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There are many models that are used and referred to as strategic planning but it is fair to say that the component parts of the process, if not identical, are very similar in nature
Strategic planning is the process by which the guiding members of an organisation envision the organisation's future and develop the necessary procedures and operations to achieve that future. The vision of the future provides both a direction and the energy to move in that direction ... successful strategic planning is characterized by organisational self examination, confronting difficult choices, and setting priorities. (Pfeiffer, Goodstein and Nolan, 1989:56)
Most organisations today are involved in some form of strategic planning. The model that they adopt is often the one that is most expedient to the nature of their organisation but there is a common understanding that the intent behind the process is to ensure that the organisation can indeed envision its future, can influence the direction the future will take and, most important, if done properly, can create its future.
It has been natural for distance educators to accept the principles of strategic planning and even to embrace them in the context of the evolution of distance and open learning. In fact, just by virtue of the challenges that we have undertaken to break new ground in delivering education and improving access to learners, we have considered ourselves to be both politically and organisationally more progressive in our thinking, and the models of strategic planning have adapted reasonably and readily to our world. They are helpful in reducing complex issues into manageable component parts for analysis and resolution. Equally important, they can provide the framework for organisations to monitor their progress and to feed that information back into the process of envisioning a future. I think distance educators have been very good at picking up the model and struggling with its various component parts.
For the purposes of this paper I have selected a model (see the Applied Strategic Planning Model) put forward by Pfeiffer, Goodstein and Nolan, which proposes nine important steps for strategic planning, none of which will be new or surprising to you.
The first stage is meta-planning or planning to plan. It is incumbent upon the senior people within the organisation to set the correct context for planning and to trigger the process. This is the stage where the commitment to planning is communicated to the organisation and resources are identified to ensure a successful outcome.
The second stage is to ensure that there is commonalty in the values of the organisation and a review of those values to ensure that they have not changed. This is the point where the organisation looks inward, identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (the situational analysis). That information is often juxtaposed with an external environmental scan to ensure that the organisation is aware of the factors that could have an impact on the eventual successful implementation of the strategic plan.
The mission is then articulated—that wonderful clear statement that is understood by everyone within the organisation and further, that can be used to explain the organisation's work to others. Unfortunately, in distance education it is often difficult to find that one important phrase which describes the work succinctly and clearly. Not to be dissuaded, institutions do struggle through the process and eventually come forward with a mission statement which is promulgated throughout the organisation. The mission statement is the anchor to the strategic plan and typically answers three primary questions.
- What does the organisation do?
- Who does the organisation serve?
- How does the organisation carry out its task?
Pfeiffer's model then introduces the next logical stage in the process of strategic planning; this is to define the business objectives, including indicators of success and to describe the way the organisation will look in the future. Typically, these descriptions span certain pre-determined periods of time; that could be, for example, one, two, or three years. At the same time that the organisation is modelling itself, it will be using information it has collected reflecting the recent performance of the organisation using those key standards of measurement of success it has agreed upon. This will ensure clarity and consistency of measurement and provide the opportunity to project past trends into the future.
This is an important stage of the strategic cycle in that it will allow the organisation to ensure that it is following a trend line that is consistent and building on its strengths. It is natural to assume that the vision for the future and the evidence of where the organisation is will not always be directly in synchronization. Therefore the next logical stage in strategic planning is to conduct a gap analysis. The gap analysis will identify whether or not there are differences between the vision and the current performance of the organisation but, more importantly, it will force the planning team to prioritise and to identify creative ways to close the gap.
This becomes the core of the framework for the strategic direction of the organisation; this information is shared throughout the organisation and the process of developing functional or operational plans begins. These operational plans usually focus primarily on the 'how', now that the 'what' has been described, and would include references to required resources and the redeployment of resources as appropriate. The most important phase is the implementation of the plan and testing that implementation against the success factors articulated earlier.
It is a very neat, tidy model, promoting consultation and participation, building on past history and knowledge,
and incorporating the necessary checks and balances that provide a key for monitoring progress and allowing for timely adjustments. Theoretically, institutions involved in this or similar processes are able to ensure that they are at the leading edge of the development of open learning and are positioned properly to demonstrate the contribution they make to fostering access to learning, contributing to the love of learning and participating in that all-important economic agenda.
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