Strategizing for grand challenges: economic development and governance traditions in Malaysian local government
| Author | Jeffrey Hughes,Kevin Orr,Mazlan Yusoff |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00208523211048167 |
| Published date | 01 June 2023 |
| Date | 01 June 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Strategizing for grand
challenges: economic
development and
governance traditions in
Malaysian local
government
Jeffrey Hughes
University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK
Kevin Orr
University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK
Mazlan Yusoff
University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK
Abstract
This qualitative study provides empirical knowledge and develops theory about the role
of strategic management in Malaysian local government. As the country addresses the
grand challenge of economic growth amid enduring national aspirations of moving
from developing to fully developed status, the analysis identifies six approaches to stra-
tegic management across nine Malaysian local authorities. Rather than presenting a linear
story of progression, the six models of strategizing in Malaysia illuminate the governance
traditions that co-exist in this setting. The study examines the assumptions about public
management that underpin the different approaches and relates these to the country’s
inheritance of classical public administration and centralized government, the introduc-
tion of New Public Management, and the subsequent emergence of features of New
Public Governance.It contributes to theory by providing an analysis of the role of strategy
in each of the three governance traditions and connects debates about local governance
Corresponding author:
Jeffrey Hughes, Graduate School for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of St Andrews, The Old Burgh School,
Abbey Walk, St Andrews, KY16 9LB, Fife, Scotland, UK.
Email: jh312@st-andrews.ac.uk
Article
International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
International Review of Administrative
Sciences
2023, Vol. 89(2) 363–380
© The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/00208523211048167
journals.sagepub.com/home/ras
with scholarship on strategic management. It also contributes to the emerging literature
on strategizing for grand challenges and the limited repository of such studies located in
a public sector context. The article ends by identifying the implications for policy and
practice and suggesting areas for further research.
Points for practitioners
•This study highlights the need for collaboration to address strategic meta problems,
manage economic pressures and deliver public services.
•The six approaches to strategy development presented provide a set of models and
frames through which practitioners may assess their local environment.
•Our typology offers a basis for cross-sectoral learning and reflection, including ways of
diagnosing contextual variables and developing strategic knowledge.
•The Malaysian case shows how the context of strategy formation has been affected by
the shift from local government to governance, as well as by interacting colonial
legacies.
Keywords
strategic management, grand challenges, local governance, new public management, new
public governance
Introduction
In this article we provide empirical knowledge about public management in Malaysia and
use that to develop theory about of the role of strategic management in local governance.
We contribute to the field’s interest in research which can be a basis for comparative
knowledge (Bromfield and McConnell, 2021; Kuhlmann et al., 2021) and to its interest
in studies of the Asian region in general and Malaysia in particular (Christensen and Fan,
2018; Kim and Han, 2015; Yusoff, 2005). The study takes place in the context of an eco-
nomic grand challenge (George et al., 2016; Jarzabkowski et al., 2019) as the country
attempts to transition from developing to fully developed status (The World Bank,
2020). In Malaysia, the stakes are high in relation to the economy, health and ethnic
inequalities, and so considering the role of local strategizing is a worthwhile task.
Building on the work of scholars who have been translating ideas about strategic manage-
ment to public sector contexts (Favoreu et al., 2016; Johnsen, 2021), we provide an
account of six approaches to strategic management in local government. In each case
we identify the assumptions about public management that underpin each of these prac-
tices and relate them to Malaysia’s history of centralization, the introduction of New
Public Management (NPM) (Bellé and Ongaro, 2014; Manning, 2001; Reiter and
Klenk, 2019) and the evolution of features of New Public Governance (NPG) (Casady
et al., 2020). We conclude that the six strategic management models we see in
Malaysia show how particular governance traditions co-exist in this setting. We contrib-
ute to theory by providing an analysis of the role of strategy in each of the three public
management traditions against the backdrop of an enduring grand challenge. In an era
364 International Review of Administrative Sciences 89(2)
To continue reading
Request your trial