Questionaire

The strategic planning process consists of seven phases that include:

Getting ready

Articulating the mission and vision

Assessing the environment

Agreeing on priorities

Writing the strategic plan

Implementing the strategic plan

Monitoring and evaluating the plan

Phase 1 - Getting ready. During this phase, the reasons for engaging in the strategic planning process must be determined. The organization must be aware of its readiness to develop a strategic plan. Not every organization meets the readiness requirement. There are numerous reasons that organizations are not ready with the most apparent one being an organization in chaos. Resource limitations may exist that prevent the organization from accomplishing the planning objective. Leadership that is committed to the process is also needed as is having a sufficient number of individuals who can be dedicated to the process. Limitations may involve people, time, and money to conduct the process. There may be insufficient history of the organization. The organization also needs to have a good reason for engaging in this process.

An environmental assessment will assist the organization in determining what specific issues that may need to be addressed. The organization needs to determine if it has strategic issues. A strategic issue has a major impact on the direction in which the business is moving. These are issues that affect the organization’s mission and values and or impact the product or service level. These issues can also impact the clients or customers. In addition, there may be some challenge to the mandates.

There is also a need for strong and stable leadership who ensure the project will have support and the resources that are needed. A lack of committed leadership may doom the planning project to failure from the start as will a lack of support for the process. In addition to the committed leadership, there must be a guiding coalition that leads the change process for the organization. In many cases, public and not-for-profit organizations have not engaged in long range planning, and entering into this process will require a group of people to take charge of the change and the planning process.

There also needs to be enough history of the organization before it embarks on the strategic planning process. This means that the process should not be undertaken when establishing a new organization. There are a number of similarities between strategic planning and establishing a business plan, which should be explored when establishing a new enterprise. The issue with a new organization is that it may not have a clear view of what it would like to become. That is generally determined after the organization has been operations for a period of time.

An organization is the sum total of all of its history. This history also helps define the culture. It is necessary to develop a summary of the organization’s history along with a profile. The profile should include the principles and values of the organization along with what the organization does. The profile can be developed after reviewing annual reports, organizational documents, and even talking to individuals in the organization as well as those who have left the organization.

As the planning process gets started, the organization must identify those individuals who will be involved in the planning process. Selection will depend on the type of planning process. Some organizations reserve strategic planning for upper management while others use a collaborative or community-based approach. The collaborative approach involves a broad spectrum of stakeholders in the planning process to ensure they buy into the plan and support the organization. Their involvement may run from being asked for information and input to actually serving on the planning committee.

An assessment must be conducted to determine what information the planning group needs to develop the plan. Information concerning the organization may be readily available, but to ensure date of sufficient depth is available, there may be a need to explore specifics related to the organization and its operations. In addition to determining information needs, individuals must also be assigned to gather that information.

Using the information, the group will create guidelines for how the strategic plan will be developed. One of the outcomes of phase 1 is a strategic planning work plan. Another outcome is an agreement by the planning group and the executives that the organization is ready to plan.

Phase 2 – Articulating the mission and vision. The second phase of the process requires the planning group to review the mission statement, if one exists. Often, organizations do not have a formalized mission statement. In such cases, the planning group will be required to develop one. If there is a mission statement, the planning group should review it to ensure it is consistent with what the organization currently does.

In many cases, the organization may not have a formalized vision statement. In some organizations, the leadership might have some idea of what the vision for the organization is, but this might not be shared with those in the organization. If a vision statement does not exist, it should also be developed by the planning group.

By the end of the second phase, the planning group should have an updated vision and mission statement.

Phase 3 – Assessing the environment. In the third phase, the information needed for the planning process is updated. As the planning group reviews the organization’s history, current and previous strategies are discussed and evaluated.

Input from the external and internal stakeholders must be obtained. The first stage is to identifying the stakeholders, which can be more difficult for some organizations than for others. This is conducting a stakeholder analysis. Not all stakeholders have the same value to the organization, so the organization needs to categorize the stakeholders and determine what roles they should play. Some are more important than others, for example, since they are funders. These individuals may be asked to participate on the planning team.

