A METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH FOR EFFECTIVE

AND SUSTAINABLE STRATEGIC PLANNING IN

INDEPENDENT AUTHORITIES: THE CASE OF THE
HELLENIC OMBUDSMAN

ATHANASIOS RAPTIS, ODYSSEAS KOPSIDAS, LABRINI MOTSIA,

STEFANOS POLYMENOPOULOS, ADAMADIA SIMOPOULOU,
ATHANASIOS GEGKAS, CHARALAMPOS PLATIS
THIS WORK AIMS TO….

… present the benefits of applying a methodological

approach for the effective and sustainable strategic
planning in Independent Authorities.

The proposed strategic plan is to be adopted by an

Independent Authority in Greece, the Ombudsman,
which is a part of Hellenic Public Administration.
MATERIALS AND METHODS

METHODS:
•Bryson’s Strategic Management Model for Public
Institutions
•Crude Statistical Analysis (SSSS)
•Qualitative analysis (Context Analysis with Nvivo)

DATA:
•All the available open Data (Annual Reports, etc)
THE OMBUDSMAN (1/2)

•The foundation of the classical ombudsman is a

Swedish idea (1809)
•The initial idea of the classical Swedish ombudsman
it was simply focusing on ensuring the rule of law in
public administration.
•The later scope of such organizations was
somewhat closer to defending human rights.
•Since their initial emergence in Sweden in 1809,
178 NHRIs (National Human Rights Institutions)
have been established in 133 countries.
THE OMBUDSMAN (2/2)

• is at the heart of European identity

• continues quest for core values in a abstract
form
• concerns the need of an organization to contrast
the idea of the economy domination over society
• balance of power between the Executive and
Parliament, and the relationship between
Parliament and the electorate
THE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
NECESSITY (1/3)

• Strategic management is usually referred as the

alignment of internal capabilities with external demands
(Johnsen, A. 2015).
• Strategy is now considered a field that makes it possible
for the leaders of public and private organizations to
‘take options on the future” Williamson (1999).

The ultimate goal is to create highly autonomous public

organizations with well-defined strategy and narrow tasks
with more ‘strategic space’ in which to operate (Pollitt et al.
2004).
THE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
NECESSITY (2/2)

The international situation:

• The total number of complaints an ombudsman receives
varies from hundreds to thousands annually
• This variation depends not only on the demographic scale of
the nation
• This is exactly the need of visibility and awareness, among
the need to respond in a proper rate and the need of
accountability

• These reasons, (in addition with the later analyzed state

of the Greek ombudsman) driving us to the strategic
management necessity
 MATERIALS AND
METHODS
• Many of the used methods (each Bryson step may be assumed as a
discrete method) are data driven.
• The data set used constitutes from open data available in the official
page of Greek ombudsman, such as the annual reports.
• In addition, several other open sources used, such as macroeconomic
reports in order to implement the pestle analysis.
• In order to improve the situational awareness of the organization, crude
qualitative and quantitative analysis performed.
• The quantitative analysis implemented using SPSS v.20 while the
qualitative analysis (context analysis) performed using the Nvivo v.10
software.
STRATEGIC PLAN DEVELOPMENT

• Step1: Developing an Initial Agreement

• Step 2: Recognition and Clarification of Orders from “Above”
• Step 3: Development and Clarification of Mission and Values
• Step 4: Analysis of the environment
• Step 5: Identification of Strategic Issues
• Step 6: Strategy Formulation And Development Using Balanced
Scorecard
• Step 7: Reviewing and Adopting the Strategy
• Step 8: Description of the Future Image of the Organization
• Step 9: Development of Effective Application processes
• Step 10: Strategy and Strategic Planning Procedures Reevaluation
Step1: Developing an
Initial Agreement:
Step 2: Recognition and
Clarification of Orders
Step 3: Development and
Clarification of Mission
and Values
Step 4: Analysis of the
environment.
Step 5: Identification
of Strategic Issues:
Step 7: Reviewing and
Adopting the Strategy
Step 8: Description of the
Future Image of the
Organization
Step 9: Development of
Effective Application
processes
 Step 10: Strategy and
Strategic Planning
Procedures Reevaluation
Conclusions
Conclusions
THE MAIN ATTRIBUTE OF THE FINAL
PRODUCT …

Is that:
• the focus is placed on the citizen as a client of the
services of this Independent Authority