Application Methods AHP and Benchmarking in the Strategic Management of Local Development: The Key Procedural Aspects Through the Example of Polish Districts

Public administration institutions, as well as other organisations, must currently face many challenges (opportunities and threats). The following can be mentioned among them: high public debt, increasing competition in the area of mobile resources or—in the case of new EU countries—the need to absorb substantial funds from EU structural funds. Growing external demands require improvement of management processes. In this context, one of the most current issues is the effectiveness of strategic management. Not only is it important to properly define long-term goals, but also to properly implement them into actions—strategies, programs and operational tasks. The problem of strategic management optimisation is in line with the demands of current theoretical concepts, such as the New Public Management (NPM) and Good Governance. However, it primarily has a practical significance. Therefore, specific conditions of the country should be concerned. This chapter is part of a series of empirical studies and theoretical deliberations that aim to identify solutions useful for the management of socioeconomic development and public administration institutions as well. Its aim is to present the specifics of the AHP and benchmarking methods in the process of strategic management. The focus is not only on the description of the methods. The results of research carried out in one of the Polish local governments were also cited. The case study consisted of the experimental implementation of the mentioned methods in real conditions of strategic management.