Strategic Planning Written Exercise .
After reading parts 1 and 2 (pages 1-293) of Bryson’s (2004) Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations, each student will use the first eight steps of the strategic planning process described on pages 32-34 to develop a simulated strategic plan for his/her organization. This exercise will begin with a description of the organization of choice and with a representation of previous strategic planning efforts in the organization. The student can rely on his/her recollections and perceptions of this process, however, this is not a reflection paper but a detailed professional description of a human service organization, thus, significant effort should be devoted to accurately describe the required components as these operate in the organization.
In describing each step, the student will also describe and propose the process that he/she would use to accomplish each step as well as simulated results for each step. In describing the process for each step, the student will indicate the who, what, where, when, and how of each step. If the student believes that one step is not appropriate to his/her situation, the student will provide a rationale for omitting that step. If questions arise regarding whether a certain step could or should be omitted, it is the student’s responsibility to consult with the professor prior to making a decision that could ultimately impact the overall grade in the assignment.
In addition, students will use a minimum of 10 references (from previous courses, additional required supplemental materials, refereed journals, etc) to support their descriptive views, decisions involving answers to the process questions and proposed outcomes.
This assignment should be 10- and must be submitted in APA style. The following chart outlines the assignment:
Step Description Process Questions Results Questions
1 Initiate and agree on a strategic planning process Who will be involved in this step?
How will agreement be achieved? What form will the agreement to begin the strategic planning process take?
2 Identify organizational mandates Who will help develop the list of mandates?
How will they develop this list? What are the organizational mandates
3 Clarify organizational mission and values What process will be used to clarify mission and values?
Who will be involved in the process? What are the simulated (or real) organizational mission and values?
4 Asses the external and internal environments to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (challenges) What process will be used to assess external and internal environments?
Who will be part of this process?
How will SWOTs be developed? What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (challenges)?
5 Identify the strategic issues facing the organization How will strategic issues be identified?
Who will participate in the process of identifying strategic issues? What are three or four of the strategic issues?
6 Formulate strategies to manage the issues Who will formulate strategies?
How will strategies be formulated? What are three or four strategies to manage the issues?
7 Review the strategies or strategic plan Who will review the strategies?
What process will be used to review the strategies? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the strategic plan?
8 Establish an effective organizational vision Who will formulate the vision?
How will the vision be formulated and promoted within the organization? What is the organizational vision?