Strategic Planning in Public Higher Education: Management Tool or Publicity Platform? (original) (raw)

Evaluating the Impact of Strategic Planning in Higher Education

2016

Strategic planning can be broadly defined as a process used by organizations to define strategy and provide direction regarding future decisions. Grounded in the organization’s mission and vision, it is widely recognized as fundamental to an organization’s success over time. A growing number of higher education institutions are incorporating strategic planning processes at the institution-wide level, or for individual schools or programs. While there are multiple models of strategic planning, many of which include a periodic review of the resulting goals and objectives, there are few, if any, assessments of the impact of the process itself. This study of one intentional model for strategic planning at State University indicates that the program has been successful not only in assisting departments and programs in developing mission and vision statements, organizational goals, and action plans, but also in disseminating organizational information, promoting participation, incorporati...

Developing and Actioning Strategic Planning in Higher Education Institutions

Developing and Actioning Strategic Planning in Higher Education Institutions, 2012

This book aims to bridge the gap between preaching and practice in Strategic Planning in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). As academics, we have been preachers of management theories and concepts, but, when it comes to the real world of practicing what we profess to know well, it is surprising that preaching and practice often diverge. Management principles are simple and straightforward to teach, but when these principles are put into administrative or management practices in HEI, we do not fare that well in comparison to remaining within the safe zone of teaching. This is normally the case facing most Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) as they move forward on quality drives, which are both turbulent and never-ending journeys of continuous improvement. These journeys can be managed, however, if they are planned, and, if planned, they can be better measured based on the mission and goals of the position that the institution intends to achieve and sustain. This is basically management through measurement. In this management, it is necessary first to plan the desired outcomes; these then become the measures of achievement in terms of fulfilling the envisioned dreams. This is strategic management applied to managing Higher Education Institutions.

Strategic planning in higher education: who are the customers

… Journal of Educational …, 1994

The authors present an overview of strategic planning, examine its history and mystique, and conclude that planning, if properly implemented, can have a powerful impact on advancing and transforming colleges and universities.

Strategic planning in higher education

This concept paper discuss about the importance of strategic planning in higher education system. The literature review embarked on strategic planning and funding higher education with the intention on methods, policies, and global trends with comparisons from different perspectives to enhance understanding of the study. The integration of strategic planning in higher education has provided a framework to facilitate institutions vision, mission, values, goals, and strategies. Therefore, the desires to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of strategic planning by implementing the performance indictor in higher education institutions have generated policies and methods to promote long term benefit to the economic growth.

The Importance of, and Resources for, Successful Strategic Planning

2011

Recent trends in U.S. higher education have led many institutions to adopt or refine strategic planning efforts. Strategic planning at the academic department level (in alignment with university-wide planning) is crucial to identify opportunities and to provide a quality education to students. Rather than taking a proactive approach, too often academic departments engage in traditional (ad-hoc or activity-based) planning and leave genuinely strategic planning to be guided by administrators. In this paper, the authors emphasize not only the importance of strategic planning at the department level but also a process that can be used. This process includes following what they refer to as the C-SALT principles (Communication, Specificity, Assessment, Leadership, and Transparency) and collaborating with academic support units such as Institutional Research and Information Technology to aid in the development and implementation of successful strategic plans. The paper concludes with a “re...

A Road Map for Strategic Planning in Higher Education Institutions

Strategic planning is one of the key elements of successful management in higher educations. There has been some initiatives such as Bologna process in order to increase the efficiency and effectiveness as well as quality of the education in all over Europe. Strategic planning will definitely help to that purpose. However, it is not easy to do the planning as it deals with a lot of uncertainties and requires detailed analysis of current situation and a clear look towards the future. This paper presents a roadmap for creating such plan and indicates possible areas to concentrate in doing the analysis. It is important to follow this road map for the sake of creating an implementable plan and monitoring the implementations within the organization for which the plan is established.

THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC PLANNING ON THE PERFORMANCE OF HIGHER LEARNING INSTITUTIONS

Strategic Planning on Higher Learning Institutions, 2019

The growing difficulties experienced by many Universities during the 1970s led to the adaptation of strategic planning as a potential solution for developing a proactive framework to cope with the changing demands and declining resources. After adaptation of strategic planning in 1994, the University of Dar es Salaam despite attaining tremendous achievements such as increased enrollment, research and publications, new postgraduate and undergraduate programmes, and launching of the international standard library, it still faces several inefficiencies, major ones including weakness in information management systems, financial and asset management systems, and inadequate number of staff in some areas. This study was conducted to assess the role of Strategic Planning on the performance of Higher Learning Institutions taking the University of Dar salaam as the study organization. The study outlined the factors that gave rise to strategic planning, evaluated the strategies employed in the planning and implementation of the UDSM Strategic Plan, and analyzed the effects of the strategic planning on the performance of the University of Dar es Salaam. The study employed document review, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and observations as data collection methods. Content Analysis and Narrative Analysis were the data analysis methods. The key findings of the study reveals the economic reforms of the second political regime in Tanzania which gave rise to the need of strategic planning in 1994, formulation and approval process of strategic planning, the implementation strategies, as well as the outcomes such as significant improvement in student enrollment, and the challenges of implementing the University Strategic Plans such as a low sense of ownership among UDSM staff. The study concludes that strategic planning is a platform for improving the University of Dar es Salaam’s performance, and recommends effective communication, and more participation.

Strategic Planning in Public Universities: A Developing Country Perspective

Abstract This paper presents the results of an empirical study on strategic planning in three public universities in Ghana. It assesses strategy development, the implementation process, the main challenges to strategic planning in public universities, and what their success factors are. Findings indicate that the nature, form, and sophistication of information and communication technology use influenced successful implementation of strategic plans for two public universities. Other results suggested that members of staff perceived strategic planning to be the responsibility of top management; thus, there is little ownership and commitment by academic and other stakeholders. Keywords: Strategy, Strategic planning, Public universities, Tertiary education, Ghana

Performing Strategic Planning: has it been written and read fruitfully? Some evidences from the higher education sector.

Although strategic planning has been touted in numerous studies, the effectiveness of how it has been written and read is not that obvious, the clarity around what truly defines its performance effectiveness remains unattainable as there is no unifying theory that has emerged to date that can provide the framework for further researches. In response to the need for renewed attention on strategic planning, the “practice perspective turn” could provide a new methodological approach to better address questions such as of performance implications. This paper provides a brief review of the theoretical background associated with strategic planning development within the higher education context, sets forth a research agenda focused on the analysis of the micro-practices deployed in the planning process and its interrelationships with strategic language and alignment as collaborative endeavour in enhancing its performance, and presents preliminary findings to date.

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT MECHANISMS, DIRECTIONS, AND FUNCTIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences, 2024

This paper explores the strategic management mechanisms, directions, and functions within higher education institutions. It examines the importance of strategic management, outlines the specific mechanisms utilized in the planning and execution of strategies, and analyzes their effectiveness through data collected from various institutions. The findings reveal significant insights into how strategic management shapes educational outcomes and institutional success.