Suchergebnisse

AbstractHow can we stimulate policymakers to make strategic decisions that enhance public service performance? Traditional strategy theories have not enabled us to answer this question. These theories focus on strategy processes or content in public organizations and networks and directly link these to public service performance. This article defines and elaborates on a conceptual framework that uses theory from behavioral science to unravel how policymakers can make strategic decisions that actually enhance the performance of public organizations and networks. This conceptual framework is labeled 'behavioral public strategy' and conceptualizes public strategy as a social process shaped by the individuals, teams and tools underlying it. Behavioral public strategy thus focuses on the micro-foundations of public strategy and how these micro-foundations influence strategic decisions. Moreover, behavioral public strategy links meso- and micro-levels by proposing a bathtub model where the relationship between public strategy and public service performance at the organizational and network levels is explained by the relationship between the micro-foundations of public strategy and the ensuing strategic decisions at the individual and team levels. This article connects three research streams that have been like 'ships that pass in the night', namely public strategy, behavioral public policy and behavioral public administration.

Abstract
Strategic planning (SP) remains the dominant approach to strategy formulation at all levels of government, and it is an enduring topic of public administration research and practice. Simultaneously, little is known about the conditions under which strategic plans are successfully implemented in government. This Viewpoint essay provides evidence‐based recommendations from SP initiatives in Flemish municipalities using multi‐informant and multisource survey data. It shows that successfully implementing strategic plans is influenced by the people, process, and plan (3Ps) underlying SP. Involving creators in SP helps make the SP process more informed. An informed SP process that includes constructive conflict helps induce high‐quality strategic plans. High‐quality strategic plans contribute to successful strategic plan implementation. Practitioners are encouraged to consider SP not as a one‐size‐fits‐all solution to strategy formulation, but as an approach in which variation in people, process, and plan influences implementation success.

"Strategic Management in Public Administration" published on by Oxford University Press.

While a voluminous literature on representative bureaucracy and minority discrimination suggests that characteristics other than qualifications influence hiring decisions, little is known about whether this also pertains to the top positions in political-administrative organizations. To shed light on this question, we ask how candidate ethnicity, gender, and age affect the recruitment preferences among politicians regarding the candidates for top administrative positions. Our study uses a survey experiment with random assignment of 1,688 Flemish local politicians to one of eight different descriptions of applicants to the leading managerial position of their local authority. We find that ethnic minorities, women, and younger candidates are generally considered more qualified for the job. Moreover, the impact of ethnicity and gender on recruitment preferences is conditional on politicians' ideological predispositions: Left-wing politicians consider ethnic minority candidates more competent, whereas right-wing politicians consider them less representative and are less inclined to invite them for job interviews than candidates from the ethnic majority. Furthermore, politicians furthest to the left are more inclined than right-wing politicians to recognize women as representative of the public at large and support inviting them for job interviews.

This study draws on information processing theory to investigate predictors of strategic-decision quality in public organizations. Information processing theory argues that (a) rational planning practices contribute to strategic-decision quality by injecting information into decision making and (b) decision makers contribute to strategic-decision quality by exchanging information during decision making. These assumptions are tested upon 55 Flemish pupil guidance centers. Rational planning practices are operationalized as strategic planning, performance measurement, and performance management. Information exchange by decision makers during decision making is operationalized as procedural justice of the decision-making process. Results suggest that procedural justice, strategic planning, and performance management contribute to strategic-decision quality while performance measurement does not.