Week 4 Check-In Draft

For the Week 4 Draft, you’ll submit a draft of Sections II – VI ONLY (see below).  This will help ensure your paper is on track and that the instructors can help you correct course if need be. There's no page limit, but the Week 4 check-in draft is typically around 6 – 10 pages, submitted as a Word document.

Strategic Plan Project Final Assignment

This experiential learning assignment will allow you to gain firsthand experience in developing an organizational strategic plan.  For the organization you have chosen to focus on this term, you will help prepare a developmental strategic plan. Although you will not be able to fully participate in the full strategic planning experience, your task this term is to provide a document that provides useful information for the organization to begin their strategic planning process.

The Strategic Plan Summary Document will be the deliverable for this project, and it will contain the following sections:

I.  Executive Summary: Less than one page discussing what you will present in the analysis.

II.  Introduction: Introduce the purpose of the analysis. Describe the overall role of strategic planning in public and non-profit sectors.

III.  Brief history of organization/mission statement: Introduce the organization, its historical context, mission and purpose. Include the current mission statement and assess it in light of Bryson’s guidelines (the 6 questions). If the mission statement does not conform to these guidelines, rewrite the mission statement for the organization.

IV.  List of formal and informal mandates: Identify the externally imposed formal and informal mandates placed on the organization. Include legislative, federal, existing organizational rules, regulations and policies and informal mandates. Discuss their impact to the organization’s planning process.

V.  Identification of stakeholders both internal and external: Identify the stakeholders who aid in the collection of data on the organization. Stakeholders should be both internal and external to the organization (identify them specifically). Do not just list them – provide an explanation of why you selected them. 

VI.  Proposed members of the strategic planning team: Provide a list of who should be on a strategic planning team (which is different than stakeholders). Include why these particular individuals should be involved. Base your choices on what you’ve learned in your readings.

 Format: Double spaced;  You must use sub-headings as appropriate (i.e. as a minimum, use the ones provided in these guidelines).  Incorporate and correctly reference your readings and research in the paper.