ABSTRACT
This chapter is about state-owned organizations’ strategy. Using research that we have conducted on the topic, we reflect on how strategy has evolved in these organizations. We first debate what strategy means in the public sector highlighting the challenging interface between management and politics. We discuss the issue briefly in interaction with more recent research on the subject. Then, using the Hydro-Québec (HQ) experience, we argue that governance helps reconcile efficiency with social responsiveness. Research on the history of HQ shows that governance can thus be seen as a valuable heritage, which is or can be the source of competitive advantage. Finally, getting to the micro level, we present through the experiences of La Poste in France, the Montreal transit system (STM), and Radio-Canada, strategy processes that seem to reconcile the variety of interests and stakeholders involved.
