Strategic Planning
Units: 12
This course emphasizes strategic planning processes and focusses on setting strategic objectives and developing strategies for implementing those objectives. The course teaches students the building blocks of strategic planning and introduces students to the contested theories of how to develop and implement plans. The content of the course includes exploring the basic concepts used in strategic planning; distinguishing between operational matters (organisational effectiveness) and strategic matters (leadership); analysing the organisations internal and external environments; and achieving alignment between them. A considerable amount of time is spent on developing skills to frame issues correctly so that strategic plans address the organisation's true needs. Finally, the course addresses implementation issues, particularly those requiring change management. Students are encouraged to draw upon skills acquired in other areas, such as finance, marketing, organization management etc. in formulating the strategic plan. The assignments includes students forming teams of 4-6, with each team working on a strategic planning project with a Government agency or not-for-profit organization based in South Australia. The actual projects are sourced by the course instructor with students being able to lodge expressions of interest for their preferred project.
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
- Analyse the mandates, missions and values of any organisation
- Frame issues in a manner that allows them to be assessed as strategic
- Develop strategies
- Prepare implementation and change management plans.
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