DQ - Strategic Planning

2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 27 THE LINKAGE BETWEEN ELEMENTS IN THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS : A QUALITATIVE STUDY Sirirat Choonhaklai and Ratthasirin Wangkanond Mahidol University , Thailand ABSTRACT A qualitative study was conducted on the Ministry of Justice in Thailand , a pilot agency that implemented strategic planning in the levels of ministry, cluster and department. I n this paper, the researchers focus on the linkage between determinants, strategic planning and outcom es. Although the Ministry of Justice of Thailand participated in a strategic planning pilot project, the study showed that the linkage between elements of the strategic planning process implemented by i ts agencies was weak . The main obstacles were found to be bureaucratic culture and work characteristics. BACKGROUND The T hai government agencies' strategic planning resulted from the civil service reform in 2002, which was influenced by the evolution in public administration in the US from the past until the present which witnessed paradigm shifts through time in response to changing social environments. The bureaucratic system was seen as a closed, formali sed, or classic organi sation (Robbins, 1990: 34; Robbins, 1990: 34 ; Pfiffner, 2004: 443 -454) whose administration focused on internal and specific factors while disregarding external environments. Its emphasis was on control, regulations and a top - down relationsh ip. Therefore, by the late 1960 s, and between 1968 -1970 until the present, scholars in publi c administrations propose the New Public Administration (NPA) (Nigro & Nigro, 1984: 14), which aims at organi sational effectiveness, focuses on people, social values, equality and public participation (Denhardt & Denhardt, 2007). The NPA, therefore, is rel ated to the notion of transparent, perf ormance -based, and people -centr ed administration. During the same period, different ways to improve public administration were offered (Ocampo, 2000: 248 -255). They comprise (1) internal and external environment -orien ted managerial improvement to build a high -performance organi sation ; (2) reengineering ; (3) a new public management approach ; and (4) performance -based or outcome -based administration, and democratic participatory administration. The Linkage between Elements in the Strategic Planning Process : A qualitative study 2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 28 The new paradigms in pub lic administration contributed to changes both in processes and procedures in Thai government organi sations , especially during 2001 -2009 when two important acts were passed , ie The Reorganization of Ministries, Sub -Ministries and Departments Act , B.E. 2545 and Section 17 of the National Government Organization Act , B.E. 2534 revised by the National Government Organization Act (No.4) , B.E. 2543 and by the National Government Organization Act (No.5) , B.E. 2545. The revision was effective from October 3, 2002. Importantly, Section 3/1 of the latter Act prescribes improvement to promote people's interests, effective achievement of government's missions, social responsibility, transparency, accountability and public participation. Hence came strategic planning in government agencies. Later, the Office of Public Sector Development Commission (OPDC) was established as a mechanism to implement the reform according to the Long - term Strategic Plan to Improve the Thai Civil Service and Indicators, B.E. 2546 - 2550; B.E. 2 551 -2555; and B.E. 2556 -2561. According to the research to date, there has never been a study on the relation between elements of strategic planning in Thailand. Research findings are found on strategic planning and implementation in organi sations (eg Pum ipathanasuk 2010; Rachamani 2011 ), but not on the linkage. This is in agreement with Poister, Pitts and Edwards (2010:522) , who stated that studies were rare on connections betw een planning process and organis ational outcomes and on serious ap plication of tools and models eg Balanced Score Card (BSC) m odel and McKinsey ’s 7-S model ; and with Hansen (2011:771 -772) , who pointed out a lack of serious evaluation of strategic tools , eg SWOT analysis, BSC and McKinsey ’s 7 -S. In this paper, the researchers focus on the linkage between determinants, strategic planning and outcomes. A qualitative study was conducted on the Ministry of Justice, a pilot agency that implemented strategic planning in the levels of ministry, cluster and department. In addition, the Minis try set up a performance agreement to meet indicators according to the strategic plan in the cluster and department levels. The OPDC arranged for department heads, the Permanent Secretary and the Minister to sign the performance agreement in November/Decem ber 2003 (OPDC, 2004: 91 -93). CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK The conceptual framework is developed from Poister and Streib (1999: 316 - 319), Poister, Pitts and Edwards (2010: 525) and :u, Kapucu, and O’Byrne (2014: 86 -88). The linkage between elements in the strateg ic planning process comprises determinants, strategic planning and outcomes. The determinants Sirirat Choonhaklai and Ratthasirin Wangkanond 2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 29 are (1) rules and command of OCPD overseeing strategic planning in the public sector; (2) the perception and understanding of personnel , which r eflects preparedne ss for organisational mobilisation; and (3) organis ational leadership. The strategic planning consists of (1) the formation and determination of strategies in order to analys e the process in response to goals and environments, and the application of models and tools; (2) communication and transmission of vision, missions, strategic issues, goals and indicators to all levels; (3) participation by all parties in determining strategies, goals and indicators