Strategy Mapping Public Sector Organizations
Alan Kennedy
Strategy maps can be created for public sector organizations because there is a framework of strategies common to all for-profit, not-for-profit, and public sector organizations.
I make the case in my book, The Alpha Strategies, Understanding Strategy, Risk, and Values in Any Organization, that the differences among these three different types of organizations is not the lack of sales or shareholders or "profits" across all three.
- Public sector and not-for-profit organizations may not have "sales" - but they do have "users".
- Public sector organizations do have a shareholder. It is usually a Ministry, or the government itself (i.e. municipality, or provincial or federal government) or "members" designated in the enabling legislation. Not-for-profits have members.
- As for profitability, public sector and not-for-profits measure "break-even", typically with no requirement to factor in income taxes because they are exempt from them.
So I would argue that the mapping is the same but the terminology in it changes.