Once identified, the organization must develop methods for securing information from these stakeholders. How this is done and the degree of success depends on both the organization and the stakeholder. Some stakeholders are open to participating in activities sponsored by the organization. In other cases, stakeholders are not as willing to participate in any activities involving the organization. Part of this is how the organization and the stakeholders have interacted in the past. For example, if this is the first time the organization is trying to engage the stakeholders, there may be little response. If this outreach has happened in the past and the stakeholders’ ideas and participation have been appreciated, it is much easier for the organization to engage them. Stakeholders need to be aware that not every suggestion will be implemented for various reasons, but that should not stop the stakeholders from participating.

The planning committee must also obtain information concerning program offerings and their effectiveness. In the public and nonprofit sectors, defining what is meant by effectiveness may be difficult. Some organizations are not effective based on a series of mandates and, sometimes, the preferences of the chief executive officer.

As the planning group reviews the various pieces of information, additional strategic issues may arise or the group may have other questions. These questions and issues must be addressed in the process. The outcome of this phase is the development of a list of critical issues to which the organization must respond. The information that the planning group has must be cataloged so that the planners have it available for the decision process where the priorities and strategies will be chosen.

Mandates come in different forms. These include laws, rules, and regulations that are imposed on the organization from federal, state, and local government. These are things that must be done or not done. In addition, there are mandates that are imposed on the organization by the leadership, which are the preferences of the leader.

The assessment of the environment includes different components. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis should be conducted during this phase. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization and reflect the present state of the organization. Opportunities and threats are external to the organization and reflect the future.

There also are other factors that should be reviewed as the environment is assessed. These generally are categorized as PEST, political, economic, social, and technological influences. We all understand the political influences that impact the organization. These are external and internal influences. Economics has been impacting all sectors and industries. The crisis in Europe is economic, and it has been impacting the world economy. Social impacts include the immigration of individuals into neighborhoods, which then may require an assessment of policies. Technology impacts all of us as we are expected to do more in a faster way. These factors influence what the organization will be doing in the future as well as how it will be doing those things.

Other factors include legal and educational. Legal refers to the laws that are passed that may influence the organization. For example, when the law was passed to eliminate the use of incandescent light bulbs, that meant manufacturers moved their operations to other countries. The issue with education is that individuals are better educated and do not just take orders; they are more inclined to ask why and suggest other ways to do things. This may impact how things are done.

Another factor is globalization, which is impacting many organizations. Companies can send their manufacturing or service off shore. In addition, there are numerous companies who are providing similar products and or services throughout the world, which increases competition.

Phase 4 – Agreeing on priorities. When the organization has done some of the basic ground work by assessing the environment, it needs to determine how to prioritize what the organization wants to do. The competitive strengths of the organization’s programs must be analyzed.

The planning group must decide on the specific criteria for prioritizing the strategies. This will allow the group to select the future core strategies for the organization.

Goals and objectives are developed for the organization as well as long-range financial projections. In addition, criteria for measuring success should be considered. This step is linked to the evaluation processes that are included in phase 7.

By the end of this phase, the goals and objectives should be defined and the group should decide on the core priorities for the future.

Phase 5 – Writing the Plan. In the fifth stage, a draft is written of the strategic plan. This draft needs to be reviewed by the planning group. Sometimes, others will also be part of the review process. This is critical in the community-based or collaborative process. Reviewer comments may require revisions of the document. When completed, the strategic plan should be adopted by the organization.

Phase 6 – Implementing the Strategic Plan. In order to implement the strategic plan, operational plans that will provide the strategies for success need to be developed. These operational plans also need to be funded. Therefore, an annual operating budget must also be written. By the end of this phase, the organization should have the operating plans for the coming year along with an operating budget.

Phase 7 – Monitoring and Evaluating. During this phase, it is necessary to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the strategic planning process. This process is not a single event, but, in fact, is a continuous process. Once implemented, the strategic plan is monitored to ensure its currency and relevance. Therefore, it is important to review the process and correct any deficiencies.

The strategic plan should be updated as needed. This will require an ongoing assessment of both the strategic aspects of the operation and the operational plans linked to the objectives.

