An Analysis of the Proposed Strategic Decision-Making Model in the Local Governments of Pakistan

Strategic decision making was first introduced to the government in the form of strategic planning, which had already developed a considerable track record in the private sector. Strategic decision making (SDM) is a tool usually much preferred in the private sector. This study aims to find a relationship between political interference, decisional rationality, autonomy and the environment, and to propose a strategic decision-making model to local governments in order to have efficiency improved. The data have been obtained from the local government structure of Pakistan through a questionnaire survey and interviews. For this purpose, as many as 132 questionnaires have been collected from respondents working in the local government and 50 local government administrators have been interviewed so as to confine the use of the SDM. The results obtained point out the fact that there is a significant and positive relationship between decisional rationality, political influences and environmental stability, on the one hand, and strategic decision making in the local government, on the other. This study, however, finds no significant relation between autonomy and strategic decision making.