Strategizing in public management: The concept and its measurement

Public management research has demonstrated that strategy matters for public service performance and public value creation. Most studies consider strategy as something public organizations “have" - a result of a planning and decision-making process or document ̶ but say little about what practitioners “do” as they are engaged in a fairly continuous process of strategy formation. Public managers, policymakers and other professionals must think, act and learn strategically, and not just when developing plans. We define strategizing as a set of interconnected activities undertaken by practitioners to enhance ongoing strategic thinking, acting and learning. Because efforts to conceptualize and measure strategizing have been limited, we integrate insights from ten “strategy schools” and public administration research to conceptualize and measure strategizing using a survey instrument. The survey includes 15 activities validated through expert review and tested among 281 management team members in Flemish municipalities. Factor analysis reveals four components with acceptable reliability and validity, namely purposeful, analytical, place-based, and implementable (PAPI) strategizing. The conceptualization and survey provide a starting point for further research and help practitioners assess their strategizing capacity. © 2025 the author(s).