Working Toward Strategic Change

This nuts-and-bolts workbook is designed as a guide for members of strategic planning committees in higher education. The book is filled with information, tools, and visual material that complement the companion book Strategic Change in Colleges and Universities. This workbook offers a concise background to the strategic planning process and focuses on the ten critical steps of the process, from developing performance indicators through implementing, evaluating, and revising the strategic plan. Each section helps users work carefully and thoughtfully through the tasks of assembling, interpreting, and making decisions about critical information relating to the process.

Preface xi

The Authors xix

Introduction: The Strategies Planning Process 1

Step 1 Developing Key Performances Indicators 15

Step 2 Assessing the External Environment 41

Step 3 Assessing the Internal Environment 67

Step 4 Analyzing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats 99

Step 5 Generating Ideas 107

Step 6 Testing Ideas 123

Step 7 Formulating Strategies, Goals, and Objectives 133

Step 8 Determining Institutional Readiness for Change 155

Step 9 Implementing the Strategy and Documenting Impacts 163

Step 10 Evaluating and Revising the Plan 171

References 177

Index 179

MICHAEL G. DOLENCE is president of Michael G. Dolence and Associates. Formerly he served as strategic planning administrator for the California State University, Los Angeles, and as director of research, planning and policy analysis at the Commission on IndepAndent Colleges and Universities in New York.

DANIEL JAMES ROWLEY is professor of management in the College of Business at the University of Northern Colorado.

HERMAN D. LUJAN Herman D. Lujan is the president emeritus of the University of Northern Colorado and is university distinguished professor of business and public policy. This hands-on workbook develops the models presented and explained in Strategic Change in Colleges and Universities and gives participants the tools they need to develop, implement, and sustain a strategic plan that is both timely and vital. Offering a wealth of information in the form of guidelines, suggestions, and worksheets, this accessible workbook details the ten-step process from developing performance indicators through implementing, evaluating, and sustaining the strategic plan.Each chapter of Working Toward Strategic Change highlights one of the ten strategic planning steps and contains both individual and group exercises and forms. The authors explain the central purpose of the step, discuss what results to expect, offer helpful suggestions for working with the materials, and include a set of reproducible forms or exercises that guide the process. These tested tools are designed to make the strategic planning activities more effective and streamlined.The practical material in the workbook can be applied to the wide spectrum of university and college settings, and the flexible exercises can easily integrate elements and practices that an institution may have already identified or implemented. Working Through Strategic Change is designed to help users work carefully and thoughtfully through the tasks of assembling, interpreting, and making decisions about critical information relating to the strategic planning process. In addition to its application in college and university settings, the book is also a valuable teaching aid and can be used to simulate a strategic planning exercise to give students a clear understanding of this complex process. This nuts-and-bolts workbook is designed as a guide for members of strategic planning committees in higher education. The book is filled with information, tools, and visual material that complement the companion book Strategic Change in Colleges and Universities. This workbook offers a concise background to the strategic planning process and focuses on the ten critical steps of the process, from developing performance indicators through implementing, evaluating, and revising the strategic plan. Each section helps users work carefully and thoughtfully through the tasks of assembling, interpreting, and making decisions about critical information relating to the process.