ABSTRACT
Strategic planning has gained wide acceptance in the American corporate community as a powerful management tool. This chapter provides practical guidance in the application of strategic planning to public sector executives and managers within their organizations. It analyses the efforts of some governmental units to initiate strategic planning. All eight units are in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Each used the same basic strategic planning process. The process consists of eight steps: an initial agreement or "plan for planning"; identification and clarification of mandates; mission formulation; external environmental assessment; internal environmental assessment; strategic issue identification; strategy development; and development of a description of the organization in the future—;;its "vision of success". The government of a middle-sized city has adopted a formal planning improvement program consisting of three major elements: city council direction and priority setting; annual operational planning/budget preparation process enhancement; and strategic planning in selected issue areas.
