Strategic approaches to planning and management in the public sector are becoming accepted. Clearly, formal long-range planning thatsimply projects current trends into the future is wholly inadequatefor managing government agencies in an environment with ever-changing political, economic, and legal considerations. Indeed, the benefits of strategic approaches to managing business are well demonstrated in the public sector. The implementation of strategic plans through the annual budget process is discussed. During the past year and ahalf, the new jersey department of transportation (njdot) has developed a strategic planning process under the direction of a strategicplanning task force consisting of the commissioner of transportation and other senior management. Over the course of the process, department and division level missions, objectives, and strategies were drafted. On the basis of these, implementation plans were developed that linked planning intentions to the resources needed and availableto carry out programs. With the addition of budget-oriented performance measures to the implementation plans, the strategic planning and budgeting processes were joined. A key addition to the implementation plans for future cycles is the inclusion of resources dedicatedto resolving critical issues faced by njdot. This paper appears in transportation research record no. 1305, Finance, planning, programming, economic analysis, and land development 1991.
Abstract