional contribution to the microorganisms responsible for the potentialization of the fermentation of the substrates present in the biomass, aiming to bring benefits to the fermentation process, to reduce losses, to stimulate or inhibit fermentations, to keep the stability of the forage, and to preserve the nutritive value of the ensiled mass in order to be similar to the green forage, or as close as possible to the plant it came from, or to add nutritional value through certain classes of additives.

지방자치단체 사업별 예산 분류체계 개선방안에 대한 연구: 사회복지 분야 예산을 중심으로

ABSTRACT The New Zealand public sector reform process of the late 1980s and early 1990s was notable for its attempt to clarify public accountability through the specification of outputs, contractual agreements and the disaggregation of government departments into smaller, more sharply focused agencies. While the reforms achieved managerial improvements, the accountability regime was less successful because of the difficulties of specification and the continuing robustness of ministerial responsibility in the face of attempts to limit the political control and accountability. INTRODUCTION: REASSESSING THE NEW ZEALAND MODEL New Zealand holds a special place in the recent history of public sector reform. In three major pieces of legislation in the 1980s (the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986, the State Sector Act 1988 and the Public Finance Act 1989) it implemented a particularly radical version of what became known as the 'new public management' (NPM) and indeed provided an archetype of that movement (Hood 1991). The fact that reform was premised on a coherent theoretical blueprint (Treasury, 1987), which was then followed through with remarkable thoroughness and consistency marked New Zealand out as especially interesting to academic analysts as well as to practitioners with a taste for rational principle rather than incremental pragmatism. The degree of principled consistency was always somewhat overstated (Boston et al., 1996:84-85), and the system was subject to constant adjustment after its initial enactment. None the less, it stands out as a heroic, and ultimately (and predictably) unsuccessful, attempt to ground public management on clear assumptions and unambiguous principles. Clarity was the watchword of the reforms. The root causes of government inefficiency and ineffectiveness were perceived to be the failure to specify the objectives of government agencies and confusion over roles (between politicians and public servants and within public agencies) (Treasury, 1987; Scott, 1996). Once each agency and each key actor had their role clarified and their objectives specified, they could be freed from debilitating controls over inputs and processes. They could also be more readily held accountable for their performance in terms of clearly specified roles and objectives. From these assumptions followed most of the key elements of the new system (Boston et al., 1996; Treasury, 1996), including the separation of the roles of ministers and departmental chief executives (CEs), with ministers responsible for choosing 'outcomes' and CEs responsible for delivering 'outputs'; the emphasis on clear specification and costing of departmental outputs; the separation between the government's interest as 'purchaser' of public services and its interest as 'owner' of government agencies (and the consequent distinction between 'vote' ministers and 'responsible' ministers); the decoupling of non-departmental agencies ('crown entities' and 'state owned-enterprises') from ministerial direction; the disaggregation of large multi-function departments into more narrowly focused policy ministries, service delivery agencies and independent monitoring agencies; the reliance on explicit contract-like agreements to spell out the government's expectations from individual CEs and agencies. The New Zealand system has been subject to extensive examination (Scott 2001:42-62), including two major government-sponsored reviews (Logan 1991; Schick 1996) as well as several thorough academic assessments (Boston et al., 1996). In terms of improved efficiency and effectiveness, considerable benefits have been found to flow from the relaxation of central agency controls over inputs, the reorientation of agencies towards results and the adoption of strategic planning. Savings have been achieved through the decoupling of public service provision from core government departments, for instance through outsourcing, corporatization and privatization. …

Strategy as Discursive Practice in a Brazilian Public University: A Look under the Perspective of Critical Discourse Analysis

The aim this article a critical discursive analysis of the “management plan” genre of a public institution of higher education, from 2012 to 2015, located in southeast Brazil. The aforementioned plan is inserted in the discursive practice of strategic management, specifically the institutional, bureaucratic management, and is used as an instrument for decision-making. The goal of this analysis will be to discuss the first step of the “management plan”, named “organizational policies”. We can see that, while elaborating declarative sentences, there is an evaluation of the statements regarding what is to be considered relevant to the institutions by means of the ideological discourse on neoliberal ideals and market behavior. The adoption of market-oriented managerial tools has been a constant in public administration. The public administration looks for bases of organizational practices in the private sphere. This mimicry is still present in the field, and the search for new managerial practices still crosses the imaginaries of the public managers. However, the increasing incorporation of a market-oriented, neoliberal logic, mainly in the adoption of strategic planning, can still be verified. The conclusion presented in this paper serves to foment the debate on the strategies formulated for the Brazilian public service and the methodological applicability of the critical discourse analysis. This meets the emerging need to systematize and integrate distinct theoretical and methodological approaches in the field of organizational studies when strategy is studied as a social and discursive practice.

