Abstract
This study presents the first empirical test of the proposition that strategy content is a key determinant of organizational performance in the public sector. Strategy content comprises two dimensions: strategic stance (the extent to which an organization is a prospector, defender, or reactor) and strategic actions (the relative emphasis on changes in markets, services, revenues, external relationships, and internal characteristics). Data were drawn from a multiple-informant survey of 119 English local authorities. Measures of strategy content are included in a multivariate model of interauthority variations in performance. The statistical results show that strategy content matters. Organizational performance is positively associated with a prospector stance and negatively with a reactor stance. Furthermore, local authorities that seek new markets for their services are more likely to perform well. These results suggest that measures of strategy content must be included in valid theoretical and empirical models of organizational performance in the public sector.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 52-63 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Public Administration Review |
| Volume | 66 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 9 Jan 2006 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2006 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
The survey data were drawn from a survey funded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. This article was presented at the October 2004 Public Management Research Association meeting in Washington, D.C., and we thank the participants for their observations. We also acknowledge the three PAR reviewers for their useful comments.Funding
We would like to acknowledge the support of the ESRC/EPSRC Advanced Institute of Management Research (grants 331-25-0004 and 331-25-006) and the Economic and Social Research Council (RefR000239249).