'Improving the existing public sector strategic planning guidelines towards integrated provincial and local government strategic planning processes : lessons learned from Eastern Cape

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:The practice of public-sector strategic planning has gained dominance in public sector management in imitation of the concept of strategy in military science and later of the practice of strategic planning in the private sector. Its institutionalisation in the public sector should be welcomed as a positive development.The policy and regulatory framework instils a culture of cooperative governance through the promotion of effective intra- and inter-governmental relations that assume a developmental approach to planning. It is this culture that sets parameters within which the practice of strategic planning should be managed in the public sector. Strategy alignment is critical in achieving cooperative governance in strategic planning, as is shown in this study.The study sought to establish the extent to which the existing strategic planning guidelines could be manipulated to achieve alignment between the provincial and local spheres of government.A qualitative study was performed. It relied on both a non-empirical literature review and an empirical investigation to generate its data. Interviews were conducted with representatives of a sample of four Provincial Departments and seven different Municipalities drawn from the three categories of Local Government, namely metropolitan, local and district Municipalities. The Eastern Cape Provincial Government structure with its composite Municipalities constituted the case selected for this study.The study revealed that strategic planning in the province assumes different formats ranging from basic and medium-term to comprehensive and long-term, as well as sector- and project-specific strategic planning processes.The public sector strategic processes are politically influenced, taking their tone from political directives, but driven mainly by administrators. Whereas the active participation of politicians in shaping integrated development plans (IDPs) as the principal strategic plans for Municipalities is acknowledged, the concern that politicians at a provincial level are playing a limited role in shaping Provincial Departments' strategic plans remains relevant.It is vital that the political governance centre in the province; namely the premier's office, should take charge of coordinating strategic planning and should be responsible for the alignment efforts of the government structures in the province.Strategic planning plays a significant role in defining the organisational growth path of every public-sector organisation, as well as the management of public resources, financial and non-financial.This study advocates for learning as a central organisational value and recommends that the existing strategic-planning guidelines be improved to embody a cooperative governance approach.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University