Rational planning and politicians' attitudes to spending and reform: replication and extension of a survey experiment

The rational planning cycle of formulating strategic goals and using performance information to assess implementation is assumed to assist decision-making by politicians. Empirical evidence for this assumption is, however, scarce. Our study replicates Nielsen and Baekgaard’s (2015) experiment on the relation between performance information and politicians’ attitudes to spending and reform and extends this experiment by investigating the role of strategic goals. Based on a randomized survey experiment with 1.484 Flemish city councilors and an analysis of 225 municipal strategic plans, we found that information on low and high performance as well as strategic goals directly impact decision-making by politicians

Crossroads, Connections, and Creativity: Musselman Library Strategic Plan

The Musselman Library Strategic Plan grew out of two all-staff meetings held in January 2007. During the first, library staff identified areas of strength and weakness, as well as opportunities for improvement and growth. Maureen Sullivan, an organization development consultant for libraries, led the next meeting. Ms. Sullivan helped to deepen the analysis begun during the previous meeting and encouraged the staff to begin envisioning the future of the Library. In late January, Robin Wagner, Director of Library Services, formed the Strategic Planning Committee (see list of participants below). The committee’s initial tasks were to complete an environmental scan and to identify upcoming trends and best practices in library services, while formulating mission and vision statements for Musselman Library. These were presented to the rest of the staff for feedback during meetings in March and April. Also in April, the Strategic Planning Committee invited other library staff to serve on task forces charged with creating goals and action items for the plan’s four core issues (see Appendix C). Maureen Sullivan facilitated the launching of these task forces, and each group, led by a member of the Strategic Planning Committee, then met independently numerous times during the next few weeks. The final task force reports were completed in early May and shared with the entire library staff. On May 21, Maureen Sullivan led an all-staff meeting to discuss the task force recommendations. Ms. Sullivan then met with the Strategic Planning Committee and Robin Wagner to begin the process of revising, prioritizing, and incorporating the goals and action items into one cohesive strategic plan. Crossroads, Connections, and Creativity: Musselman Library Strategic Plan was submitted to Robin Wagner, on June 12, 2007. [excerpt

Musselman Library Strategic Plan 2013-2016

Musselman Library Strategic Plan 2013-2016 reflects the evolution of libraries and higher education since the 2007 adoption of Crossroads, Connections, and Creativity: Musselman Library Strategic Plan. The 2013-2016 strategic plan challenges Musselman Library to think about ways in which the library can further support its community of learners. This plan builds upon the core issues of services, collections, learning, and access that were identified in 2007 and recognizes the growth accomplished in these areas. In early 2013, Robin Wagner, Director of Library Services, formed the Strategic Planning Steering Committee in order to develop a plan to guide Musselman Library’s priorities for the next three years. Following an environmental scan, focus groups, and dialogue with library staff, the committee identified five issues confronting libraries: lifelong learning, leadership, sustainability, continual assessment, and partnerships. Working groups were formed and charged to create goals and objectives inspired by these five issues. From the work completed by the groups, the Strategic Planning Steering Committee distilled these issues and articulated goals that advance the library within four strategic directions: lifelong learning, leadership, sustainability, and continual assessment. Recognizing the foundational role of collaboration in a liberal arts environment, partnerships is integrated across the four strategic directions, goals, and objectives. The 2013-2016 plan demonstrates Musselman Library’s commitment to contribute to Gettysburg College’s mission and addresses challenges presented to a new generation of learners and scholars in an age of information abundance. [excerpt

Private Land, Public Trust: Strategic Conservation Planning for Public Wildlife on Private Lands Through the USFWS Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program