to obtain strategic issues beneficial to those involv ed; and (4) implementation of plans, their integration and budgeting according to priorities. T he outcomes are (1) organi sational competence and (2) results from the implementation of plans. On the one hand, the direction of influence flows from the deter minants to the strategic planning and outcomes. On the other hand, the l atter elements provide feedback to those that c ame before. LITERATURE REVIEW Meaning and significance of strategic planning According to Porter (2008) , strategic planning is a process that enables and facilitates leaders to achieve goals. The process helps determine a direction based on awareness of limits or possible obstacles, and encourages learning to become different from other organi sations. Meanwhile, Gordo n (2005:1) stated that strategic planning is a systematic process that helps leaders understand environments that influence their organi sations and make the best decisions for their organi sations to achieve their visions. Likewise, according to Bryson (2004:6) , an organis ation need strategic planning to build a basic way of practice for decision making since the planning inform what goals should be selected, what should be done and why these should be done. In addition, Gordon (2005:1) explains that strategic planning is a systematic process that enables executives to understand their organis ational environments, and facilitates mutual agreement about how to achieve goals. Strategic planning is an important element of strategic management, which arises together with result -oriented management (Poister & Streib , 1999:308) . It is used in government agencies to promote strategic development and effective administration to reach both short - and long -term goals. The organis ations need to arrange appropriate activities and resources to support the steering towards these goals (Chandler , 1962, cited by Hansen , 2001:776). According to Mercer (1991), Gordon (2005) and Bryson (2011), strategic planning comprises (a) vision, a future expect ation of what the organis ation aspires to be (eg Mahidol University's vision to be one in the top one hundred world class universities); (b) philosophy and value; (c) missions, things to be The Linkage between Elements in the Strategic Planning Process : A qualitative study 2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 30 done to achieve the vision (eg academic services, research and dev elopment); (d) goals or main objectives, things that are achieved after the implementation of the missions; (e) strategic issues, main points that the organis ation need to develop in order to reach the goa ls and objectives; (f) programs and plans that the organis ation needs to implement to progress towa rds the goals and objectives (eg plans to improve managerial systems and mechanisms); and (g) projects, things to be done to meet indi cators of different programs (eg restructuring and job description s). Principles of strategic planning Explanation s of the principle s are covered in the following main points. Formation of a strategic plan Before strategic planning, a group of planners hold meetings with internal and external stakeholders according to the st rategic planning procedur es. A n analysis of the organis ational environment has to be conducted . The obtained data are used to determine a vision, philosophy and values, missions, goal s, indicators and strategic issues . After that, strategic plans will be implemented and followed up as part of the process. A SWOT analysis consists of two pats (Kriebel & Krauss , 2007): (1) An analysis of internal factors : The organis ation's actual state is analysed so that strengths (eg a clear structure, good image and compete nt personnel) and weaknesses (eg ineffective managerial mechanisms) are indicated . Models that are used to analys e these internal factors are, for instance, Public Sector Management Quality Award (PMQA) and McKinsey ’s 7–S framework. More than one model may be used to obtain a more extensive analysis. Mercer (1991: 53) indicated that any internal work can be included for analysis of internal factors. (2) An analysis of external factors : Environments , external to but influential on , the organis ation , are analy sed ion two levels , ie general environments (eg the soci al system, culture, population quality, technology and national or global economy) an d work -specific environments (eg clients, people, public and private sectors). The analysis shows opportunities, factors that the organis ation can use to its advantage, and threats, factors that can lead to disadvantages or ineffectiveness. A model that can be used to analys e opportuniti es and threats is Porter (2008)'s Five Forces Model, which covers market trends, competitors, supplier s, partners and customers. Another useful model is PEST, which includes politics, economics, social relations and technology (Bailey 1989; Gordon 2005; Me rcer 1991). Sirirat Choonhaklai and Ratthasirin Wangkanond 2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 31 Implementation of strategic plans To implement a strategic plan, projects under different programs are prioritis ed for each year so as to make an annual operational plan and budget request s. To make sure that the strategic plans are practicab le, and thus achievable, every party needs to mutually determine key performance indicators that are connected to the organis ation's vision and missions. Success of the implementation is to be measured against these indicators. The executives should use th e cascading method to distribute these indicators to lower units to use as their missions and indicators. These indicators are useful for determining responsibilities, outcomes and performance for each individual in the form of a performance agreement. The refore, the organis ation, units and individuals are aligned to the same goals. Elements of strategic planning