Diffusion of practic of strategic planning in Russian cities and towns in 1997–2013

Information about the diffusion of the administrative innovation of strategic planning in Russian cities and towns with over 100 000 inhabitants in 1997–2013 is collected and analyzed. The study covered 174 cities where official documents on long-term socioeconomic planning. The collected databank of 130 documents shows the dynamics and territorial scope of the process. The main results of the study are as follows: (1) Cities with long-term strategies make up 60% of the analyzed total. (2) In 1997–2005, number of cities with long-term strategies was growing slowly, but in 2006, the growth sharply accelerated after the completion of reforms in municipal self-governance. (3) The territorial diffusion of the innovation followed the center-to-periphery law, i.e., its en masse diffusion was affected by administrative factors and diffusion in any federal districts accelerated after the strategy was adopted by the district capitals. (4) The most rapid adoption of strategic planning was observed in cities with over 250000 inhabitants. (5) There is a direct relation between a city’s success manifested as the absence of a decrease in population and the adoption of strategic urban planning.

Increasing the potential of special libraries in countries in transition

The paper describes the efforts made in recent years to promote the concepts of information management, information policy and information strategy in order to help special libraries and information and documentation services in countries in transition in reinforcing their missions and roles. Part One emphasizes the relevance of those concepts in the specific situation resulting from the political, economic and organizational changes brought by the transition to a market economy. In Part Two the results of three surveys of the work of special libraries in Slovenia from 1992–1995 are analyzed. The results of the survey show that most special libraries and information/documentation services in Slovenia (and we can safely presume that the situation is similar in other countries in transition) currently operate along traditional lines as regards the concept and practice of library and information work. The adoption of strategic planning of information and information management concepts and practices by special libraries promises a way out of the existing, outdated modes of operation.

Innovation in Public Management: The Adoption of Strategic Planning

State governments have undergone tremendous changes in the last 15 years. Reagan's New Federalism devolved more program responsibilities upon the states through new unfunded federal mandates, leading to large increases in required state revenues (Fix and Kenyon, 1990). The economic recessions of 1981-1983 and 1991-1992 sent many state budgets into the red. State governments responded by cutting services, enacting lotteries, and even raising taxes, despite the tax revolts of the late 1970s which sent a clear message that taxes were reaching unacceptably high levels in many states. Given the intense budget pressures and the ideology of the Reagan Revolution, state government leaders looked to the private sector for answers through contracting out, private-public partnerships and management techniques such as strategic planning and Total Quality Management. The 1980s also saw the election of a new breed of governors, many of them social activists, but fiscally conservative with agendas focused on education and economic development (Osborne, 1988) and interested in thinking strategically and planning for the future. Many governors and state agency directors embraced strategic planning processes to better manage agency missions with limited resources. Between 1980 and 1991, at least 264 state agencies, in nearly every state, initiated strategic planning according to the survey described in the grey box on page 323. Despite the growing popularity of strategic planning, no empirical study has yet tried to assess the conditions under which strategic planning is adopted. In this study, I will address this topic by testing several explanations for strategic planning innovation by state leaders, using data for nine types of state agencies from 1970 to 1991 drawn primarily from the National Survey on Strategic Planning in State Government Agencies (referred to hereafter as the National Survey, see grey box on page 323). Based on the findings, I make concluding observations about how managers can facilitate the diffusion of a management innovation designed to reinvent government operations to better meet high service demands and fiscal constraints. Strategic Planning in the States Strategic planning is a relatively new innovation to government, and according to some observers, part of a quiet revolution underway in public sector management (e.g., Bryson, 1988; Osborne and Gaebler, 1992; Denhardt, 1993). Recent research suggests that the best public sector managers have been creating strategic management processes to address the unique features of public sector organizations (e.g., Rainey, 1991; Bozeman and Straussman, 1990, Denhardt, 1993). In doing so, managers have been moving away from traditional, hierarchically managed agencies towards a management style that highlights responsiveness to citizens, excellent quality services, employee empowerment in the workplace, and an ongoing strategic planning process emphasizing the organization's mission and values. As part of the growing literature on strategic planning in the public sector (e.g., Eadie, 1983; Bryson, Freeman, and Roering, 1986; Bryson and Roering, 1987 and 1988; Carr and Littman, 1990; Wechsler and Backoff, 1990; Miesing and Andersen, 1991), Bryson (1988, 118) defines strategic planning broadly as a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that define what an organization is, what it does, and why it does it. More specifically, this article defines strategic planning as a management process that combines four basic features: (1) a clear statement of the organization's mission; (2) the identification of the agency's external constituencies or stakeholders, and the determination of their assessment of the agency's purposes and operations; (3) the delineation of the agency's strategic goals and objectives, typically in a 3- to 5-year plan; and (4) the development of strategies to achieve them. Viewing strategic planning as an innovation also ties this study to an extensive literature on innovation by individuals and organizations; Everett Rogers (1983) has documented more than 3,000 studies, and recent studies have highlighted public sector innovation specifically (e. …