Term Paper on "Institutional Strategic Planning"

Term Paper 12 pages (3551 words) Sources: 15 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Institutional Strategic Planning

Strategic Planning for Academic Institutions

Introduction- Mission, vision, values, goals, and objectives in strategic planning for academic institutions

Strategic planning is the key to the success of a business. No matter if we are taking into account a company or an institution, the planning is of the utmost importance. As components of this concept, we can depict: the mission, the vision, the values, the goals and the objectives.

The importance of good strategic planning is recognized throughout higher education. All universities and colleges understand the need to clearly identify their mission and objectives, their priorities and targets for improvement, and the action to be taken to achieve them. Good progress has been made over a long period to improve the rigor of strategic planning. But the challenges and opportunities facing higher education are growing every year. There is a constant need to secure greater value from available resources. Also the decisions and choices which institutions have to make become ever more complex as the requirements of students, staff, employers and society change. All of this places a premium on good strategic planning: the quality of planning must itself improve year by year. [...] In virtually all universities and colleges, strategic planning is seen as an essential tool for effective institutional management. Unless time is invested to analyze the institution and its environment, and to consider its medium - and long-term direction and goals, it is unlikely that action will be focused or goals achieved. Effective planning helps higher education institutions (HEIs) to identify what makes them distinctive and what they have in common with other HEIs, and therefore it helps to maintain their individuality" (Strategic Planning in Higher Education).

Each organization must devise its plans according to the specifics of its activity. There is not only one correct manner of approaching this matter. It is certain that institutions differ each from the other (even if they conduct their activities in the same branch, higher education) and, in accordance with this, their strategies will also vary.

The mission of an academic institution is to provide the best educational support for the students who are seeking to develop their professional skills. Due to the fact that a higher education institute is frequented only by the persons interested in further studies (not compulsory), it must offer quality and timeliness information, adapted to the current state of affairs in the domain.

The vision refers to the future expectancies. An academy can adopt the vision of becoming the most respected in its domain, the vision of being recognized as the one of the premier educational institutions.

Values reflect the inner culture of an organization. They are features or qualities which are considered meaningful. According to these values, people establish their behavior inside the institution. In addition to that, values are reflected in the way the organization carries out its activity in relation to the customers, suppliers and the internal community. A higher education institution should be grounded on values such as: respect for the students and the educational process, competency, equality of chances and non-discrimination, dedication from the part of the teachers and of all the employees, improvement, excellence, challenge to improvement and best results, discipline etc.

Goals are major targets that an organization aims at. They are set on a long-term basis and they are achieved by means of objectives. As examples of goals in regard with the academic activity we can mention: expanding the facility by 50%, doubling the number of students etc. As objectives which are to be accomplished in order to reach the final goals, we can give examples for each goal mentioned above. In order to expand the facility, the institution may set as an objective the acquisition of a new building or the rental of another facility. In order to double the number of students, it may develop an advertising campaign so as to promote the academy, or it can offer a new range of subjects and specializations with the aim of attracting new students, or it can launch a series of courses on the internet (targeting the people who do not have time to attend the lectures but are still interested in taking some courses, offering customer convenience).

II. Mission

Characteristics of quality mission statements. As Mintzberg asserts: "A mission describes the organization's basic function in society, in terms of the products and services it produces for its customers" (Strategic Planning-Mission). A qualitative mission should comprise all of the following: vision, values, goals and objectives. We can say that "A mission statement provides the commercial logic for the business and so defines two things: The products or services it offers (and therefore its competitive position) and the competences through which it tries to succeed and its method of competing" (Strategic Planning-Mission). Thus, higher educational institutes offer learning services to the people interested in developing their professional skills. These services, together with the material basis (laboratories, material support for practice) differ from one academy to another. Therefore, it is imperative for each of the institutes to emphasize on their competitive advantages (the series of services which distinguish them from others that conduct their activity within the same domain).

These missions should be adapted for each of the organizations which design them. Quality should be reflected in the goals proposed and in the means taken into consideration in order to achieve them. The mission should refer both to the aims of the institution and to the beneficial effects on the students (community). In the case of higher education institutions, these should provide the best studying opportunities, the best practical approaches in order to increase the educational convenience. The mission statement should be grounded on a high quality educational experience. Thus, the experience consists of the best teachers who possess both the knowledge and the pedagogical skills required so as to make themselves understood among their students. In addition to that, academies should provide high tech instruments and well-suited laboratories which can enable the better understanding of the subjects discussed.