The picture of a strategic administrative process painted by Stone et al. (1999 cited by Poister, Pitts, and Edwards, 2010: 524 -525), together wi th Poister, Pitts and Edwards ’ (2010: 525) conceptual framework based on the application of Stone et al. (1999), enables the researcher to see the linkage of strategic planning and management defined by three elements: determinants, process and ou tcomes. E ven though Hu, Kapucu and O’Byrne (2014: 86 -88) do not mention strategic management, their explanation of strategic planning also points to these three elements. An integration of Poister, Pitts and Edwar ds (2010: 526) and Hu, Kapucu and O’Byrne (2014: 88) help elaborate details of each element. Firstly, in the process of strategic planning, formation and determination of strategic plans based on SWOT analysis, and their implementation should include participants in the process to determine plans, goals and indicators, communication and transmission of the vision, strategic issues, goals and indicators to all levels for them to be prepared for organis ational mobilis ation. Secondly, determinants cover internal working systems and laws, line of command, env iro nments and other features (eg the organis ation's size and age) that influence strategic planning, including leadership (Monahan, 2001 cited by Poister, Pitts, & Edwards, 2010: 526 ; Hu, Kapucu, & O’Byrne, 2014: 86 -88). Third ly, according to Poister, Pitts and Edwards (2010: 528), outcomes can be classified into two levels. On one level, they are related to an increase in organis ational competence (ie having strong partners, satisfied stakeholders, adapting to changing environments, effective leadership and positive organis ational culture). On the other level , outcomes are long -term performance in implementing the strategic plans, providing services, enforcing laws, etc, which can be measured from quality of service, efficiency, client satisfaction and a rate of complaints. In the meantime, Hu, Kapu cu and O’Byrne (2014: 88) define outcomes as (1) abiliti y to design The Linkage between Elements in the Strategic Planning Process : A qualitative study 2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 32 organis ational missions, goals and prioritis e plans; (2) connection between external factors and the organis ation's important figures; and (3) impr ovement of organis ational management and effectiveness. In this study of linkage between elements in the Ministry of Justice's strategic planning, the researchers cover all three elements with varying details.

Regarding the element of the strategic planni ng process, the study looks at (1) the formation and determination of strategies in order to analys e the process in response to goals and environments, and the application of mod els and tools (BSC, McKinsey 7 -S, PMQA and SWOT Analysis); (2) communication a nd transmission of vision, missions, strategic issues, goals and indicators at all levels; (3) participation by all parties in determining strategies, goals and indicators to obtain strategic issues beneficial to those involved; and (4) implementation of p lans, their integration and budgeting according to priorities. The determinants under study include (1) rules and command of OCPD overseeing strategic planning in the public sector; (2) the perception and understanding of personnel , which reflects prepared ness for organis ational mobilis ation; and (3) organis ational leadership. The outcomes under study cover organis ational competence (eg empowerment through networking, and the improved understanding and performance of personnel ) and results from the implemen tation of plans. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This qualitative research com prises the following procedures: (1) Exploratory research was conducted to investigate determinants, strategic planning and outcomes specific to the Ministry of Justice. Main informants were purposefully sampled and selected by the method of judgment sampling based on their ability to answer questions and other characteristics , eg positions, job descriptions and working experience. These informants we re 30 officers from the OPCD and 11 agencies under the Ministry of Justice ( ie Office of the Policy and Strategy under Office of the Permanent Secretary, Office of Justice Affairs, Cen tral Institute of Forensic Science, Department of Special Investigation, Legal Execution Department, Right and Liberties Promotion Department, Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection, Department of Probation, Department of Corrections, Office of the Narcotics Control Board, and Office of Public Sector Anti -Corruption Commission). (2) Primary data were obtained through structured interviews and focus group discussions. Secondary data were studied from agencies' documents to assist the design of questio ns and discussion guidelines. (3) A variety of data -collecting methods was used in response to the need of this research, which aims to explore, examine and describe data. Data Sirirat Choonhaklai and Ratthasirin Wangkanond 2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 33 were collected through (a) structured interviews designed for gathering in - depth da ta and (b) group interviews through focus group discussions. Data were also gathered from existing documents. Most of them were official documents , eg annual reports , strategic and operational plans, minutes, directives, regulations and laws. (4) The data were analys ed by the method of content analysis. The data were thoroughly read to find out themes and patterns related to the research questions. The procedures comprise d the following steps: f irst, the data were managed so that all t he interviews were transcr ibed; secondly, the transcriptions were read and re -read to find out themes for coding the sources to obtain abstract concepts (Rossman & Rallis, 1998 cited by Creswell, 2003: 192). (5) Reliability was