Law requires federal agencies to develop long-term strategic plans. Strategic plans define goals, objectives, and performance measures defining how the agencies and programs will reach their stated goals. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife (PFW) develops strategic plans every five years. Each individual state develops a plan for their respective state. Those state plans are compiled for the region and become part of Regional Comprehensive Strategic Plan. The current strategic plan expires in 2021. States will begin the strategic planning process in 2020. In Utah, PFW staff will also begin developing a strategic plan for the years 2022-2026. This document explains the need for a strategic plan, policy and laws guiding strategic plans, and program goals, objectives, and Program cornerstone concepts. Strategic plans must take into account human social and cultural perspectives. Several factors go into a strategic plan such as funding targets, goals, and partnerships. One major component of these plans are the concept of Focus Areas. These focus areas determine where the Program focuses restoration and enhancement on the ground. Focus areas designation is developed using focal species and focal ecosystems as well as other criteria such as partnerships and private-public landownership. In this document suggested considerations for focus area development is provided. This capstone report will provide managers with information and guidance important to the Utah PFW Program planning process. The goal of this document is to inform and enhance the strategic planning process in Utah. This document will be shared with other state and regional leadership in USFWS Region 6. This report summarizes the need for a strategic plan, states goals and objectives of the PFW Program related to planning, and provides strategic planning guidance not currently found in any one document

A Study of the Effect of Strategic Planning on Student Achievement in Rural Public Schools in New York State

Many public school district leaders, including school administrators and board of education members develop and implement strategic plans in order to guide the leadership in carrying out the mission and vision of the district they serve. Although strategic planning is practiced widely among many organizations, little is known about the relationship between strategic planning and student achievement. This study used a qualitative research design and goal setting theory to determine how rural school superintendents and administrators are using the strategic planning process in their districts to affect student achievement. Data were collected using virtual interviews with public school superintendents in 11 rural school districts in New York State. Results of the study found that goals developed during the strategic planning process in districts studied supported the districts’ mission, vision, and core beliefs. Results of the study also found that the practice of strategic planning affected student achievement positively, and that districts studied implement goals through distributed leadership. This study provided recommendations for further research in strategic planning

Aligning enterprise architecture with strategic planning

Strategic planning improves both the financial and behavioral performance of an enterprise. It helps the enterprise set priorities, focus capabilities and resources, strengthen operations, ensure that stakeholders are working toward common goals and assess and adjust the enterprise’s direction. Strategic planning is currently not explicitly represented in EA, although it motivates enterprise architecture choices. This paper studies strategic planning approaches and discusses their potential relation with EA. The paper focuses on how EA can contribute to strategic planning, discussing requirements on EA extensions to support strategic planning and pointing to solutions. A general approach to support strategic planning using EA should mutually benefit the practices of strategic planning and EA

Правове забезпечення формування та реалізації соціальної орієнтації економіки регіонів

Проанализировано влияние правового обеспечения стратегического планирования регионального развития на социальную ориентацию экономики регионов и определены пути совершенствования этого процесса. Ключевые слова: социальная ориентация экономики, стратегическое планирование, законодательство, регион.Проаналізовано вплив правового забезпечення стратегічного планування регіонального розвитку на соціальну орієнтацію економіки регіонів та визначено шляхи вдосконалення цього процесу. Ключові слова: соціальна орієнтація економіки, стратегічне планування, законодавство, регіон.The article analyzes the impact of strategic planning on the regional development of social orientation of regional economies and improvement of opportunities of this process. Poor strategic management and planning in regions of Ukraine leads to underutilization of resources and opportunities, accumulation of risks and uncertainties, and prevents the transformation of performance from the economic sphere into social one, which causes the urgency to study this issue. This situation is caused by the quality of current legislation. The main documents that define the strategic planning process at the regional level include: Resolutions of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On Approval of the State Regional Development Strategy for the Period until 2015”, “On Approval of the Preparation, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Regional Development Strategies”, “On Approval of the Preparation, Making and Implementation of Agreements on the Regional Development”, the draft Law of Ukraine “On the State Strategic Planning”. The analysis of these normative documents revealed the problems concerning determination of strategic goals and harmonization of estimation systems. Therefore, the strategic planning process must be improved. It’s necessary to set measurable priorities in the regional development; improve the content of the main goals and strategic objectives in accordance with the criteria of SMART; reorient the monitoring of implementation of the State Strategy for the Regional Development to the assessment of efficiency of measures on the achievement of goals; implement a program approach in accordance with the goals (each goal must meet one program); approve an annual macroeconomic forecast made by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The implementation of the above recommendations can improve the quality of strategic planning, efficiency and practical realization of social orientation of the regional development. Keywords: social orientation of economies, strategic planning, legislation, region

Strategic Planning as a Management Tool for School Principals in Rural Schools in the Motheo District

