Based in part on the text by John M. Bryson (2011) for my graduate class on strategic planning with videos available on YouTube.

1. LDR 660
Strategic Planning
Siena Heights - Wallace
Bryson, 2011

2. ON TARGET
Strategic Planning
“A disciplined
effort to produce
fundamental
decisions and
actions that shape
and guide what an
organization (or
other entity)
is, what it does, and
why it does it.”
Bryson, 2011, p. 7.
Bryson, 2011

3. ON TARGET
Benefits of Strategic Planning
Promotion of strategic thought and action
Improved decision making
Enhanced organizational responsiveness
Improved organizational performance
Higher organizational citizenship behavior
Enhanced organizational learning
Bryson, 2011

4. ON TARGET
Characteristics: Strategic Planning
• Is concerned with identifying and responding
to the most fundamental issues facing an
organization
• Addresses the subjective question of purpose
and the often competing values that influence
mission and strategies
• Emphasizes the importance of external trends
and forces as they are likely to affect the
organization and its mission
• Attempts to be politically realistic by taking
into account the concerns and preferences of
internal, and especially external, stakeholders
Poister, T. H., and Streib, G. (1994). Bryson, 2011

5. ON TARGET
Strategic Planning Is NOT:
• A substitute for strategic
thinking, acting, and
learning
• A substitute for leadership
• Synonymous with creating
an organizational strategy
There is a difference between
what is deliberate and what is
emergent
There is a difference between
what is intended and what is
realized
Bryson, 2011

6. ON TARGET
Characteristics: Strategic Planning
• Relies heavily on the active involvement of
senior level managers, and sometimes elected
officials, assisted by staff support where needed
• Requires the candid confrontation of critical
issues by key participants in order to build
commitment to plans
• Is action-oriented and stresses the importance of
developing plans for implementing strategies, and
• Focuses on implementing decisions now in
order to position the organization favorably for
the future
Poister, T. H., and Streib, G. (1994). Bryson, 2011

7. ON TARGET
Strategic Management
• Links strategic planning
with implementation
• Is concerned with
managing an organization
in a strategic way on an
ongoing basis
Bryson, 2011

8. ON TARGET
Strategic Management Systems
• Are one means of inducing and linking strategic
thinking, acting, and learning throughout an
organization or other entity
• Are intended to promote strategic
thought, action, and learning and to control and
guide the way strategies are implemented; and
to develop capacities for future action
consisting of:
Mission and vision
Strategic planning
Results-oriented budgeting
Strategic measurement
Performance management
Bryson, 2011

9. ON TARGET
Strategic Management Systems
Source: Poister and Streib (1994)
Bryson, 2011

10. ON TARGET
Strategic Management Systems
• Layered or stacked units of
management models
• Strategic issues management
models
• Contract models
• Portfolio models
• Goal or “benchmark” models
Bryson, 2011

11. ON TARGET
Strategic Management Systems
• Tools and techniques can
emphasize process or
content
• Process tools and
techniques can foster or
reinforce centralized or
decentralized interactions
• Content approaches favor
experts and expert
knowledge, and therefore
limited interactions
Bryson, 2011

12. ON TARGET
Implementation
• The hardest part of
implementation is the
details
Performance
measurement and
management
Program and project
management
Budgets
Personnel
Ongoing learning and
readjustment
Bryson, 2011

13. ON TARGET
Implementation
“Leadership is the inspiration and
mobilization of others to undertake collective
action in pursuit of the common good.”
Crosby & Bryson, 2005
“Leaders’ influence will turn on their own
qualities of
character, expertise, prestige, intelligence, ch
arm and credibility, but these will have little
impact unless they engage the relevant needs
and motivations of the persons being
influenced.
James McGregor Burns, 1978
Bryson, 2011

14. ON TARGET
Effective Strategic Management
Requires:
Understanding the
context
Understanding the people
involved, including
oneself
Sponsoring the process
Championing the process
Facilitating the process
Fostering collective
leadership
Bryson, 2011

15. ON TARGET
Effective Strategic Management
Requires:
Using dialogue and discussion to create a
meaningful process, clarify mandates,
articulate mission, identify strategic
issues, develop effective strategies, and
possibly develop a vision of success
Making and implementing decisions in
arenas
Enforcing rules, setting disputes, and
managing residual conflicts
Putting it all together
Bryson, 2011