checked through the method of member checking. That is, results were sent to the data collectors and main informants to examine whether the interpretations corresponded with their intention s. In addition, findings were read by external experts. RESULTS AND DISCUSSI ONS The researchers present and discuss finding s on each element in the strategic planning and then discuss about their linkage. Strategic planning The process covers formation and determination of strategic plans, communication and transmission before implementation, participation, and implementation . Formation and determination of strategic planning Findings showed that every agency under the Ministry of Justice appointed their strategic units to collect primary data and invite specific personnel to mutually make plans. Generally, these personnel w ere from their own organis ations , ie director -generals, deputy director -generals, experts, department general inspectors, division directors and operational officers.

Together, they conducted SWOT analyses that were limited to specific aspects and then mut ually determined visions. Usually, the administrators themselves prescribed the visions that were not related to the SWOT results. The intermediate administrators ( ie division directors) further conducted the SWOT analyses to obtain missions, strategic iss ues, goals, indicators, programs and projects. However, at the department level, the process was different. Some departments employed academics or private companies , while others made The Linkage between Elements in the Strategic Planning Process : A qualitative study 2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 34 the plans by themselves. Most agencies used data of performance in pre vious years. Whereas some departments invited external stakeholders, most relied on their own personnel in the process of the SWOT a nalysis. D ata were not adequately p repared for the SWOT analyses; s ome strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats ( eg survey results of clients' satisfaction and reports of civic participation) were left out when the strategic plans were made. The interviews showed that, in the SWOT analysis sessions, participants expressed their impressions about the organis ations witho ut supporting evidence . Moreover, most of the participants shied away from expressing their views.

Brainstorming was also lacking which would have allowed participation of personnel from all levels to share their views about their organis ation ’s direction. As a result, the process to form and determine strategic issues was not appropriate and also not based on the organis ation ’s enviro nmental needs. According to Bryson (2004:123), to effectively respond to changing environments, organis ations ne ed to understand both internal and external environments so as to build strategies related to the contexts. Therefore, it can be concluded that, as a whole, the processes conducted by these agencies were not completed according to the standard of strategic planning because they did not draw upon the SWOT results to design visions, missions, strategic issues, objectives and indicators. Moreover, reviewing the contents of the strategic plans , the researchers found that, even though all the elements ( eg vision , missions, objectives ) were available, they were not designed according to the principles. Vision A vision is vital to the success of strategic planning since it gives common direction to the organis ation's members , eg what the organis ation aspires to be and what kind of improvement is necessary. Missions, goals, objectives and other elements are designed to achieve the vision. Every agency has its own missions as prescribed by law. Only some of them developed their own strategic missio ns. However, none of the 11 agencies appoint ed units to be in charge of each mission. An interview ee voiced an interesting point: The strategic unit tends to include missions prescribed by laws as part of the strategic plan and then adds some strategies that are related to the Department and M inistry to make it challenging. Goals, objectives and strategic issues Even though all agencies indicated their goals, objectives and strategic issues, these were simply a compilation of those belonging to projects and the Sirirat Choonhaklai and Ratthasirin Wangkanond 2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 35 strategic issues were not prioriti sed for annual operation planning. These objectives and indicators did not result from the SWOT analyses, neither were they allocated to different units and performance agreements. As a whole, they were not related to the organis ation ’s strategic plans and performance indicators. Informants gave the following descriptions. The OPCD has the same way of practice with every Ministry. The Ministries sign performance agreements mainly to obtain bonus rewards, not to improve their organis ations. Some Ministries received high bonus scores. Some received four from the total scores of five. In some Ministries, their personnel were given bonuses of 1,000 or 2,000 baht. But, their problems remain. Their high scores like four or five are, therefore, not related to their performance. They, for example, designed indicators that enabled th em to make easy scores. If a meeting is held, they get three scores. But, if they can provide the meeting's minutes, they get four scores. The strategic plan and performance agreement are related only on the document. No goals is indicated in the form tha t the plan is successfully implemented. As a result, the performance evaluation does not reflect the strat egic plan's success or failure. Tools and models The study showed that the Departments and Ministry used tools and models , ie SWOT analyses, BSC, McK insey 7 -S, and PMQ A. Most of them used the McKinsey 7 -S model to analys e internal environments and PEST to analys e external environments. Some agencies also