External and internal trends which may cause a change in the mission. As the world is rapidly evolving, the institutions have to keep the pace with the new trends. Therefore, their missions will be adapted to the latest tendencies. If people want more time flexibility, then the academy will design special programs targeting the persons in case. Thus, it may introduce compressed license lectures, or programs with reduced required frequency or it may even provide an online support service, an online course aimed at the self-teaching students. This external trend may change the mission from "providing the most valuable information" to "providing the most valuable information adapted to each student's needs and availability."

Internal causes of change may arise from the different visions of the people leading the institution. There will be no major changes, but the missions may slightly differ in relationship with the managers' goals.

III. Vision

Characteristics of a quality vision statement. In order to develop a qualitative vision statement, the institutions should devise it with respect to the following ideas: "clarity and lack of ambiguity; paint a vivid and clear picture, not ambiguous; describe a bright future (hope); memorable and engaging expression; realistic aspirations, achievable; alignment with organizational values and culture; rational; time bound if it talks of achieving any goal or objective. In order to become really effective, an organizational vision statement must (the theory states) become assimilated into the organization's culture. Leaders have the responsibility of communicating the vision regularly, creating narratives that illustrate the vision, acting as role-models by embodying the vision, creating short-term objectives compatible with the vision, and encouraging others to craft their own personal vision compatible with organization's overall vision" (Strategic Planning).

The manner in which vision statements guide the strategic plan. If a higher education institution seeks to provide the most accurate, up-to-date, centered on reality information for the following 10 years, it should find ways of acquiring the best materials on the market. The objectives will somehow shift or will pay more attention to the most up-to-date materials, the latest changes in the subjects, and the most recent trends in the domain.

We can, therefore, say that the vision statements are very important in the case of strategic plans. They are the point from which goals are being born. They offer a broader view which has the scope of designing the other elements of the strategic planning.

IV. Values

Any organization must respect a set of values which differ in the case of each institution. These values constitute the framework of the decisions which are made inside the institution. Each assessment must be judged in accordance with the values which are promoted within the workplace. If the decision matches the requirements and if it does not oppose these values, then it will be further implemented.

When designing a mission or a vision statement, the persons in charge must take into account the cultural core of the business. For example, in the case of higher education academics,… READ MORE

How to Reference "Institutional Strategic Planning" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Moore and Kearsley Strategic Planning Thesis

Moore & Kearsley

Strategic planning involves defining an organization's vision and a mission, goals, and objectives and perhaps most importantly of all, how to achieve those goals. For a distance… read more

Thesis 3 pages (934 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Education / Teaching / Learning

---

Finance Strategic Planning and Budget Processes: Harvard Thesis

Finance

Strategic planning and budget processes: Harvard University

Demographics

Harvard is fairly balanced in terms of its gender breakdown. Of its 6,678 undergraduates 51% are women and 49% are men.… read more

Thesis 2 pages (592 words) Sources: 3 Style: APA Topic: College Admissions / Financial Aid

---

Strategic Planning in Private Hospitals Multiple Chapters

Strategic Planning for Private Hospitals

What is a Strategic Plan?

Dr. Dan Beckham explains strategic planning like this: "The allocations of scarce resources to your best opportunities" (Beckham, 2010, p.… read more

Multiple Chapters 10 pages (3377 words) Sources: 15 Topic: Management / Organizations

---

Institutional Type of This University as Classified Case Study

institutional type of this University as classified by the Carnegie classification system? Go to this website www.carnegiefoundation.org/classification

Within the classification of Carnegie, the Huxley College follows a bureaucratic and collegial… read more

Case Study 8 pages (2374 words) Sources: 1+ Style: APA Topic: Management / Organizations

---

Planning: USDA's Focus on Its Future Strategies Term Paper

Planning: USDA's focus on its future strategies

The concept of risk

Scenario 1:'no major future changes' in the external environment.

Scenario 2: 'negative future changes' in the external environment

Scenario… read more

Term Paper 12 pages (3023 words) Sources: 12 Topic: Management / Organizations

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>