Week 7 - Signature Assignment: Write and Analyze a Case Study and Week 8 - Assignment: Create a Brochure on Organizational Planning

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Week 7

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Organizational and Strategic Planning: Part 1

Imagine that, in your role as a manager at a nonprofit organization, you are requested by

the executive director to take the lead on a strategic plan for the organization. Your

workload is already quite high, and you’re not really sure where to begin. You wonder

about the purpose of a strategic plan and are not sure about how to engage others in this

process. You read online that the process is supposed to be focused on, among other

things, defining what success for your organization looks like, the steps required in order

to obtain success, and what this looks like in terms of impact. Furthermore, you learn that

it relates to how the organization can actually go about obtaining the results it wants to

accomplish, including how to align staff and funding within a suitable time frame to

accomplish its goals and mission.

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Figure 2. Strategic planning begins with a partnership with the staff to identify strengths

and weaknesses

This week (and next week) explores strategic planning. Strategic planning, within the

context of a nonprofit organization, is a “process conducted in partnership with staff in

which the board draws on an understanding of organizational strengths and weaknesses

and environmental trends to articulate priorities and monitor progress against financial

and programmatic goals” (Boardsource, 2010, p.173).

You may be asking, where might strategic planning be helpful in my agency? What does it

mean to do ‘strategic planning’? Bryson (2018) states that strategic planning requires

information gathering, discussion, analysis, and synthesis. This connects with clear

organizational goals, and an exploration of possible choices and their implications. He

states that strategic planning can help foster communication and wise decision-making,

and it promotes implementation and accountability. He introduces the “ABCs of Strategic

Planning” (Bryson, 2018, pp. 42-44), where “A” involves a deliberative process to figure

where an organization is at now; “B” is determining where you want to be; and “C” is

exploring how to get there.

Berman and Berman (2006) state that strategic planning ensures that an organization’s

mission better serves the needs of society. They state that strategic planning asks

questions, such as:

Which roles and missions should organizations seek to fulfill? Is the mission, and its

rationale, widely shared by client groups and others inside and outside the organization?

What are the unique competencies of the organization that make it qualified to fulfill this

role? How do these competencies compare with the expertise and capacity of other

organizations? How much external and internal commitment exists for goals that are

pursued? How might future challenges affect the ability of the organization to fulfill its

goals? Is collaboration with other organizations possible and desirable? Which objectives

and strategies are being pursued in order to realize the above vision? Are these objectives

specific, feasible, and credible? What resources are available to assist organizations in

their efforts, and are these resources adequate? By which target date will strategies be

implemented and completed? How will success be measured? (Berman & Berman, 2006,

p. 74)

While the focus of this week’s readings is on strategic planning (a topic discussed again

next week), the Signature Assignment due this week asks you to analyze a case study of

your own choosing, relating the case to the themes examined in this course as a whole.

You will identify an organizational problem in a public administration-related organization,

discuss and analyze it, provide plausible solutions, and then recommend one of them.

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Books and Resources for this Week

Berman, E. M., & Berman, E. M. (2006).

Performance and productivity in public

and nonprofit organizations. Armonk,

NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc. Link

Boardsource. (2010). The handbook of

nonprofit governance. San Francisco,

CA: Jossey-Bass. Link

Be sure to review this week's resources carefully. You are expected to apply the

information from these resources when you prepare your assignments.

References:

Berman, E. M., & Berman, E. M. (2006). Performance and productivity in public and

nonprofit organizations. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.

Boardsource. (2010). The handbook of nonprofit governance. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-

Bass.

Bryson, J. M. (Ed.). (2018). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A

guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ:

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Chapter 2: The strategy change cycle: An effective strategic planning and management

approach for public and nonprofit organizations

80 % 4 of 5 topics complete

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Poister, T. H., Aristigueta, M. P., & Hall,

J. L. (2015). Managing and measuring

performance in public and nonprofit

organizations : an integrated... Link

Tschirhart, M., & Bielefeld, W. (2012).

Managing nonprofit organizations. San

Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Link

Week 7 - Signature Assignment: Write and Analyze a

Case Study Assignment

Due November 7 at 11:59 PM

Identify an organizational problem in a public administration-related organization (e.g., the

one you work in, a local government agency, or a nonprofit/religious organization; it

should not be a for-profit company). So far in this course, you have analyzed three case

studies. In this assignment, you will not have a case study to analyze. Instead, you will

provide the case and the problem (based on your own knowledge, experience, or

research) and discuss it, and provide plausible solutions. In this Signature Assignment, you

will also analyze the problem (whereas in the previous assignments, you simply

summarized the problem). In your analysis of the problem, connect the case study with as

many of the themes of this course (human behavior, principles, and techniques in

management and organizational behavior, supervising public employees, organizational

planning, which directly relate to the four learning outcomes stated in the course syllabus)

as are relevant.

Follow this format when writing your assignment:

Write an introductory paragraph.

Summarize the organizational problem in the case study.

Analyze the problem, such as why it occurred, specific issues, and/or related

problems.

Provide three plausible solutions to the problem.

Analyze the impact of these three plausible solutions.

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Recommend which solution you suggest should be implemented and articulate

reasons for your recommendation.

Write a conclusion paragraph.

In your paper, please use clear, bolded headings to separate the paper into sections.

Length: 5-7 pages

References: Include a minimum of five scholarly resources.

Your assignment should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts

presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly to this

topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards. Be sure

to adhere to Northcentral University's Academic Integrity Policy.

Upload your document and click the Submit to Dropbox button.