included C (Customers). However, only the Right and Liberties Promotion Department used PMQA when d ata were collected for analysis. BSC was used for strategic mapping between vision, missions, strategic issues and objectives ( ie efficiency, service quality, effectiveness and organis ation development) due to requirements in the OPCD's Strategic Planning Toolkit. Also , the OPCD included BSC in performance agreements. This showed that government agencies conform to regulations and orders rather than aim to achieve outcomes. Communication and transmission In practice, the operational officers in charge of strategic planning submitted plans for the director -generals to approve and circulate to units under the departments for them to use as a guideline for their strategic planning. Some agen cies put the plans on their web sites. However, most of them held no The Linkage between Elements in the Strategic Planning Process : A qualitative study 2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 36 formal meeting to communicate information about the plans and create common direction among personnel. The plans were usually communicated in executive meetings, or emphasis ed by general inspectors. Exceptions were the Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection, the Office of Public Sector Anti -Corruption Commission and the Department of Special Investigation. However, a commitment to successfully implement the plans was never made. Stakeholder involvement The study found that, in most of the agenci es, only those personnel in charge of making strategic plans participated in the process. Representatives from different levels of personnel were lacking. Some told that they did not participate because it was not in their field of expertise. Only one agen cy was found to invite external people to participate in the SWOT analysis. The participation level is low. The process is not open much for participation. Many personnel do not want serious participation. They simply want to express their opinions. When it came to participation, people would rather not express their views because they thought the strategic planning was an academic work. Most did not pay attention. Though people showed u p, a few expressed their views. ......... Important obstacles are a) the administrators do not pay attention; b) people think only a certain group of personnel is responsible for it; c) people think that it is academic, complicated and painstaking; d) it does not make any difference; and e) many believe that, without the s trategic plan, the Department can go on with t he legal authority that it has. The findings showed that most personnel and administrators did not consider participation to be as important as it should have been . Al lison and Kaye (1997: 35) point out that strategic planning that is based on participation is of better quality. Stakeholders should be aware when they should play a part in the process. According to Bailey (1989: 170), the environmental analysis is important and the analysis should reg ularly draw upon stakeholders to examine and adjust the plans. Many organis ations, especially government agencies, are obsessed with routine work so that planning and evaluation are difficult . To solve this problem, a timeframe should be set up and it shou ld be ensured that stakeholders participate in the planning and evaluating process. Likewise, Mercer (1991: 140) states that stakeholder participation is vita l in the plann ing and implementing processes . Sirirat Choonhaklai and Ratthasirin Wangkanond 2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 37 Implementation Since the SWOT results were not tak en seriously, the strategic plans lacked credibility. Although every agency had its own operational plan, the plan was not connected to the planning and budgeting processes, but to the performance agreement, which was taken from the Ministry's four -year op erational plans. In practice, government agencies have to submit annual operational plans for the Minister to approve before they can submit budget plans to the Bureau of the Budget. Meanwhile, the OPDC used indicators in the annual operational plans to se t up the performance agreements. The implementation of strategic plans was a weakness in these government agencies' strategic planning. When strategies were set up, as already mentioned above, no unit was appointed to be responsible for the missions and strategic issues. Bryson, (2004: 50) confirmed that providing human and financial resource s is an important duty of administrator s for implementation. Moreover, organis ations have to provide units and persons responsible for undertaking activities to meet the requirements of the plan. The findings showed that the administrators never made a commitment to successfully implement the strategies. In addition, the indicators in the four -year operational plans, which are translated into each annual operational pl an, cannot be used to measure strategic performance because they are pre - determined by the OPDC in its preparation of the performance agreements. Determinants The determinants include the OPDC’s ru les and regulations, personnel perception and understandin g and leadership. The OPDC's rules and regulations Unlike those organis ations in the private sector, government agencies conform to rules and orders. Although strategic planning should respond to each agency's specificity, these agencies cannot set up and implement their own strategies because they need to perform their routine missions as prescribed by laws, and also their commitments to higher authorities (Melkers & Willoughby 1998 , cited by Poister, Pitts, & Edwards 2010:526) . This situation is also the case for the Ministry of Justice. The strategic planning was conducted because it was required by the OPDC's rules and regulations. Its agencies also need to produce outcomes as prescribed by these rules and regulations.

