Strategic Agility in Public Management

Abstract

The current volatile environment and the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and the US call for a new policy approach. Traditional public sector bureaucracies and strategic planning and budgeting performed well in the more stable environment of the post-war decades. This paper explores how public administrations and governments can develop strategic agility in this new environment by fostering strategic sensitivity, resource reallocation fluidity and collective commitment among senior officials. Empirically, it draws on the experience of Finland, Scotland, and several other countries in making their governance more strategically agile.