La veille stratégique dans le secteur public de la santé au Québec : une étude de cas multiples

In every Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) country, the public health sector is facing a complex environment characterized by rapid technological and scientific change. Public health organizations are experiencing increased demand from citizens for reliable, accessible, and efficient services, but are constrained by a shortage of resources — particularly financial and budgetary resources. To meet the public mission that has been entrusted to them, they are increasingly turning to the tools and principles of strategic management, including strategic intelligence. In Quebec, strategic intelligence appeared in the strategic plans of public health organizations in the mid-2000s. Intelligence initiatives have also emerged, as evidenced by the Communauté de pratique de veille en santé et services sociaux, which was established in 2009.   The purpose of our thesis is to explore what strategic intelligence is in the public health sector in Quebec. The objectives of the research are (1) to describe the characteristics of strategic intelligence as implemented in public health organizations in Quebec; (2) to describe the purposes of strategic intelligence in public health organizations in Quebec: (a) describe the types of support that intelligence provides to the strategy of public health organizations in Quebec; (b) describe the types of support that intelligence provides to the decision-making process of public health managers in Quebec; (c) describe, if any, other types of support that intelligence provides to public health organizations in Quebec; (3) identify the characteristics of strategic intelligence in the public health sector. Through a multiple case study, the research examines three intelligence projects (cases) involving four components: the intelligence product, its actors, its process, and its goals. In total, five intelligence professionals and sixteen intelligence client managers (eleven senior executives and five middle managers) were interviewed, following the principles of grounded theory. According to our results, intelligence will be strategic if it is focused on the information needs of the intelligence client managers and their use of the intelligence product. A strategic intelligence product should be highly customized, dynamic, scalable, concise, and attractive. In addition, it should be based on information quality criteria and the analysis and interpretation of the information. Embedding intelligence professionals in management teams could contribute to the development of such a strategic intelligence product. The strategic intelligence process should include the following steps: assessment/reassessment of information needs, identification of information sources, information processing, analysis, and interpretation, and the dissemination and use of the intelligence product. Finally, strategic intelligence pursues the goals of supporting decision-making and strategic planning. This support is grouped into learning, explorative, analytical, symbolic, comparative, and strategic uses.

Keyphrases: Strategic intelligence, Organizational strategy, Decision-making, Intelligence project, Intelligence product, Intelligence actors, Intelligence process, Goals of intelligence, Public health sector