Therefore, the analysis shows that these determinants are formally related to the strategic planning and outcomes although they are not connected to the process of implementing the agencies' strategic plans to achieve the objectives and indicators. The Linkage between Elements in the Strategic Planning Process : A qualitative study 2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 38 Perception and understanding The findin gs showed that the number of personnel responsible for strategic planning was not sufficient. These personnel needed to fulfil other duties so that they could not allocate time to the strategic planning. For instance, each probation officer had to supervis e 500 -1800 probationers a year , and this was not the only responsibility they had. Also, m ost of them were annual -contract employees and thus lacked job security. Transfer of personnel was frequent , so not many were continuously responsible for the strategic planning. In the Central Institute of Forensic Science the Department of Special Investigation, the Legal Execution Department, the Department of Corrections, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, and the Office of Public Sector Anti -Corruption Commission, most personnel devote themselves to the organis ation ’s prescribed missions ( eg crime scene investigation, law enforcement .) so that the strategic planning was relegated to supporting staff. Personnel improvement was not systematic and continuous so that the level of understanding about the strategic planning was low. Personnel need to be trained so that they can use and connect tools and models (such as BSC and PMQA) and thus effectively wor k as part of the strategic planning team. Therefore, the quality of personnel was an obstacle to the strategic planning. Leadership The administrators in the department and division levels are significant to the success of strategic planning. The finding s showed that these administrators had visions and creativity. However, no process existed to communicate these to the operational level. Many administrators, especially those in the intermediate level, conform to the principle of p racticality so that they focus only on practice, but ignore outcomes that could meet the organis ation’s key indicators. The factor of leadership . It can be seen that once all administrators shared the same concept as the government leader, Thaksin Shinawatra, who paid attention to strategies. Performance agreements were quickly endorsed because the ministers, permanent secretaries, director -generals all paid attention. Then, the permanent secretaries designed indicators together with lower officers. Now, that picture is no more. The factor of leadership influences a success. If the leaders pay attention and join meetings to make plans, and pay attention to implementatio n, the plans will be effective. Sirirat Choonhaklai and Ratthasirin Wangkanond 2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 39 Outcomes The study on outcomes covers organis ational competence ( ie empowerment through networking, personnel having knowledge and understanding of strategic planning, and performance improvement) and implementation outcomes. Organis ational competence According to the findings, no agencies had a strategy of empowerment through networking. These agencies preferred to work on their own in their fields of specialis ation and strictly conform to rules and regulations. Therefore, they focus on fulfilling the legally prescribed missions, rather than strategic planning. Implementation outcomes Outcomes from the implementation of plans ( eg services, law enforcement, quality of service and efficiency) were rarely documented by research.

