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~,allenges. A plan that will effectively
<br />focus your community or organization
<br />cannot be developed over a weekend at
<br />a planning retreat. An effective strategic
<br />plan requires, as a first step, the fairly
<br />rigorous collection of information, with
<br />analysis and development of issues.
<br /> The current situation should be as-
<br />sessed from several perspectives, includ-
<br />ing the market and customers served,
<br />current or potential competitors, and
<br />internal capabilities.
<br />
<br />Market Analysis
<br />
<br />Successful businesses have long known
<br />the importance of understanding the
<br />markets they serve. Increasingly, local
<br />governments are recognizing their need
<br />to do the same. Understanding your mar-
<br />ket involves comprehending the demo-
<br />graphic, economic, social, and other char-
<br />acteristics of your community,, as well as
<br />the trends or changes that are occurring.
<br />Knowing about the demographics of
<br />ur community helps to identify key
<br />issues and challenges facing the com-
<br />munity. The makeup of the locality's
<br />population in terms of age, ethnicity,
<br />and education can have a major impact
<br />on the services required, as well as on
<br />their success. Additionally, understand-
<br />ing changes or trends in these charac-
<br />teristics helps to clarify the changing
<br />needs of the community.
<br /> Similarly, economic characteristics
<br />and trends, such as income and poverty
<br />levels and unemployment rates, provide
<br />useful insights into current and emerg-
<br />ing community needs.
<br /> Social characteristics and trends are
<br /> also useful in understanding your com-
<br /> munity. These include factors like hous-
<br /> ing and population density, owner and
<br /> renter occupancy rates, and crime rates
<br /> and trends.
<br /> Other, more specific characteristics
<br /> and trends also can be useful, including
<br /> such factors as the teen pregnancy rate,
<br /> gigh school dropout rate, business fail-
<br /> e rate, and so forth. A wealth of infor-
<br /> mation exists to help us better under-
<br /> stand our communities.
<br />
<br />Figure 1. The Strategic
<br />Management Process
<br />
<br />Source: Scott Bryant (~ Associates.
<br />
<br />Customer Analysis
<br />
<br />In addition to community characteris-
<br />tics and trends, it also is important to
<br />know about specific customer needs and
<br />expectations. This is another area that
<br />successful businesses have long under-
<br />stood and focused on. Increasingly, local
<br />governments are asking their customers,
<br />through surveys, focus groups, and
<br />other means, what is important to them
<br />and how their needs can be better met.
<br /> Customer analysis should focus on
<br />four key questions:
<br />
<br />1. What are the customers' priorities?
<br />2. How satisfied are they with current
<br /> services or products?
<br />3. What are their service or quality ex-
<br /> pectations?
<br />4. What concerns or issues do they have?
<br />
<br /> Answers to the first two questions can
<br />be used to determine quickly where a
<br />community or organization should focus
<br />its efforts. By comparing customer prior-
<br />ities with their satisfaction levels (see
<br />Figure 2), it is easy to identify the ser-
<br />vices or issues that they rate as top prior-
<br />ities or as areas of dissatisfaction. These
<br />identified services should typically be the
<br />focus of improvement efforts. Asking
<br />customers about their expectations for
<br />service or quality will define benchmarks
<br />with which to compare current perfor-
<br />
<br />mance, as well as targets for change
<br />strategies. These benchmarks should de-
<br />fine and drive goals and objectives.
<br /> Asking customers their perspectives
<br />on issues or concerns also helps to pro-
<br />vide insights into challenges they see
<br />around the corner for the community or
<br />organization.
<br />
<br />Competitive Analysis
<br />
<br />Local governments are increasingly fac-
<br />ing competition. Typically, when we
<br />think of competition in the public sector,
<br />we think of competitive pressure from
<br />the private sector. While this kind of
<br />competitive pressure is important, local
<br />governments also are competing with
<br />each other. More and more community,
<br />comparisons are being done, usually
<br />comparing some measure of quality, of
<br />life. Just as private businesses compare
<br />themselves with and learn from their
<br />competitors, local governments can
<br />compare and learn from each other. This
<br />is being accomplished cooperatively
<br />through efforts such as ICMA's Compar-
<br />ative Performance Measure Consortium.
<br /> When conducting a competitive
<br />analysis, it is important to consider
<br />competitive position from both a cost
<br />and a quality perspective. Often, com-
<br />petitive analyses focus primarily on cost
<br />issues and may miss equally important
<br />factors related to quality.
<br />
<br />Internal Analysis
<br />
<br />A community's internal analysis should
<br />consider its resources, strengths, and
<br />weaknesses. An internal analysis for an
<br />organization should additionally con-
<br />sider current workload and employee
<br />attitudes.
<br /> Resources to be identified and ana-
<br />lyzed include financial capadty, facilities,
<br />human resources, and technological ad-
<br />vantages. Strengths might comprise dis-
<br />tinctive competencies, areas in which the
<br />community or organization is seen as a
<br />market leader, and unique external rela-
<br />tionships. Weaknesses might involve defi-
<br />ciencies in resources, skills, or capabilities.
<br />
<br />PUBLIC MANAGEMENT
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