Eyes on the Prize: Strategy in Government Agencies

Agencies are small public organizations that can be managed strategically to achieve a legislated goal. Develops a framework that can help them do this by working with their five key relationships: the Minister and Government, the Minister′s department, central control agencies, the agency′s board, and the professional staff. Suggests a general approach to a strategy for managing agencies: do the work envisaged in the founding legislation, while managing the primary relationships with Minister and Government and the Board, and monitoring the constraints of lateral relationships and other legislation. Within this context, set priorities and make choices in terms of managerial capacities and operate the agency to attain credibility, primarily in terms of achieving the legislated goal, while developing a reputation for managerial competence.