Although all agencies enjoyed positive responses from clients and personnel, these could not be counted as outcomes of strategic plan implementation because the implementation of the plans as a whole was never followed -up and evaluated. A main reason for this failure is the lack of key indicators for each agency and allocation of missions to lower levels. CONCLUSION AND DISCU SSIONS The linkage between the determinants, strategic planning and outco mes is weak, which can be analys ed as follows. Bureaucratic culture Many government agencies have high degree of bureaucratic culture ie focus on f ormalities (Sun & Xu 2012:70). In this case, the outcomes realis ed in response to the OPDC's orders were not related to the strategic plans. This had both advantages and disadvantages. However, the emphasis here is on those obstructing the process of strat egic planning. Leader cen teredness Success depends on organis ational leaders. Strategic planning is not an exception. A comparison showed that strategic planning became important in organis ations whose leaders understood and paid attention to the process ; for example, after the reform of the civil service in 2002, the then prime minister, Taksin Shinawatra, paid attention to the policies to improve civil service in The Linkage between Elements in the Strategic Planning Process : A qualitative study 2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 40 response to social needs and also to promote organis ational effectiveness. Consequently, every government agency adopted strategic planning as an administrative tool. The process was continuous. However, after Taksin's term, the strategic mission was no longer seriously implemented (Choonhaklai , 2012:214). The lack of seriousness and continuity leads to limited success of strategic planning, inadequate improvement of the knowledge and understanding of personnel and insufficient participation. As a result, the strategic mission becomes part of routine work (C hoonhaklai 2012:214). Top -down administration The bureaucratic system according to the classical theory , eg Max Weber, Frederick W. Taylor and Henri Fayol , is very influential to the Thai system, in which organis ations are closed and centralis ed systems w ith command -line administration and without participation from internal and external stakeholders. This explains why the participants in the strategic planning, especially lower ranks, shied away from expressing their views. It was found in many places, no t only Thailand, where strategies were determined by higher administrators (Poister, Pitts, & Edwards 2010:539). When strategic planning is caught in the command line, the resulting plans are not connected to the planning process and do not lead to outcome s that meet the organis ations' needs, but the requirements of external organis ation, the OPDC. Work characteristics Most agencies under the Ministry of Justice are required to perform as prescribed by laws, regulations and orders. They share common missio ns that are their routine work. For example, the Central Institute of Forensic Science, the Department of Special Investigation, the Legal Execution Department, the Department of Corrections, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, and the Office of Pub lic Sector Anti -Corruption Commission do not seek satisfaction from clients. The charac teristics of their work prevent creation of new missions or strategies to compete with other organis ations and therefore obstruct the system of strategic planning. RECO MMENDATIONS Policy recommendations Although the linkage between the three elements -determinants, strategic planning and outcomes was weak , partly due to the cultural and organis ational constraints, the strategic planning processes by the agencies under the Ministry of Justice can, in practice, be separated from routine work. To do so, these agencies need to improve the quality of personnel so that they are goal - oriented and can c ontribute to the organis ational development to adapt to Sirirat Choonhaklai and Ratthasirin Wangkanond 2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 41 changes and accomplish their goals and missions. Hellriegel et a l (2001 cited by Sun & Xu 2012:70) suggest that organis ations should communicate with their personnel about personal and organis ational values, promote team working and recognition, and implement a reward -and -punishment system for desired behavio ural outcomes. Many organis ations can develop the outcome -oriented system and culture by building common understanding in the ir personnel so that they realis e the importance of strategic planning. In some organis ations, for example, strategic missions are on the agenda of monthly meeting s. Some organis ations require that new projects are aligned with missions and strategies (:u, Kapucu, & O’Byrne 20 14:93). Organis ations need to create common understanding that strategic planning is a systematic way that helps the leaders to understand future environments in different dimensions and see how to achieve goals and visions. The strategic planning comprise s methods and activities that inform how the achievements can take place (Gordon 2005:1). It is also a process whereby stakeholders share opinions and reach agreements about missions and priorities (Allison & Kaye 1997:1). In addition, organis ations should show that strategic planning can benefit individuals, groups, the organis ations and communitie s and that it can help the organi sations achieve their goals and create a better future for younger generations (Bryson 2004:8). . RESEARCH RECOMMENDAT IONS Since the Ministry of Justice and others have extensively implemented the policy of strategic planning, the findings of the weak linkage between elements in the process point to an urgent need to conduct a study to find out how to strengthen the connection betw een these elements. It is important that the research focuses on the whole picture of the planning process, which has been missed by other studies that pay attention to specific elements , eg leadershi p, perception and understanding and organis ational competence. REFERENCES Allison, M. & Kaye, J. (1997). Strategic Planning for Nonprofit Organizations:A Practical Guide and Workbook. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Bailey, R.W. (1989 ). 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Master of Arts Program in Public and Private Administration, Silpakorn University. Sirirat Choonhaklai and Ratthasirin Wangkanond 2014 International Employment Relations Review, Vol 20 No 1 Page 43 Rachamani, Y. (2011). Implementation of Strategic Plans by Primary Schools in the South . Master of Science Thesis in Applied Statistics, National Institute of Development Administration. Rehfuss, J. (1973). Public Administration as Political Process . New York: Charles Scribnew’s Sons. Robbins, S.P. (1990). Organization Theory: Structure, Design, and Applicatio ns. 3rd ed. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Schein, Edgar H. (1990). Organizational culture. American Psychologist 45 (2): 109 -119. Sun, S. & Xu, Z. (2012). Cultural Values and their Challenges for Enterprises. International Journal of Business administration. March 2012. Vol. 3 No. 2 (68 – 73). 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