Governance, strategy and innovation of utilities controlled by urban governing bodies: insights for industrial policy.

There is renewed interest in the role that utilities controlled by local public entities can play in promoting economic development, but also in the role that these firms have on the financial stability of the controlling bodies. Almost all urban governing authorities rely on utilities to deliver goods and services. Provided that these utilities are essential for the healthy functioning of the economy, their governance shall be forward looking and sustainable. Thus, one of the key tasks of today's executives of such enterprise is to participate in and contribute to their organisations' strategies. Strategic analysis entails evaluating business goals, objectives and plans in light of a company focus on revenues maximisation. We argue that where enterprises dispose of a structured analyst aimed at analysing consumer’s behaviour, business inclination toward innovation activities improve. This advantage stems different roots, e.g. from deeper knowledge of the economic and business environment, better ICT literacy and familiarity with customer relation management. Although some research limitations, the research outputs support our statements