Course Project: Developing a Strategic Plan

Section 1: Summary of the Issue

To prepare for and set the stage for your Course Project, this week you begin to develop a summary of the issue you will address through the creation of a strategic plan.

You may wish to review the Course Project Overview, which outlines the project components and due dates.

To prepare:

• Consider the information on strategic planning presented by Dr. Huston in this week’s media program, as well as in the other Learning Resources.
• Reflect on the unmet need you identified in this week’s Discussion, and consider any feedback you have received to your posting from your Instructor and colleagues. If appropriate, refine your focus to clarify the unmet need.
• In addition to the steps you took in preparation for the Discussion, proceed as follows:
• Investigate the background related to this unmet need. What conditions have contributed to this situation? Is there data (beyond what you identified for the Discussion) that should be examined?
• Conduct research to assess what has been attempted in the past, by various individuals or organizations, to address this unmet need.
• Think about any broader issues that should be examined to better understand this unmet need. For instance, consider economic, political, and/or social considerations.

Begin to draft your 2- to 3-page summary of the Issue (which will be submitted next week). In your summary, identify and/or describe:

• The unmet need and how it is evident in the specific group, unit, or organization
• The mission, vision, and values of the group, unit, or organization
• Background, including:
  • Data from historical analysis and forecasting
  • Evidence from the literature
  • What has been attempted in the past by various individuals and groups to address this need
  • Which stakeholders should be included in the strategic planning process
• Initial vision for addressing this need at the organizational or systems level, including at least one strategic goal
• Broader issues to be considered

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Balicer, R. D., Shadmi, E., Lieberman, N., Greenberg-Dotan, S., Goldfracht, M., Jana, L., . . . Jacobson, O. (2011). Reducing health disparities: Strategy planning and implementation in Israel’s largest health care organization. Health Services Research, 46(4), 1281–1299.

The authors examine the planning, implementation, and evaluation of an organization-wide strategy to address the need to reduce health care inequalities and improve quality in Israel.

Schaffner, J. (2009). Roadmap for success: The 10-step nursing strategic plan. Journal of Nursing Administration, 39(4), 152–155.

The author outlines a 10-step strategic planning process for nursing.

Strubhar, A. J. (2011). The application of an environmental scanning and strategic planning framework in an academic department of physical therapy. Journal of Physical Therapy Education, 25(3), 53–59.

The author examines strategic planning, including environmental scanning, within a physical therapy department in an academic institution.

Authenticity Consulting. (n.d.b). Basic description of strategic planning. Retrieved March 13, 2013, from http://managementhelp.org/strategicplanning/basics.htm
This online article provides an overview of the strategic planning.

Authenticity Consulting. (n.d.c). Basic overview of various strategic planning models. Retrieved March 13, 2013, from http://managementhelp.org/strategicplanning/models.htm
This online article describes different models of strategic planning, including issues-based planning.

PlanWare. (n.d.). Business planning papers: Developing a strategic plan. Retrieved March 13, 2013, from http://www.planware.org/strategicplan.htm
View the strategic planning information on this website.

Required Media

Laureate Education (Producer). (2013d).
Elements of a strategic plan model [Video file]
. Retrieved from
https://class.waldenu.edu

Note: The approximate length of this media piece is 6 minutes.

Dr. Carol Huston describes elements common to strategic planning models and discusses ways to approach the development of a strategic plan.

Accessible player
–Downloads–Download Video w/CCDownload AudioDownload Transcript

Credit: Provided courtesy of the Laureate International Network of Universities.

Optional Resources

Authenticity Consulting. (n.d.a). All about strategic planning. Retrieved March 13, 2013, fromhttp://managementhelp.org/strategicplanning/index.htm

 

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