Published ArticleStrategic planning basically includes a group of instruments, operations and concepts structured to help managers, leaders and planners think and act strategically. The planning process comprises a definition of the goals, a valuation of the resources available for meeting the goals, and the definition of definite plans or initiatives that are intended to achieve the goals. The process usually includes a classification exercise that identifies the highest priority initiatives. The study indicates how strategic management fits into the management process. Strategic planning ensures that the school is associated with the changing internal and external environment. This planning is formulated by top management and focuses on the entire organization. A qualitative design was followed in which the opinions of principals were sought through the use of semi-structured interviews. The findings of the study indicate that strategic planning does not occur in many schools in the Motheo district. If a form of strategic planning does occur, School Governing Body (SGB) chairpersons are often excluded in the drafting and implementation of these plans. Collaboration between School Management Teams (SMTs) and SGBs is needed to ensure the successful drafting and implementation of strategic plans

The Role of Mission in Strategic Planning Development and Execution at a Lasallian Catholic University

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore how administrators at a Lasallian sponsored Catholic university remain committed to institutional mission in its undergraduate education program at a time when external pressures require the institution to consider operational strategies that may run counter to its institutional ideals. To effectively investigate how key administrators balance institutional priorities within a specific context, I conducted a qualitative case study at Rheims University (pseudonym). Because the major focus of my study was to examine how administrators in senior level positions at this institution develop strategies designed to accomplish goals prioritized by the university and succinctly articulated the institution’s current strategic plan, I analyzed the way in which senior administrators worked with one another, both formally and informally, on a day-to-day, semester-to-semester, and year-to-year basis in an effort to achieve specific mission-related goals outlined in the university’s Strategic Plan. I also analyzed how these administrators navigated through tensions that arose with other senior level administrators throughout the university as they worked individually and collaboratively to accomplish common mission-related goals. Based on analysis of data after coding, three major themes emerged as having the greatest impact on the Rheims’ administration’s ability to remain mission-centered while executing strategic-planning initiatives. The influence of finances on strategic decision making, philosophical differences between vice presidents and their managers on how to properly maintain institutional mission while executing strategic-planning initiatives, and divergence across campus when balancing mission and strategic-planning goals. The major focus of this study was also to examine whether these administrators consciously used their awareness and knowledge of the university’s mission while attempting to accomplish departmental, divisional, and institutional goals. The study offered insight into the influence of mission and its impact on strategic decision making at the university’s most senior administrative levels. The study also offered understanding into how the board of trustees assisted in the establishment of strategic-planning goals and how board members perceived a connection between mission and strategic planning

The Role of Mission in Strategic Planning Development and Execution at a Lasallian Catholic University

Abstract The purpose of this study was to explore how administrators at a Lasallian sponsored Catholic university remain committed to institutional mission in its undergraduate education program at a time when external pressures require the institution to consider operational strategies that may run counter to its institutional ideals. To effectively investigate how key administrators balance institutional priorities within a specific context, I conducted a qualitative case study at Rheims University (pseudonym). Because the major focus of my study was to examine how administrators in senior level positions at this institution develop strategies designed to accomplish goals prioritized by the university and succinctly articulated the institution’s current strategic plan, I analyzed the way in which senior administrators worked with one another, both formally and informally, on a day-to-day, semester-to-semester, and year-to-year basis in an effort to achieve specific mission-related goals outlined in the university’s Strategic Plan. I also analyzed how these administrators navigated through tensions that arose with other senior level administrators throughout the university as they worked individually and collaboratively to accomplish common mission-related goals. Based on analysis of data after coding, three major themes emerged as having the greatest impact on the Rheims’ administration’s ability to remain mission-centered while executing strategic-planning initiatives. The influence of finances on strategic decision making, philosophical differences between vice presidents and their managers on how to properly maintain institutional mission while executing strategic-planning initiatives, and divergence across campus when balancing mission and strategic-planning goals. The major focus of this study was also to examine whether these administrators consciously used their awareness and knowledge of the university’s mission while attempting to accomplish departmental, divisional, and institutional goals. The study offered insight into the influence of mission and its impact on strategic decision making at the university’s most senior administrative levels. The study also offered understanding into how the board of trustees assisted in the establishment of strategic-planning goals and how board members perceived a connection between mission and strategic planning