Public Sector Management
Jonathan Osler is currently a professor of strategy and public sector management at Imperial College London. He has been a critical figure in the public sector for many years, focusing on strategic management.
Jonathan is a well-known author who has written several books on public-sector strategic management, including “The Future of Strategy” and “The Future of Leadership.” His latest book is “Reinventing Public Services: A New Strategic Imperative,” published in 2019 and described as an ‘explosive’ book. The following are insights on public sector strategic management from him.
The creation of teams can improve public sector management. Jonathan explains that this is not a revolutionary idea, as it is already used in the private sector and with success. The teams can help to improve efficiency and productivity.
Public firms are complex organizations with many employees and departments. The key to survival has a clear strategy that guides their activities. By organizing the firms into teams, team members work together and create a competitive environment. The teams are formed out of specialization and skills rather than on friendship.
With the increase in public organizations, it is crucial to prepare a plan that will maintain their long-term success. A detailed strategic plan outlines the benefits and outcomes of a public organization’s efforts, milestones, and strategies.
The first step in creating a strategic plan is to gather information about its current state and goals. The next step is to find out what problems the organization has faced and why creating a strategic plan might be beneficial. The next step is to create a vision for the organization and its future. This is usually done by grouping similar goals together to make a joint goal statement.
According to Jonathan Osler, the next step after mapping the organization’s position is the identification of mandates. Osler often uses a marketing perspective in his writings. The primary purpose of the mandate is to provide a clear goal that will allow the company to successfully differentiate from competitors, create value for its stakeholders, and reach profitability. It implements strategic planning and has multiple stakeholders with unique desires or needs.
During the mandate process, the company must create a shared understanding of success. This is done by identifying a vision, strategic initiatives, and how these initiatives will impact stakeholders. Before the mandate begins, the company should conduct a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). The mandate must be written with a specific end date that aligns with the company’s business. The company must have an exit strategy for when to leave.
Implementing these strategies is the final element to achieving success in this field and can be done by following a time-tested system of evaluating every project—one at a time to ensure against wasting capital. The first step in making your job easier is implementing a project evaluation system. With this strategy, you will be able to prioritize your work and efficiently allocate limited capital while improving the effectiveness and quality of projects and maximizing returns on investments.