A STUDY OF STRATEGIC PLANNING IN FEDERAL …

A STUDY OF STRATEGIC PLANNING IN FEDERAL ORGANIZATIONS by Kenneth C. Baile

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy in

Public Administration and Policy

APPROVED:

_________________________________ John W. Dickey

_________________________________ James E. Colvard

_________________________________ James R. Pollard

_________________________________ Larkin Dudley

_________________________________ James F. Wolf

April 27, 1998 Falls Church, Virginia

Key Words: Public Organizations, Strategic Planning, Federal Agencies

A STUDY OF STRATEGIC PLANNING IN FEDERAL ORGANIZATIONS

Kenneth C. Baile

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy in

Public Administration and Policy

John W. Dickey, Chair James E. Colvard James R. Pollard Larkin Dudley James F. Wolf

April 27, 1998 Falls Church, Virginia

Key Words: Public Organizations, Strategic Planning, Federal Agencies

A Study of Strategic Planning in Federal Organizations

Kenneth C. Baile

(ABSTRACT)

This dissertation explores strategic planning in federal agencies. The research seeks to uncover difficulties federal agencies experience when making strategic plans, to explore the relationship between these difficulties and the degree of publicness of the agencies, and to uncover and describe techniques used by federal agencies to overcome difficulties. The research is important because strategic planning has gained renewed interest in federal government organizations stimulated by the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 and there are few empirical studies on strategic planning based on the public character of these organizations. The results present the difficulties and techniques reported by planners in eighteen separate federal agencies and show a relationship between the degree of publicness of the agency and the difficulties encountered in strategic planning.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter

Page

1. THE PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING

Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 Organization of the Study...................................................................... 2 Purpose of the Study............................................................................. 3 Statement of the Problem and Subproblems........................................... 3 Scope and Delimitations........................................................................ 4 Definition of Terms ............................................................................... 4

Strategic Planning............................................................................ 4 Publicness ....................................................................................... 5 Federal Agency ............................................................................... 5 Difficulties....................................................................................... 5 Techniques ...................................................................................... 6 Stakeholders.................................................................................... 6 The Importance of the Research ............................................................ 6

2. THE REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE

Strategic Planning in Public Organizations............................................. 11 The Public-Private Distinction in Organizations .................................... 20 Factors Distinguishing Private and Public Organizations ........................ 23

Environmental Factors..................................................................... 23 Organization - Environment Transactions ........................................ 24 Organizational Roles, Structures and Processes ............................... 24 Difficulties Associated with Strategic Planning in Public Organizations ............................................................................. 26 Goal Conflict and Ambiguity ........................................................... 28 Constraining Financial, Legal, Contractual, and Organizational Practices.......................................................................................... 28 Organizational Alignment ................................................................ 29 Lack of Meaningful Performance Measures ..................................... 29 Risk-/Change-Averse Organizational Culture................................... 30 Techniques for Overcoming Difficulties Associated with Strategic Planning in Public Organizations............................................................ 31 Public Environments........................................................................ 31 Transactional Factors ...................................................................... 31 Organizational Processes ................................................................. 31

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TABLE OF CONTENTS (Continued)

Chapter

Page

3. METHODOLOGY

Introduction .......................................................................................... 35 Research Approach ............................................................................... 35 Research Design.................................................................................... 39 Variables............................................................................................... 40 Elements of Publicness ......................................................................... 42

Market-Related Elements ................................................................ 42 Organizational Process Elements ..................................................... 43 External Influence Elements ............................................................ 43 Elements of Difficulties......................................................................... 44 Process-Related Elements................................................................ 44 Elements Related to Constraints on Managerial Actions................... 45 Elements Related to External Alignment.......................................... 46 Elements of Techniques for Overcoming Difficulties.............................. 46 Data Collection and Analysis Procedures............................................... 48 Sample Technique ................................................................................. 48 Respondents.......................................................................................... 50 Questionnaire........................................................................................ 51 Interviews ............................................................................................. 54 Limitations and Assumptions................................................................. 58 Summary............................................................................................... 59

4. DATA ANALYSIS AND STUDY FINDINGS

Introduction .......................................................................................... 61 Analysis of Organizational Descriptors .................................................. 61 Analysis of the Variable Publicness ....................................................... 66

Questionnaire Responses for the Components of Publicness............ 67 Numerical Values of the Components of Publicness ........................ 71 Publicness Scores for Each Organization......................................... 71 Analysis of the Variable Difficulties ...................................................... 74 Explanation of Additional Difficulties Identified in the Interview Analysis ........................................................................... 76

ID17 Diversity and Autonomy among Organizational Subunits Makes It Difficult to Achieve Buy-In and Produce a Coherent Plan ............................................................. 76 ID18 Lack of Alignment Between the Strategic Planning Framework and the Budget Execution Framework ...................... 77

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