Strategic Planning Efforts Research Articles

CSF Approach for IT Strategic Planning

Although the purpose of strategic planning is straightforward - to outline where an organization wants to go and how it’s going to get there - its nature is complex and dynamic. Two techniques, the critical success factor (CSF) method and future scenario planning, can augment strategic planning efforts by illuminating an organization’s present situation and potential future. This paper explores the value of enhancing typical strategic planning techniques with the CSF method and presents an integrated framework for helping organizations understand the broad range of interrelated elements that influence strategy development for Information Technology (IT). Critical success factors are defined as the handful of key areas where an organization must perform well on a consistent basis to achieve its mission. CSFs can be derived through a document review, analysis of the goals, objectives of key management personnel and interviews with individuals about their specific domain and the barriers they encounter in achieving their goals and objectives. The paper synthesizes documented theory and research in strategic planning and CSFs and provides insights and lessons regarding the value and limitations of the integrated strategic planning framework in the context of IT. Through a method of in-depth literature review and contextual analysis, the paper incorporates suggestions for future work which include: exploring the use of IT in unit-level planning and organizational strategic planning, creating an integrated strategic planning process and connecting CSFs directly to one another in the monitoring stages to support the integrated framework, for an holistic strategic planning process.

Leading Contributors to the Research Consortium's Annual Program, 1992–2011: High-Visibility Institutions, Researchers, and Topics

Between 1992–2011, peer-reviewed research on the Research Consortium's annual program has been published in abstract form in the Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. On the basis of frequency, high-visibility institutions, researchers, and sub-disciplinary categories were identified. Data were extracted from each abstract (N = 5,587). On average, 279 (SD = 39) abstracts were published annually. The highest visibility institution was Texas A&M University, College Station; individual researcher, Weimo Zhu; and sub-disciplinary area, Pedagogy. Twelve of the top 20 institutions identified in this study took part in the most recent ranking of doctoral programs conducted by the National Academy of Kinesiology, with the Spearman's rho correlation being .66. These results may inform the Research Consortium's and the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance's strategic planning efforts. Those interested in pursuing graduate degrees in the field and those who advise others about potential institutions and faculty mentors to study with may also benefit from this work. However, in doing so, a judicious interpretation of the results must be applied, as many factors should be considered when selecting a graduate program or mentor to study with, especially for those seeking research careers. Additional discussion points also emerged.

Transport planning for an Olympic Games

Hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the biggest and most prestigious sporting events in the world, is a privilege for any city. London, of course, is special for becoming the first city to hold the modern Games three times. But as previous Games have demonstrated, the privilege comes with great responsibility. Nobody wants the London Games to be remembered because elite athletes were held up in traffic jams and missed their events. This paper sets out to show that, in terms of transport planning, the responsibility has been taken extremely seriously. Strategic and detailed transport planning effort has been undertaken over a period of ten years.

Population Risk Factors and Trends in Health Care and Public Policy

Many factors affect the current and future practice of dietetics in the United States. This article provides an overview of the most important population risk factors and trends in health care and public policy that are anticipated to affect the current dietetics workforce and future of dietetics training and practice. It concludes with an overview of the state of the current workforce, highlighting the opportunities and challenges it will face in the future. Demographic shifts in the age and racial/ethnic composition of the US population will be a major determinant of future the dietetics profession because a growing population of older adults with chronic health conditions will require additional medical nutrition therapy services. Dietetics practitioners will work with an increasingly diverse population, which will require the ability to adapt existing programs and services to culturally diverse individuals and communities. Economic factors will affect not only the type, quantity, and quality of food available in homes, but also how health care is delivered, influencing future roles of registered dietitians (RDs) and dietetic technicians, registered (DTRs). As health care services consume a larger percentage of federal and corporate expenditures, health care agencies will continue to look for ways to reduce costs. Health promotion and disease prevention efforts will likely play a larger role in health care services, thus creating many opportunities for RDs and DTRs in preventive care and wellness. Increasingly, dietetics services will be provided in more diverse settings, such as worksites, community health centers, and home-care agencies. To address population-based health care and nutrition priorities effectively, dietetics practice will need to focus on appropriate evidence-based intervention approaches and targets. The workforce needs to be skilled in the delivery of culturally competent interventions across the lifespan, for all population groups, and across all levels of the social-ecological model for primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention. Because there is an assumption that the dietetics profession will experience rates of attrition of 2% to 5% based on historical workforce data, an important consideration is that the current dietetics workforce is limited in terms of diversity. An increasingly diverse population will demand a more diverse dietetic workforce, which will only be achieved through a more focused effort to recruit, train, and retain practitioners from a variety of racial, ethnic, social, and cultural backgrounds. In addition, the geographic distribution of RDs and DTRs must be addressed through strategic planning efforts related to dietetics training to provide access to and delivery of services to meet population needs. Furthermore, the health care workforce is projected to bifurcate as a result of growth in demand for the "frontline workforce" that works in direct patient contact. This bifurcation will require the dietetics profession to consider new practice roles and the level of education and training required for these roles in relation to how much the health care delivery system is willing and able to pay for services. There are many challenges and opportunities for the dietetics workforce to address the changing population risk factors and trends in health care and public policy by working toward intervention targets across the social-ecological model to promote health, prevent disease, and eliminate health disparities. Addressing nutrition-related health needs, including controlling costs and improving health outcomes, and the demands of a changing population will require careful research and deliberation about new practice roles, integration in health care teams, workforce supply and demand, and best practices to recruit and retain a diverse workforce.

