Strategy execution in public sectors : empirical evidence from Belgium

Purpose: Many public sector organizations have shown a consistent lack of capability to execute their strategic plans compared with private sector organizations. This failure explains why most public sector organizations are grappling with the dynamics of the twenty-first century in service delivery. Further, the strategy execution gap is vast in the public sector organizations than in the private sector organizations. The purpose of this paper is built based on the curiosity to develop a conceptual model that can close the strategy execution gap in public sector organizations. Design/methodology/approach: The research adopted a qualitative research design, particularly, a case study research design approach as an ideal tool to conduct a holistic and in-depth survey of the trends in strategy execution in the public sector. Findings: From the findings of the study, it has been found that five out of the nine strategy execution components that were investigated showed higher scores. These strategy execution components perceived to be vital by this study and were integrated into the MERIL-DE model, which will significantly contribute to closing the strategy execution gap in the public sector. Originality/value: This research was built based on the curiosity to develop a conceptual model, the MERIL-DE model that can close the strategy execution gap in public sector organizations.