Vision and Mission

Vision has been defined as what the organization hopes to be when it is successful. It is the future view of the organization. Frequently, the chief executive officer (CEO) establishes this vision. Jack Welsh, former CEO of General Electric (GE), was very clear when he stated that each of the operating units would be either number one or number two in their field. That was his vision of success for the organization, and it translated into a guide for organizational leaders and managers. Any of the units that fell below number two in its particular area knew they were not successful, and the operation would be sold off. Welsh was able to articulate what success was and what it meant to each operational unit.

In other cases, the vision is established by upper leadership. These individuals have information necessary to determine where the organization wants to go in the future as well as what resources they will have. Once determined, the vision needs to be shared with all in the organization to develop a shared vision of success, and this will be used to guide decisions made within the organization.

Many organizations fail to develop a shared vision because the organizations are set up in stovepipe fashion. Each operational unit is concerned only about its operation and has no consideration for the others. This separation of operational units creates major barriers when leadership sets out to implement a vision for the future. It is necessary for the organization to communicate a clear sense of purpose for the organization as a whole. This also relates to all organizational managers their particular roles and responsibilities in relation to the whole organization.

The vision must be clear and consistent, and it must have continuity. The clear part is easy to understand. Clear means it has simplicity so everyone knows what it means. Consistent requires that all in the organization are able to share the same vision. Continuity means that in spite of changes in leadership or constant short-term changes in the environment, the organization maintains the same set of core values and the strategic goals.

Mission is what the organization does. It tells stakeholders the purpose of the organization, the business in which the organization participates, and its basic values. The mission statement states the what, why, and how of the organization. Included are how the organization plans to accomplish its goals and its reason for existing. Mandates placed on the organization help define what it is, what it does, and, frequently, how it does it.

Getting Ready

Determining why the organization should engage in the strategic planning process is the first step. What will be accomplished when the organization completes the process is a question that must be answered. Organizations usually start the strategic planning process in response to some important issue or issues. Certain questions should be asked: Should we continue to be involved in our current programs? Is there still a need for our products or services? Are our current facilities adequate? Should we be expanding or contracting our locations? Are funding sources at risk of reduction or elimination? Is our business focus in line with what the customer needs and wants? Should we leverage available resources through strategic partnerships? The organization’s reason for planning will dictate the planning process.

Defining the desired outcomes of the planning process involves asking some relevant questions concerning the process and applying the responses to the activities performed by the organization. These questions include: What does the organization expect the planning process to accomplish? What determines the success of the planning process itself? What are the current issues or topics that the planning process needs to address? Why are the issues important? Are there any consequences in not responding to the issues?

The issues must be divided into those that involve operational issues and those that are strategic in nature. There may be some issues that cannot be negotiated. These must be defined at the start of the process. The upper level management of the organization must articulate why the planning activity should take place. This requires some agreement as to what it wants to accomplish in the process and how to proceed. By involving upper management, there is support for the process. The initial planning should establish at least a three-year plan and vision. This will require all parties to be on the same page in supporting the project, if that is the desired result.

As the organization starts this self-inspection, it can divide all issues into three categories: strategic, operational, and crisis situations. The strategic issues are those that are three to five years in the future. These issues also include those that are basic to meeting the needs of the stakeholders. Operational issues are basically shorter term issues, usually a year or less, and involve implementation aspects. Crisis situation are related to the organization’s survival.

Strategic planning should be conducted in an appropriate time of the organization’s life. When a new organization starts, it does not have sufficient history to articulate a strategic plan. It may not be possible for an organization in chaos to produce an effective plan. The organization must have committed leadership and enough information to conduct a planning process. Leadership commitment and support of the process must be present for the entire planning process. There must be a commitment to establishing and clarifying the roles of all participants in the process. Expectations for each participant must also be defined. Issues such as who will contribute to the planning process and who will make the final decisions must be resolved.

There is a need to gather and use information to assess current programs. There must be a commitment to providing the necessary information. Since evaluation of the current or future stakeholder needs is required, there must be some method for conducting these evaluations.

The planning team will require at least one person who is visionary in focus and at least one who has an operational focus. Where the visionary person can think of the possibilities, the operationally-focused individual will be thinking in terms of how the goals and objectives can be attained.

