Compared to a profit-making company, it is more difficult or less difficult for a government entity to develop a strategic plan or mission statement? Explain your answer.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

This might make a good topic for a class debate. One way to approach the issue is to identify the external and internal factors that would apply for a government entity, and compare them to the private sector.
Examples of external factors might include:
Political issues, including a tendency to focus on the short term rather than the long term, and a politician’s typical aversion to being the bearer of bad news.
Frequent changes in leadership based on election results.
Major expenses that cannot be controlled, such as the cost of storms and other emergencies, law enforcement overtime, and the impact of the overall economy on tax collections and revenues.
Examples of internal factors might include:
Possible lack of motivation on the part of long-time civil servants.
Soaring cost of municipal worker benefits.
Another politically-linked issue might be the tendency to put off tough decisions, because it is easier to postpone hard, unpopular decisions.
In fact, some of these issues are present in the private sector too, but they seem to have less impact, at least in a well-managed company.