Strategic Planning in Practice
The rational model of the strategic public policy cycle has been criticised as overly linear, reductive and taking insufficient account of pre-existing policy and practice. Why do you think in many cases it continues to dominate strategic planning in practice? The rational model of strategic public policy planning is pervasive in governmental operations. Yet, it seems to often be separated from the reality of the execution of the operations. This paper will compare rational planning to other models and inquire into the gap between theory and practice using the local municipality Dalton Township in Michigan, USA as a practical reference. Actions and events occur through time, therefore it is reasonable to think of a process as occurring in a series of steps. For instance, five: initiation; formulation; implementation; evaluation; review. (Hague, Harrop, McCormick, 2016, pg 330) Or, it can be ten: define mission statement; formulate strategic goals; stakeholder analysis; situational anal