Fudan-LSE Lecture Series No.82

Title: 

New Topics in Public Strategy: Purposeful Strategic Planning and Strategizing

Speaker: 

Prof. Bert George, City University of Hong Kong

Host: 

Prof. Yijia Jing, Fudan IGPP

Discussants: 

Assoc. Prof. Ziteng Fan, Fudan IGPP

Time: 

12:00-13:20, Oct. 13, Monday, 2025

Venue: 

Room 805E, 8th Floor, West Sub-building of Guanghua Towers

https://www.wjx.cn/vm/rXpgLcq.aspx#

The Speaker：

Bert George is Professor of Public and Nonprofit Strategy at the Department of Public and International Affairs, City University of Hong Kong. He is also Associate Dean for Engagement and Knowledge Transfer and Director of the Research Cluster on Brain, Behavior and Society of City University of Hong Kong’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. As a public management scholar, Professor George especially applies theories, methods and concepts from economics and management to public administration and policy. He is most known for his work on strategic planning and management in government and the broader public sector, and more recently focuses on bringing neuroscience to public administration and policy. He is Co-Editor in Chief of Public Management Review and holds a Ph.D. in Applied Economics from Ghent University (Belgium). He is a Stanford top 2% Scientist and holds awards from the American Society for Public Administration and the European Group for Public Administration.

Abstract:

Decades of public management research has shown that strategy matters for public service performance and public value creation. In this talk, Professor George will highlight how exactly strategy has played its part in public management and will outline two research avenues based on his recent work. First, Professor George will illustrate a shift in attention from strategy for organizational, corporate functions towards strategy for societal issues and challenges. Second, he will elucidate the new concept of strategizing, why it matters and how it can be measured. Finally, Professor George will lay out an agenda for the next decades of public strategy research. Through this talk, he hopes to encourage more scholars (and practitioners) to engage with public strategy, and elucidate how public managers, policymakers, public professionals and society at large can become better at strategic thinking, acting and learning to address contemporary challenges.