The role of stakeholder engagement in strategic management for service delivery by a government department in the Western Cape

Abstract

This study aimed to explore stakeholder engagement in the strategic management process for service delivery by government using a government department in the Western Cape as a case study. The main objective was to determine the factors influencing insufficient stakeholder engagement in the strategic management process for service delivery by government. The research study was driven by continuous service delivery challenges faced by the government and raised the opportunity to use strategic management as an instrument for service delivery by critically analysing the core factors that have led to inadequate delivery of services by government departments. Given the continuous service delivery challenges and through the lens of the applied theoretical framework, it was arguable that there was a non-alignment of service delivery strategy with internal and external stakeholders’ expectations. According to Zwane and Matsiliza (2021), effective service delivery can be realised through active participation by all actors in decision-making where service delivery is concerned. Given the research findings, it is expected that a network of aligned interests should be stabilised for continuous engagement in the implementation of the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) strategic plan and basic education service delivery, in line with the departmental mandate. The study considered strategic management as an instrument in the public sector used to identify the needs of the citizens and to provide prioritised and sustainable services to fulfill their expectations. Consequently, the relevant literature on strategic management, strategic alignment, strategic management process, framework on strategic planning in the public sector, service delivery strategy, strategic management of the private sector, the public sector, and the differences between sectors were discussed. The literature provided an empirical and theoretical foundation for strategic management and service delivery. The literature reviewed argued that a theoretical relationship exists between the role of strategic management and service delivery. The study applied Actor-Network Theory (ANT) as a theoretical lens through which it explored the phenomenon to understand and interpret the interplay between the Western Cape Education Department (WCED strategy formulation, implementation, and stakeholder engagement. According to Twum-Darko and Harker (2017), ANT is used to inspect unstable relationships between actors in a network of diverse interests and these relationships are examined through the four moments of translation, being problematisation, obligatory passage point, interessement, and enrolment. ANT is also used to obtain an understanding of how networks are created and come into existence, through actors’ interests and enrolments (Cresswell, Worth, and Sheikh, 2010 in Nakashololo, 2021). In this instance, the Actor-Network Theory enabled the study to determine the interaction between actors in a network of non-aligned interests and suggested how the actors’ diverse interests can be aligned to establish a stable network to institutionalise effective service delivery. The theory was used to design the data collection instrument and interpret the data collected. The significance of the use of the theory in this research was to develop a general framework to improve institutional design, provide efficient systems, facilitate the alignment of diverse interests, implement integrated strategic management in government, and improve the provision of services to citizens. Given the nature of the phenomenon, it was considered appropriate, epistemologically, to adopt an interpretive paradigm as the leading research philosophy, using a mixed qualitative and quantitative approach, whereby the quantitative data was used to triangulate the reliability of the qualitative data. The study revealed that non-service delivery can be addressed by stakeholder engagement during service delivery strategy formulation and implementation. The study proposed a general framework to guide public institutions to determine factors that are likely to influence stakeholder engagement process improvement and entrenchment. The proposed framework argues that if all stakeholders are involved during the strategy formulation and implementation phases, they will abandon their interests and align with the network and by so doing will automatically own the process. It is believed that this framework will entrench all stakeholders into the network of alignment of diverse interests with a purpose of achieving the desired goals and outcomes of government. Furthermore, the general framework will promote, ensure, and strengthen planning, monitoring, and evaluation for improved provision of services to meet the expectations of our citizens. Although, it is not a “silver bullet”, the proposed general framework can thus be used as a guide in government departments to align the diverse interests of internal and external stakeholders towards the institutionalisation of strategic management processes. The research findings are beneficial to all government departments, public institutions, and the private sector. This model can be used as a guide to all government departments and public institutions. In addition, the research underpins the need to consider all stakeholders in a social network to be involved in the strategy formulation and implementation process.