From such a lofty governance charter statement, The Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) proceeded to move down from the level of noble ideals to the world of facts, where it has to pursue those ideals through concrete actions in order to deliver the result of actually realizing its big, bold dream or vision by 2030. It has to formulate a strategy map.
To do so, it has to identify a number of strategic priorities or objectives it must try to meet in all the major facets of its operations. The PGS suggests what these facets are: The first that DoTC accepted as truly important for its strategy map, relates to its partnership with stakeholders; the second, with process excellence in DoTC operations; third, with organizational excellence; fourth, with finance; and fifth, DoTC being a national government agency, with the socio economic impact that all its strategic priorities should help create as DoTC moves forward towards the realization of its vision by 2030.
Through the prism of these six facets, DoTC proceeded to take a good close look at itself. It tried to answer these usual questions in a SWoT analysis or internal diagnostics:
What are our strengths? What are our weaknesses? What are the opportunities that lie before us? What are the threats we face moving forward. The answers to each of these questions under each of the five facets it has chosen turned out to be telling, since DoTC was completely honest about the facts concerning itself. The sincerity with which the DoTC women and men carried out its SWOT analysis was remarkably brutal. As a result, it was easy for them to identify what their strategic priorities should be.
Under the first facet, which it labelled as "strategic partnership," DoTC came up with two priorities, which were very closely inter-related with each other such that an arrow need not be drawn between them. They were juxta-posed with each other instead. These priorities are: to "encourage participation of stakeholders;" and to "create a conducive and dynamic environment for private-public sector partnership." These send the signal that DoTC intends to create a governance coalition among its major stakeholders that would work positively and substantively with the department in its determined and decisive journey towards its destination, the realization of its 2030 vision.
Under the second facet, "process excellnce," the department identified two priorities. These are: to "institutionalize a framework for planning and policy," and to "intensify total quality management in all transport agencies' core processes." That framework for planning and policy presumably is one that comes from its good governance program, and, therefore, from the strategy map it eventually formulated. We note the ambition to raise to very high standards the management practices and operational processes in all transport agencies under the department.
Under the third facet, "organizational excellence," the two priorities are: To "guarantee a responsive and enabling organizational structure" and to "sustain a culture of excellence and service quality."
Both these priorities concern the men and women within the department and in all the agencies under it. They need to be enabled and equipped; and they should have the ability and willingness to respond to the demands of the specific public service the DoTC is expected to render to its stakeholders and the general public. As they do so, they should be in the lead of the broader movement towards promoting and inculcating a national culture of excellence; and in the case of DoTC, this means observing the highest possible standards of service quality
