Strategic & Business Plans
Strategic
& Business Planning
Strategic and
business planning can be described as "...the science or art of combining
and employing the resources of an enterprise in planning and directing large
activities and operations towards the enterprise's success." (Balanaves,
P.A. Strategic planning guide for self-managing schools p.2)
There
is no doubt that developing a strategic and business plan can be time-consuming
and demanding. However, experience has consistently shown that compared to
schools that did not develop a strategic and business plan, schools that did
develop such a plan prior to undertaking a new initiative, implementing a new
program or introducing change, have been significantly more successful in their
ventures.
The
Strategic and Business Plan Development Kit È
Vocational
Pathways has produced a Strategic and Business Plan Development Kit to
assist and guide schools through the various stages and processes. The Kit
comprises of a series of worksheets for each section of the plan, which schools
would complete in consultation with stakeholders. The Kit also contains
completed examples for each worksheet, based on our extensive experience in
working with schools. All worksheets are also available on disk and in a range
of word processor software formats.
Components of the Strategic & Business Plan Development Kit
The Rationale The need to be clear on the purpose and aims of an
initiative is of paramount importance. The rationale needs to be a clear
and concise statement identifying and justifying the initiative to be
undertaken. Ideally, the rationale would be developed in consultation
with the key stakeholders. Furthermore, it is vital that any claims,
conclusions and/or policy directions contained in the rationale, whether
they be implicit or explicit, should be able to be supported with relevant and
current data.
The Strategic Goals The rationale should provide clear directions
for determining the strategic goals. There is a need to be able to
demonstrate links between the strategic goals that are set and the rationale
that has been agreed upon.
The Operational Plan The operational plan documents detailed
information on the tasks, personnel, timeline and achievement indicators
relating to each strategic goal. It specifies what action needs to be
taken, who will be responsible
for taking that action, when the deadline is for completion and how you will know that
the strategic goal has been achieved.
The Financial Plan The financial plan serves two key purposes.
Firstly, it will enable the school to identify the approximate costs of
undertaking the initiative and how these costs plan to be, or are currently
been met. Secondly, the financial plan will enable the school to
identify any short or long term sustainability issues which then can be
addressed.
The Evaluation Plan The evaluation plan should enable schools to:
(a) Determine the extent to which the strategic goals are
actively being achieved.
(b) Conduct systematic investigations to assess and measure
the value of the initiative.
(c) Collect data to guide decision-making with respect to
continuous improvement.
(d) Meet requirements for accountability and reporting.
Schools
seeking assistance and/or resources regarding the processes for developing an evaluation
plan and conducting an evaluation should refer to the Evaluation
Tool Kit.
Please email
us for further information on strategic and business planning and/or the Strategic
& Business Plan Development Kit:
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Vocational Pathways Pty Ltd