FIFTH İZMİR ECONOMIC CONGRESS 2013

How can the Turkish Government be strategic in terms of strategic sectors?

Professor Paul JoyceBirmingham City Business SchoolBirmingham City University, UK

Background Assumptions

• “History has repeatedly shown that good government is not a luxury but a vital necessity. Without an effective state, sustainable development, both economic and social, is impossible.“

Source: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank (1997)

• “Although the precise institutional arrangements vary, effective public sectors the world over have generally been characterized by strong central capacity for macroeconomic and strategic policy formulation” (emphasis added)

Source: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank (1997)

New Background Assumption – An effective state is a “strategic state”

Strategic-state capacity is “…the extent to which the central government can set and steer a national long-term vision-based strategy for the country, identify and address internal and external challenges to implementing this strategy correctly though enhanced evidence-based decision making and strategic foresight, strengthen efficiencies in policy design and service delivery to meet these challenges, and mobilise actors and leverage resources across governments and society to achieve integrated, coherent policy outcomes that address these challenges effectively.”

OECD (2013), Poland, Implementing Strategic-State Capability, OECD Public Governance Reviews, OECD Publishing.http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264201811-en

Possible advantages of “strategic policy making” by a strategic state over traditional government policy making:

• More focus• More prioritization• More coherence and integration• More thorough evaluation of policy proposals prior to implementation

(feasibility, likely outcomes, acceptability, risks, etc.)• More responsiveness to needs/interests of citizens, service users,

businesses etc.• More attention to gaining stakeholder support for policies and for

policy implementation

A simplified model of sector strategic plans …..National priorities, external support, and capacity/capability aligned through sector strategic plans (adapted from Heymann, 1987)

National priorities for Development

Capacity and capability of Government

External support (citizens, business,

and other stakeholders)

Sector strategic

plans

Centre of Government & Line Ministries: selective remarks on their roles & responsibilities (Joyce, 2008 & 2011)

CENTRE OF GOVERNMENT• The role of the centre of government

is to ensure government has strategic direction, coherence and integration, foresight, etc. (see Joyce 2011, including pages 264-267)

• Responsible for bringing policy making, budgets, and performance measurement and management into alignment.

LINE MINISTRIES • Work within government policies and

within regulatory and budgetary frameworks.• Responsible for sector strategies

within their portfolio and working with other Ministries where there are overlapping mandates, and working with subordinated agencies and organisations in other sectors on implementing strategies.

One Aspect of Coherence/Integration Challenge (source: B Kuchar, EU funded course delivered in 2006)

Four Key Principles for Effective Sector Strategy (Hypotheses)

Sector strategy will be more successful if the Government can…

1. Develop the requisite capacity and capability of Centre of Government & Line Ministries

2. Ensure concern for feasibility in the strategy formulation stage3. Ensure strategy is informed by stakeholder analysis, management and

satisfaction 4. Support upward strategic communications and learning that will enhance the

responsiveness of National Development Priorities and Plans

Develop the requisite capacity and capability of Centre of Government & Line Ministries (1) civil service skills in strategic thinking, leadership, etc.

• Capacity and capability of the Centre of Government and line Ministries are important factors in developing and delivering strategies.• Capacity may be constrained by values as well as by capabilities (skills) and

resources.• Key capabilities needed by line Ministries for success in designing and

coordinating/delivering sector strategic plans include civil service skills in: ostrategic thinking, o leadership, and omanagement of implementation (which includes aligning budgeting decisions,

and ensuring monitoring and performance management are effective).

Develop the requisite capacity and capability of Centre of Government & Line Ministries (2) coherence and integration

• Multi-level governance issues• Coherence across Ministries, agencies, partnerships with private and

voluntary sectors

Ensure concern for feasibility in formulation of sector strategic plans (Joyce, 2011: see pp120-2)

(1) Evidence-based strategy

• In early rounds of strategic plans by Government ministries the emphasis may be on priorities, goals, and intended outcomes (e.g. Ireland’s Strategic Management Initiative).• Also need to develop attention to environmental (i.e.

situational) analysis and foresight (e.g. scenario development)

Ensure concern for feasibility in formulation of sector strategic plans (2) mechanisms

• Doing the right thing, doing things right• The law is often used by government – other mechanisms?• Government mechanisms that can be used under a sector strategic

plan:Law, monitoring and investigation, licensing, tax policy, grants, subsidies, loans, loan guarantees, contracting, public-private partnerships, procurement, technical assistance, information, vouchers, catalysing nongovernmental problem solving, voluntary associations, demand management, restructuring the market, etc.

Strategy informed by stakeholder analysis, etc.(1) Opportunities and constraints of Public Policy Climate (as defined by concerns of politicians?) (De Vries, 2010)

Dominant goal Focus on

Short-term goal achievement Results/output

Long-term planning Results/outcomes

Participation and democracy Process/openness

Efficiency Process/input-output

Strategy informed by attention to stakeholder analysis, stakeholder management and stakeholder satisfaction(2) External stakeholders

• The strategic goals of a sector strategic plan need to be written to address the priorities of the Tenth Development Plan but also the top concerns of important stakeholder groups.• Analyse external stakeholders’ interests using a pluralistic frame of reference

and look for indications of strategic issues in conflicting interests – and then ensure strategic issues are analysed and taken account of in the formulation of sector strategic plans (i.e. there is a need for creativity in strategic thinking)• Delivery of a sector strategic plan (e.g. road transport, health) may fail if a key

stakeholder (e.g. road users, doctors) finds policies unacceptable – need for responsiveness to stakeholders

Supporting the responsiveness of National Development Priorities and Plans

• Evaluation and learning from policy mistakes and set-backs•Upward communication of experience of strategic

policy implementation

Summing Up – (Experimental attitude)

Sector strategic plans might be more strategic and more successful if….1. Strategic plans contain strategic thinking as well as planning2. Multi-level governance and coherence/integration issues are actively addressed3. Plans are informed by both environmental (i.e. situational) assessment and foresight4. Strategic plans select the right government mechanisms to achieve results5. Opportunities and constraints of the policy climate are taken into account (e.g. is

government focusing on short-term goal achievement, long-term effectiveness, democratic procedures, or efficiency?).

6. Key stakeholders are treated as partners in formulation & implementation stages7. Communications upwards provides a feedback loop to strategic leaders when

implementation is occurring (strategic communications)8. Lessons are learnt by strategic leaders from policy set backs and failures (strategic

learning)

References

Barber, M. (2007) Instruction to Deliver, London: Politico’s. De Vries, M.S. (2010) The Importance of Neglect in Policy-Making. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Heymann, P.B. (1987) The Politics of Public Management, London: Yale University Press.The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank (1997) The state in a changing world. Washington, DC, USA: Oxford University Press.Joyce, P. (2008) ‘The Strategic, Enabling State: A Case Study of the UK, 1997-2007’, The International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, 4, 3: 24-36. Joyce, P. (2011) Strategic Leadership in the Public Services. London: Routledge.