Since public and nonprofit organizations are interested in including a broad range of participants in many of their activities, there is a need to ensure these individuals actively participate in the process. Broad participation has side benefits since the individuals who participate are more likely to buy into the process and assume ownership for its success. An added benefit is the increased energy level exhibited by these individuals as they move the process forward.

Sufficient resources must be available for the planning committee’s use. Staff and board time, funds, space, and other resources must be made available to ensure the process can move smoothly ahead.

The reason for the planning process must be clear to the planning team. The parameters and expected outcomes must be clear. The team must also be willing to challenge the current processes and to ask difficult questions about the current and future of the organization. The alternatives that the team develops may be difficult ones that will require the team to make the best decision for the stakeholders. This also requires the team members to react as a team with a good working relationship. It is important that the key players do not have major personal conflicts since such conflicts may adversely influence the team’s ability of team to reach necessary consensus.

There are potential pitfalls in any planning process. Top management cannot delegate the complete process to the planning team. Top management must remain actively involved in the process. It is also important that top management not be so mired in current issues that they are unable to look at the future. Although top management may have some biases, the process cannot be completely overshadowed by these views. The planning process should result in a good plan that can be implemented, which means it needs attainable objectives and realistic goals. The organizational culture and climate needs to be conducive toward future-oriented thinking. Creativity and strategic thinking are essential for the success of the process.

The planning process requires input from stakeholders. Stakeholders are any individuals, external or internal, who can place a claim on the resources of the organization. So, the process embraces both those who are responsible for implementing the plan and those who may benefit from the plan. Those providing funding may also be involved. The number of individuals participating and exactly who is involved depends on the size of the organization, its culture, the management style, service mix, and constituent base.

The planning committee should consist of a manageable number of individuals. Usually, a dozen or less is a good number unless there is a need for more individuals in order to have a good representation of stakeholders. The group should be diverse but, as a whole, should be committed to a vision for a common good. When working as part of the team, it is important that individuals look at their role in terms of the bigger picture and not solely as an advocate of their special interest group.

An organizational history needs to be developed. This provides information on how the organization started and how it got where it is today. The history can provide basic lessons on stability and growth or reasons for organizational stress and instability. This history should include timelines for each program showing when they started, milestones of important events, and shifts in priorities that may have occurred. This history becomes part of the organizational profile. An organizational history may be found in annual reports or other official documents.

Gathering Information

The organization needs to gather sufficient information to make the planning process possible and successful. Information comes in different packages and can be found in different locations. What’s important is determining the type of information as well as where it can be found.

Basic trends can have significant impacts on what the organization does and how it does it. Trend information can be located in industry publications. Planners in specific fields can also provide trend data. Stakeholder groups may also possess some important data. Some of the information may be obtained through interviews of experts in the field.

The focus of potential funding sources can also provide insight into future trends. At the governmental levels, legislative discussions as well as the budget process are good indicators of possible trends. After September 11, 2001, there was no doubt that homeland security in the United States would be a major focus for government funding.

Demographic changes impact who receives services and what services they receive. These changes may also alter the population targeted for specific programs. Census data provides a wealth of information on demographic changes. Data on housing starts and housing stock in an area can also be useful. Many public planning agencies maintain specific information that may provide help to those whose programs rely on these changes.

Regulatory changes appear in journals or organizational publications. The development of governmental regulations is a public process and related material is published in the state or federal register.

Financial trends for the previous three to five year period can be found in annual reports or other internal records. This information is needed for determining financial stability. When an organization has financial problems, it may not be a good time to engage in strategic planning.

Customer and client trends for a three to five year period can also be found in annual reports or other internal records. These trends might indicate a change in the wants or needs of the customer or client as well as changes in their characteristics or demographics.

Organizations are becoming more aware of and working towards improving customer satisfaction. Customer surveys or focus groups may provide valuable information as the organization makes efforts to improve quality and meet the needs of those served.

Quality indicators can be found by looking at existing evaluation data. In addition to customer satisfaction aspects, there is the need to examine the perceptions of the internal customer group.

