The influence of planning group diversity on the quality of local strategic plan design

ABSTRACT As social issues are becoming complex and challenging to solve, governments are increasingly seeking support of diverse planning groups when developing strategic plans. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence on (1) the link between planning group composition and strategic plan design quality and (2) the potential inverted U-shaped relationship of planning group diversity in terms of its scope and size for achieving high-quality strategic plan design. To address these gaps in extant knowledge, we analysed 2005 − 2014 U.S. county governments’ strategic plans on homelessness to identify relationships between diversity in planning group size and scope and strategic plan quality. Our results indicate an inverted U-shaped relationship between planning group diversity and strategic plan design quality, suggesting that strategic plan design benefits from group diversity up to a certain level, after which it becomes counterproductive. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed in relation to the growing recognition of the need for deliberate incorporation of diverse voices and perspectives of key collaborators in strategic planning group composition.