Strategic narratives and the processes of goal achievement in municipal strategic planning

Fabien Eymas ()
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Fabien Eymas: Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar, CREGO - Centre de Recherche en Gestion des Organisations - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UMLP - Université Marie et Louis Pasteur - UBE - Université Bourgogne Europe

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Abstract: This study examines how strategic narratives shape strategic planning processes in ways that support the pursuit of municipal goals. Drawing on a longitudinal case study of a French municipality and combining an analysis of council deliberations, documentary materials, and interviews, we show that strategic narratives operate as key mechanisms linking planning to implementation. The findings reveal how three narrative dimensions -temporality, positioning, and performative intent -interact to generate municipal strategic capacity by sustaining coherence, structuring multi-actor alignment, and mobilizing engagement over time. The study contributes to public management research by integrating a narrative perspective with strategic planning scholarship and by demonstrating how strategic narratives become embedded in municipal practices. It also contributes to research on public leadership and strategy-as-practice by showing how elected officials and administrators co-construct and sustain strategic orientation through narrative practices across institutional boundaries.

Keywords: municipal governance Résumé; public leadership; strategy-as-practice; strategic planning; strategic narratives; strategic narratives strategic planning strategy-as-practice public leadership municipal governance Résumé (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-07-13
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05775406v1
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Published in Public Management Review, 2026, pp.1-29. ⟨10.1080/14719037.2026.2703262⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05775406

DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2026.2703262

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