Using strategy to frame and legitimize change
Strategy defining and strategic management are pivotal instruments that leaders in government can utilize more adeptly to create space for change and innovation amidst demanding political and institutional landscapes.
The concept of strategic change has been predominantly associated with the private sector, as businesses navigate market demands, competition, and technological advancements to improve their market position. However, the narrative that strategic change is less pertinent in the public sector is a myth. Strategic change represents a critical movement—a shift that ensures public organizations stay in step with their external environments. Grounded in the definition by Rajagopalan & Spreitzer (1997) as "an alteration in an organization’s alignment with its external environment," strategic change in the public sector is absolutely relevant, but takes on a different shape and has more diverse objectives, primarily due to its interaction with political and institutional landscapes.
Strategic change amidst political landscapes
The political landscape in which public organizations operate is both a catalyst for and a barrier to strategic change. Political will and support can drive significant reforms and adaptations in public services, aligning them more closely with the shifting needs and expectations of society. Elected officials, policy makers, and political leaders play pivotal roles in initiating and endorsing strategic changes, often in response to public demand, emerging societal challenges, or shifts in the political climate itself.
However, this same political environment can also present formidable challenges. Political priorities and agendas may shift with electoral cycles, leading to changes in direction or support for strategic initiatives. Moreover, political considerations can sometimes overshadow evidence-based decision-making, complicating efforts to align organizational strategies with the most effective or efficient outcomes. Political interest can also lead to an accumulation of constraints making it difficult to efficiently execute strategic changes. Navigating this landscape requires an approach that can accommodate political realities while striving to maintain organizational integrity and focus on the effective and efficient creation of public value.
Interacting with institutional landscapes
The institutional landscape, comprising legal frameworks, regulatory bodies, and entrenched bureaucratic procedures, offers another layer of complexity. These institutional factors establish the rules of the game—defining what is possible, permissible, and preferable in the realm of public administration. Strategic change within this context must be navigated with an acute awareness of and adherence to these established norms and regulations, even as organizations seek to innovate or adapt to new realities.
Institutions also embody the collective memory and culture of public organizations, which can be both a strength and a limitation. While they provide stability and continuity and a sense of direction, they can also resist change, favoring established procedures and norms over new approaches. Strategic change, therefore, often involves a delicate balance of leveraging institutional strengths while challenging and transforming those aspects that hinder adaptation and responsiveness.
Navigating institutional and political demands
Against the backdrop of these political and institutional dynamics, strategic management emerges as a pivotal instrument for administrative leaders seeking to foster innovation and change. Strategy in the public sector transcends the conventional goals of profit and market share. It's about enhancing public service delivery, adapting to policy shifts, and effectively managing public resources to address societal needs. The essence of this change lies in its aim to improve the quality of life for citizens. While political and institutional forces are dominant in the public sector, that doesn’t mean administrative leaders should not act strategically. On the contrary, strategic management is key to effective aligning and connecting political and institutional goals, while finding pathways to efficiently deal with political and institutional barriers in order to maximize the value created by means of public resources. Moreover, a good strategy aids in constructing a compelling narrative around change, legitimizing new initiatives, creating a space conducive to innovative approaches, and rallying support across various stakeholders. Effective innovative strategies tend to find the optimal balance between demonstrating conformity with the taken-for granted, while introducing innovative and distinctive elements. The formulation of strategy should be embedded in an agile strategic process as this point of “optimal distinctiveness” tends to move as the political and institutional landscape changes. This way leaders can ensure their strategies are and and remain legitimate while being transformative.
In conclusion, strategic change in the public sector is uniquely challenging, still undervalued by administrative leaders, but critically important. It requires a nuanced understanding of how political and institutional landscapes interact with organizational strategies and goals. This alignment with the external environment is not merely an administrative exercise but a fundamental requirement for public organizations to optimize the delivery of their mandates in an ever-changing world.
Acknowledgement: key constructs in the blog are based on the research of Rajagopalan and Spreitzer (1997) regarding strategic change and Brewer (1991) regarding optimal distinctiveness.
