Strategic and Operational Planning Instruments Put to the Test by Results-Based Management: The Case of Ibn Sina University Hospital

Abstract

New Public Management-inspired reforms, notably enshrined in Morocco through organic law n°130-13, have shifted public administration from a means-based to a results-based logic. University hospital centers, governed by a specific legal framework (law n°70-13), are required to adopt strategic and operational planning instruments. This research puts these instruments to the test against the requirements of results-based management (RBM), through a qualitative content analysis of institutional documentation produced by CHU Ibn Sina (general policy, hospital establishment project, development plan, contractualization, annual action plan, activity report, performance project and report). Findings reveal an instrumental architecture broadly compliant with regulatory requirements, yet only partially internalized in practice: core mission objectives are underrepresented, the ten-year development plan and the state performance contract remain unadopted, quantified data on target achievement are scarce, and the performance project and report have not been institutionalized. The study concludes that the formal existence of planning instruments is not sufficient to ensure genuine results-based management, and calls for strengthening monitoring, evaluation, and accountability mechanisms.