Barriers To Strategic Planning

What are the major barriers to agreement in the strategic planning process? Provide an explanation for your response.

O’Regan and Ghobadian list several barriers in the strategic planning process, among them; “Communication was inadequate”, “Overall goals of strategy were not well enough understood by staff “, and “Crises distracted attention from implementation” (2007, Table 5). These are all barriers to agreement within the process. In addition, goals of various stakeholders may differ. “Some departments argue that there is simply not enough money or time to devote to strategic planning in order to achieve the results expected by top-level officials”(Franklin, 2003, p.544). Finally, in public organizations, strategic planning will be affected by the political process and it's “different concerns. Chief among them is the effect of a change in administration. As this quote suggests, uncertainty fosters a wait and see attitude: 'People are thinking about the 3 year [strategic plan update submission] cycle. When the plan is due, it will be less than two months before the new administration. The new administration may want a different plan'” (Franklin, 2003, p.543)

Suggest at least three strategies to overcome these major barriers to agreement. Explain how your strategies will help in overcoming the major barriers.

Team building is one strategy to overcome barriers to agreement. “Strategic planning works best when it is a team effort and involves team members from all levels of the organization. Team building is more effective when the team works on real tasks that have meaning for the organization” (Kormanski, 1999, p. 5)

A second strategy is the formalization of the strategic planning organization across all participating agencies. “The primary purpose of a strategic planning entity is to designate authority and responsibility to make data-driven decisions for the criminal justice system in its jurisdiction” (Archer, Neusteter, & Lachman, 2012, p. 3). Clear recognition of pertinent stakeholders reduces static from irrelevant “stakeholders”.

Finally fore planning is important to avoid crecive change and the resources it draws away from the strategic planning process. “Organizations with a weak strategic planning culture will likely tend to be dominated by crisis management”(Wasilewski & Motamedi, 2007, p. 232)

Archer, J., Neusteter, S., & Lachman, P. (2012). Improving strategic planning through collaborative bodies. Urban Institute: Justice Policy Center. Retrieved September 21, 2014 from http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412542-Improving-Strategic-Planning-through-Collaborative-Bodies.pdf

Franklin, A., & Long, E. (2003). THE challenge of changing federal management processes: Implementation barriers relating to strategic planning and the Government Performance and Results Act. International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior, 6(4), 534-552. Retrieved February 11, 2015 from http://search.proquest.com/docview/212064687?accountid=87314 

 

Kormanski, C. (1999). Team building for strategic planning. Counseling and Human Development, 31(7), 1. Retrieved February 11, 2015 from http://search.proquest.com/docview/206850280?accountid=87314 

 

Wasilewski, N., & Motamedi, K. (2007). Insights for effective strategic planning. Competition Forum, 5(1), 229–235. Retrieved January 26, 2015 from http://search.proquest.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/docview/214852513?pq-origsite=summon