16. ON TARGET
Context
• Appreciate history but
don’t get bogged down
• Tailor the process to fit
• Know when to go big
or choose smaller
objectives.
Bryson, 2011

17. ON TARGET
Understand the Participants
Understand and
appreciate diversity
and commonality.
Develop strength of
character and insight.
Understand the
competencies.
Bryson, 2011

18. ON TARGET
Sponsor the Process
Articulate the purpose and importance of the
strategic planning effort.
Commit the necessary resources to the effort.
Emphasize at the beginning and at critical points
that action and change will result.
Encourage and reward creative thinking,
constructive debate, and multiple sources of input
and insight.
Be aware of the possible need for outside
consultants.
Be willing to exercise power and authority to keep
the process on track.
Bryson, 2011

19. ON TARGET
Champion the Process
Keep strategic planning high on people’s
agendas
Attend to the process without promoting
specific solutions.
Think about what has to come together
(people, tasks, information, reports) at or
before key decision points.
Organize the time, space, materials, and
participation needed for the process to
succeed.
Pay attention to the languages used to
describe strategic planning and
implementation.
Keep pushing the process along.
Bryson, 2011

20. ON TARGET
Facilitate the Process
Know the strategic planning process, and
explain how it works at the beginning and
at many points along the way.
Tailor the process to the organization and
to the group involved.
Convey a sense of humor and enthusiasm
for the process and help groups get
unstuck.
Press groups toward taking action and
assigning responsibility for specific
actions.
Congratulate people whenever possible.
Bryson, 2011

21. ON TARGET
Foster Collective Leadership
Rely on teams.
Focus on network and
coalition development.
Establish specific
mechanisms for sharing
power, responsibility,
and accountability.
Bryson, 2011

22. ON TARGET
Meaningful Dialogues
Understand the design and use of forums.
Seize opportunities to provide interpretation
and give direction in difficult and uncertain
situations.
Reveal and name real needs and real
conditions.
Help followers frame and reframe issues and
strategies.
Offer compelling visions of the future.
Champion new and improved ideas for
addressing strategic issues.
Detail actions and expected consequences.
Bryson, 2011

23. ON TARGET
Decision Arenas
Understand the design and use
of arenas.
Mediate and shape conflict
within and among stakeholders.
Understand the dynamics of
political influence and how to
target resources appropriately.
Build winning, sustainable
coalitions.
Avoid bureaucratic
imprisonment.
Bryson, 2011

24. ON TARGET
Norms, Disputes & Conflict
Understand the design and use
of formal and informal courts.
Foster organizational integrity
and educate others about ethics,
constitutions, laws, and norms.
Apply constitutions, laws, and
norms to specific cases.
Adapt constitutions, laws, and
norms to changing times.
Resolve conflicts among
constitutions, laws, and norms.
Bryson, 2011

25. ON TARGET
Virtual Teams
• Establish regular group
interaction
• Firm rules for communication
• Use visual forms of
communication where
possible
• Imitate the attributes of
co-located teams
• Give and receive regular
feedback & assistance
• Agree on technology
standards
Source: Krietner/Kinicki, 2009 Bryson, 2011

26. ON TARGET
Virtual Teams
• Use 360-degree feedback to better
understand and evaluate team members
• Provide a virtual meeting room via
intranet, web site, or bulletin board
• Note which employees effectively use
e-mail to build team rapport
• Smooth the way for an employee’s next
assignment if membership on the
team, or the team itself is not permanent
• Be available to employees, but don’t
wait for them to seek you out
• Encourage informal, off-line
conversations between team members
Source: Krietner/Kinicki, 2009 Bryson, 2011

27. ON TARGET
Bring It All Together
“Planning is the organization of hope.”
--Stephen Blum
“Usually, the main problem with life
conundrums is that we don’t bring to them
enough imagination.”
--Thomas Moore
“Never doubt that a small group of
committed citizens can change the world.
Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
--Margaret Mead
Bryson, 2011

28. ON TARGET
Bring It All Together
"The companies that survive longest are
the one's that work out what they
uniquely can give to the world—not just
growth or money but their excellence,
their respect for others, or their ability to
make people happy.
— Charles Handy
"You've got to think about big things
while you're doing small things, so that
all the small things go in the right
direction.“
— Alvin Toffler
Bryson, 2011