Strategy implementation insights from the Competition Commission South Africa
Date
2016
Authors
Burke, Mark
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Knowledge on strategy implementation in the public sector is limited. A deeper
understanding of how public sector economic regulators such as competition agencies
implement strategies is required to ensure that these organisations are able to reap the
benefits of strategy-making and implementation. The purpose of this research was to
explore how competition agencies with the mandate to regulate competition implement
their strategies by examining the Competition Commission South Africa (CCSA). The
research aimed to uncover how the organisation’s processes and practices enable the
implementation of its prioritisation strategy and how this contributes to the development
of dynamic capabilities.
The study identified six organisational processes associated with prioritisation that
enable three categories of actions. Firstly, the governance, strategic and business
planning, and scoping processes support priority setting in the organisation. Secondly,
the resource allocation and case management processes support the marshalling of
resources towards assembling the resources required for accomplishing organisational
priorities. Thirdly, performance monitoring and evaluation processes are evaluative in
that they structure actions that assess progress and account for performance, while
making adjustments where required.
In the analysis of the four organisational practices associated with prioritisation, it was
revealed that each practice constitutes a specific mode of action and promotes specific
values. The practice of managing cases from ‘cradle-to-grave’ is an approach that
encourages ownership of investigations and cases. The practice of constituting interdivisional
teams is a specific form of organisation that promotes joint responsibility and
shared accountability. The mid-term review is a mode of alignment as it provides an
opportunity to calibrate organisational alignment to priorities in a structured and periodic
fashion. The practice of colour-coding the business plan according to organisational
priorities is a mode of communication that supports the implementation of priorities.
Finally, the research demonstrates how the capabilities built up in the organisation’s
priority setting processes, sector expertise, and fledgling project management capacity
enable the identification of opportunities and re-configuration of the CCSA resource
base to take advantage of those opportunities The study concludes that the
implementation of the prioritisation strategy has strengthened the internal capabilities of
the CCSA, but that external factors should also be taken into account when evaluating
effective regulatory governance.
Description
Graduate School of Governance
Master of Management (in the field of Public and Development
Management)
June 2016
Keywords
Citation
Burke, Mark (2016) Strategy implementation insights from the Competition South Africa, University of the Witwatersrand, <http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/21511>