Assessing the Environment

There are many external factors affecting organizations. There are forces and trends that change what organizations do. These include, but are not limited to, technology, economics, education, politics, social, and globalization.

Technology has moved organizations in directions they may not have considered just a few years ago. How many people today do not know about computers? How many people have cell phones? What impact does technology have in your workplace? Computers have allowed organizations to accumulate, maintain, and manipulate large amounts of data. Fax machines moved us into the immediate response mode. It is no longer acceptable to respond to a request for a specific report by stating you will mail it. The boss will simply instruct you to fax it now. Of course, email and instant messaging capabilities have also moved us to a faster, sooner response posture. Document sharing abilities allow multiple people to work together in spite of their physical distance. Pagers and cell phones mean that people can be in contact at all times regardless of where they are. The ability to take an online class is probably one of the most liberating aspects of technology. Now, students can take a class at any time and any place they want. In the medical field, the person being operated on may not be in the same location as the surgeon. As new advances in technology are introduced into the workplace, changes in how work is done will follow.

Assessing the Environment

Economic conditions may alter products and services. As we experience periods of high economic growth, many organizations can invent new processes or products with little concern of the economic impacts. When conditions change, organizations may be more conservative with what they do as far as research and development (R and D) are concerned. In the public sector, economic downturns have varying impacts based on industries. Traditionally, when the economy is good, fewer students enroll in college. When the economy is poor, higher numbers enroll in such institutions. With increases in revenues due to good economic conditions, governments are able to expand programs and services. With decreased revenues, government may reduce programs or services to stay within revenue projections. Similar occurrences happen in nonprofit organizations where less public monies are available.

With more individuals becoming better educated, there are significant changes in work processes. Individuals are no longer interested in just following orders. Educated workers want to assist in the decision process and to feel valued by the organization. The increasingly complex work being performed in organizations requires a more educated workforce. This sets in motion a process of more complex jobs requiring more education resulting in workers wanting to be part of the planning process and so on.

Political environments change on a regular basis. In an attempt to meet the needs and wants of constituent groups, laws are passed requiring changes in how organizations operate. The political environment can be either external or internal. Within an organization, there exist “office politics” that affect organizational goals or functions.

Social changes involve the changes to society. This includes a number of factors such as changes in age, ethnic groups, or other diversity issues. Immigrants moving to an area change not only the local demographics, but can also alter the social settings. In certain areas, there are significant numbers of housing developments for senior citizens (e.g., Arizona, Florida, and Ocean County, New Jersey). These seniors act as a social group and exert their power and influence through voting. In these areas, if there is a vote for the school budget, it would generally be vetoes. In a work setting, the changes in the demographics of the workplace impact many of the functions of the organization.

Globalization is among many forces influencing change and it has many facets. International trade is one of them. International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification for international trade has a tremendous impact on manufacturing companies. Because it is a quality standard, even service industries and governments are pursuing the certification. Implementing a quality focus can change an organization’s operational and strategic plans.

There are additional forces and trends in the environment that may impact an organization trying to develop a strategic plan. It is important for the organization to analyze the various factors that may affect the success of the organization today and in the future.

As organizations move toward a strategic planning focus, there is a shift in paradigms. Most organizations are reactive to circumstances. When strategic planning is incorporated into its operations, organizations know where they are heading. They will still react to circumstances, but will do so in a more controlled and planned way. The shift is from being reactive to proactive. The benefits are substantial. The problem frequently involves how to get there from where they are.

SWOT Analysis

Organizations need to look at their internal strengths and weaknesses as well as their external opportunities and threats. The internal strengths and weaknesses are framed in the present time. The external opportunities and threats are future oriented. Assessing the environment by using these four components (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) is frequently referred to as a SWOT analysis.

Organizations should be working to maximize strengths and minimize weaknesses in their current operational plans. In some instances, the weaknesses are a major drain on organizational resources. As public organizations attempt to eliminate organizational weaknesses, privatizing such functions has been explored.

The opportunities and threats are factors that may impact the future of the organization. Therefore, consideration of these two aspects must be included in the strategic plan.

The SWOT analysis is one structured assessment that can assist the planners in determining the best course of action. The next units will include additional information on these assessment tools.