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Steps in a Strategic Planning Process Although every strategic planning process is uniquely designed to fit the specific needs of a particular university, every successful "model" includes most of these steps. The university begins by identifying its vision and mission. Once these are clearly defined, it moves on to a series of analyses, including external, internal, gap, and benchmarking, which provide a context for developing organization's strategic issues. Strategic programming follows and the organization develops specific strategies including strategic goals, action plans, and tactics. Emergent strategies evolve, challenging the intended tactics, and altering the realized strategy. Periodically, the organization evaluates its strategies and reviews its strategic plan, considering emergent strategies and evolving changes. It usually takes several years before strategic planning becomes institutionalized and organizations learn to think strategically. The Strategic Planning Process graph at the end of this section provides a graphical representation of these steps. Note: Here we briefly review steps essential to success of any strategic planning process. For a more detailed description of strategic planning terminology, please refer to the Glossary of Terms. VISION AND MISSION Identification of the organization's vision and mission is the first step of any strategic planning process. The university's vision sets out the reasons for organization's existence and the "ideal" state that the organization aims to achieve; the mission identifies major goals and performance objectives. Both are defined within the framework of the university's philosophy, and are used as a context for development and evaluation of intended and emergent strategies. One can not overemphasize the importance of a clear vision and mission; none of the subsequent steps will matter if the organization is not certain where it is headed. ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN Once the vision and mission are clearly identified, the university must analyze its external and internal environment. The environmental scan, performed within the frameworks of the Five Forces Model and SWOT, analyzes information about organization's external environment (economic, social, demographic, political, legal, technological, and international factors), the industry, and internal organizational factors. The labor market projections provided on this site are most valuable for the environmental scan. Please refer to the brief description of the Basic Models . GAP ANALYSIS Organizations evaluate the difference between their current position and desired future through gap analysis. As a result, a university can develop specific strategies and allocate resources to close the gap (CSUN strategic planning leadership retreat, April 1997), and achieve its desired state. BENCHMARKING Measuring and comparing the university's operations, practices, and performance against others is useful for identifying "best" practices. Through an ongoing systematic benchmarking process campuses find a reference point for setting their own goals and targets. STRATEGIC ISSUES University determines its strategic issues based on (and consistent with) its vision and mission, within the framework of environmental and other analyses. Strategic issues are the fundamental issues the organization has to address to achieve its mission and move towards its desired future. STRATEGIC PROGRAMMING To address strategic issues and develop
deliberate strategies for achieving their mission, universities set
strategic goals, action plans, and tactics during the strategic
programming stage. EMERGENT STRATEGIES Unpredicted and unintended events frequently occur that differ from the university's intended strategies, and the university must respond. Emergent strategy is "a pattern, a consistency of behavior over time," "a realized pattern [that] was not expressly intended" in the original planning of strategy. It results from a series of actions converging into a consistent pattern (Mintzberg, 1994, p. 23-25). Please refer to the Glossary of Terms for a more complete definition of emergent strategies. EVALUATION OF STRATEGY Periodic evaluations of strategies, tactics, and action programs are essential to assessing success of the strategic planning process. It is important to measure performance at least annually (but preferably more often), to evaluate the effect of specific actions on long-term results and on the organization's vision and mission (Rowley, Lujan, & Dolence, 1997). The organization should measure current performance against previously set expectations, and consider any changes or events that may have impacted the desired course of actions. REVIEW OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN After assessing the progress of the strategic planning process, the university needs to review the strategic plan, make necessary changes, and adjust its course based on these evaluations. The revised plan must take into consideration emergent strategies, and changes affecting the organization's intended course. STRATEGIC THINKING With time, people in the university routinely make their decisions within the framework of the organization's strategic vision and mission. Strategic planning becomes an organizational norm, deeply embedded within the organization's decision-making process, and participants learn to think strategically as part of their regular daily activities (Lerner, 1999). Strategic thinking involves "arraying options through a process of opening up institutional thinking to a range of alternatives and decisions that identify the best fit between the institution, its resources, and the environment" (Rowley, Lujan, & Dolence, 1997, p. 15). See Glossary of Terms for more about strategic thinking. |
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