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STRATEGIC PLANNING
Institutional
Vision and Strategy / Strategic Agenda
While no one can predict the future, every business, every
organization, every individual tries to anticipate changes
the future will bring and to prepare for them. Although change
has always been a constant, today, colleges and universities
are facing different customer expectations, shifting societal
attitudes, and new technological possibilities. Institutions-and
their leaders-must be flexible enough to see around the next
corner, nimble enough to jump over sudden obstacles, focused
enough to create opportunities, and decisive enough to seize
them. Effective strategic planning is a dynamic process of
defining priorities, implementing change, and evaluating results
to again redefine priorities.
Our approach to strategic planning centers on creating a
strategic context within which institutions can evaluate strengths
and weaknesses, identify opportunities, set priorities, and
frame and make decisions-gaining Strategic Traction®
(focus, direction, and alignment). Our work includes 5 stages:
- Process Design and Strategic Issue Identification
- Strategic Issue Analysis and Evaluation
- Strategic Agenda Development
- Operational Planning
- Implementation
The emphasis of Stage 1 is Focus, reaffirming mission and
articulating institutional vision. In Stages 2 and 3, the
emphasis shifts to Direction, defining options and evaluating
alternative strategies, leading to selection of a set of priorities
in the Strategic Agenda. Stages 4 and 5 shift again, to Alignment,
as operational planning and implementation address deployment
of resources and assignment of responsibility.
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Economic Framework
/ Capital Planning
Higher education institutions operate in an increasingly complex
financial environment. Small, independent colleges face enrollment
management, price and tuition discounting, and debt management
issues. Endowed institutions grapple with the investment return,
spending rule policy, and capital allocation issues. Public
universities encounter continued declines in legislative appropriations,
customer sensitivity to price increases, and a culture not
attuned to bottom-line performance. Small universities often
face the challenges of accommodating differentiated markets
served by different programs with different delivery styles
and venues within a single economy. Return on investments
and return on assets, once terms reserved for the business
world, are increasingly important as institutions allocate
resources to support mission management. Yet, for most college
and universities, the annual operating plan based on incremental
budgeting and in some cases, the capital facilities budget,
drives resource allocation. A more sophisticated strategy
is needed.
Our approach for building and sustaining an effective financial
framework and sound decision structure focuses on:
- building a full economic understanding of operating and
capital requirements
- calibrating commitments to create program and infrastructure
investment capital in the context of assumptions about replacement
and renewal cycles
It incorporates 6 steps:
- Identify economic drivers
- Understand current financial commitments
- Design a resource planning and allocation system based
on institution's economic environment, management philosophy,
and culture
- Focus on capital formation and availability of program
and infrastructure investment capital
- Model the interactions and interrelationships between
capital and operating decisions in a multi-year timeframe
- Manage both the balance sheet and operating budget
Our work combines research and analysis, scenario development,
and financial modeling to provide a baseline for future economic
planning and decisions.
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Technology
Vision and Strategy
The technology-planning environment for colleges and universities
has become extremely complicated, with aging transaction-based
computer systems, overtaxed networks, intranets and extranets,
and growing demand for instant access to electronic services
of all kinds. Shrinking lifecycles often create a sense of
playing technology catch-up among users and service providers
alike. No wonder IT administrators are up at night. Information
and learning technologies are powerful tools that can enable
colleges and universities to achieve their strategic goals.
Too often though, technology decisions are reactive or incremental,
made without the benefit of an institutional vision for the
role of technology or strategies for achieving that vision.
The result-skewed priorities and squandered resources.
Our support for technology planning centers upon creating
a strategic context within which institutions can set priorities,
and frame and make technology acquisition and deployment decisions-gaining
Strategic Traction® (focus, direction, and alignment).
Our work includes:
- Technology vision development
- Technology strategic planning
- Process design and implementation
- Web strategy
- E-commerce
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Financial Strategy
/ Business Models
Building a successful business model starts with a realistic
appraisal of markets, available resources, and strategies
for the productive use of assets. It requires institutions
to rationalize products, markets, pricing, and delivery channels;
develop a clear picture of direct costs, cost drivers, and
overhead; and translate that analysis into sound investment
and cost management decisions. Since many college and universities
have relied so heavily on the annual operating budget cycle
as their principal tool of financial planning, building a
successful business model requires new concepts and new tools
that emphasize the linkage between vision (focus), strategy
(direction), and resource allocation (alignment) to gain Strategic
Traction®.
Our approach, whether evaluating existing business models
and financial strategies or crafting new ones, incorporates
6 key steps:
- Defining strategic focus linked to mission and market
analysis and resource capabilities
- Assessing current assets and resources
- Building the business model
- Creating financial strategies; constructing capital and
operating budgets
- Assigning accountability for strategy
- Implementing strategies and monitoring results
Our work combines research and analysis, scenario development,
and financial modeling to provide a baseline for financial
planning and business model adjustments, and development of
business plans to execute revised business models.
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