Strategic management with annual and multi-year operating budgets

Budgeting has to do with the power play of forces from within and from outside government as much as it has to do with management and control of government operations. The politics of the administrative process and the inherent differences between public and private organizations are inconsistent with several of the premises underlying theories and models of strategic planning and management. As a concept and as an analytical framework, strategic analysis can enhance the public administrator’s understanding of the working environment, the tasks at hand, and the kind of data that should be used for decision making. The budgeting process can complement the strategic analysis and vice-versa. However, the budget may not be a promising tool for strategic management at the agency level.