Strategic planning: a practical guide to strategy formulation and execution

In this book, an expert in business strategy shows how to create and evaluate a strategic plan and execute that plan successfully. * Concrete examples and case studies * Templates and samples of materials used in various public- and private-sector strategic planning efforts * A bibliography of resource materials about strategic thinking, strategy formulation, strategic planning, and strategy execution

Using Bird Strike Information to Direct Effective Management Actions within Airport Environments

Author(s): Pitlik, Todd J.; Washburn, Brian E. | Abstract: Wildlife-aircraft collisions (wildlife strikes) pose a serious safety risk to aircraft. Many bird species, especially gulls, are very difficult to manage within airport environments as many traditional methods (e.g., trap and remove from the airport) can be relatively ineffective due to the birds’ various activities on airports (e.g., feeding, loafing, and flying). Such challenges have greatly impacted the Los Angeles International Airport and the Van Nuys Airport, as documented through historical bird strike records collected since 1990. Using information contained in these bird strike records, USDA APHIS Wildlife Services personnel conducted strategic planning efforts to reduce the risk of bird strikes. Since 2009, efforts have been made to improve the quality of wildlife strike reporting at Los Angeles World Airports facilities through the distribution of bird strike collection kits to airline maintenance offices, subcontract aircraft maintenance companies, and Airside Operations personnel. These kits are intended to facilitate an increase in wildlife strike reporting and the number of wildlife strikes identified to the species level. Following intensive management efforts that included trapping and removal of doves (i.e., rock pigeons, mourning doves), bird strikes by these species have decreased significantly at these airports. Airport-specific integrated wildlife damage management programs at airports that use bird strike information to guide management activities toward problem species have great potential for reducing the risk of bird strikes.

Future planning for capacity in plant pathology

We are all familiar with the three constants of life: death, taxes ? and strategic planning. As professionals, we are frequently getting involved in developing vision statements, strategies for change, action plans, performance indicators, impact metrics, review processes and so on. Strategic planning goes in cycles. At the national level we are now engaged in a new exercise, setting broad directions for the future of rural research and, in particular, biosecurity science. This is likely to impact on the future of professionals in microbiology and beyond. As always with these exercises, it is the ?journey? rather than the ?destination? that is important, as it enables us to take stock and reflect on where we are heading in terms of future capacity. This paper outlines some of these planning activities and earlier findings, with a focus on future capacity in plant pathology, but the lessons apply to all readers of this journal. It is important that members of the Australian Society for Microbiology (ASM) and other professional societies engage in these strategic planning efforts to shape our own future.

From the Editors

This last issue of 2011 has a focus on transportation and hurricane-related risks. We begin with four transportation risk articles. In a perspective piece, Michael Greenberg, Karen Lowrie, Henry Mayer, and Tayfur Altiok, with support from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, assess threats and a set of strategies and decision support tools for protecting rail systems against effects that cascade from the rail system into the larger environments, thereby potentially undermining regional economies. Brett Dickey and Joost Santos examine the important question of how best to deploy limited safety service patrols to protect transportation infrastructure. Their simulations support the idea of flexible rather than predetermined deployments. Using Singapore as an example, Qiang Meng and colleagues study how to reduce risk in critically important tunnels. They compute an excess risk index that points to limiting tunnel size and use. Supported by the Korea Research Foundation, Ik Jae Chung shows the significant role of the Internet in amplifying risk-related information through every branch of the media. Dr. Chung illustrates this idea by looking at public concern about risks from a high-speed railway tunnel project in South Korea. Two articles are about hurricane risk. The EIC wrote this editorial a week after Hurricane Irene dumped 7 inches of rain on New Jersey in late August. The hurricane knocked out the power for about 750,000 people in New Jersey and many in adjacent states, leading to assorted charges of negligence against the utilities. What could the utilities have done? Roshanak Nateghi, Seth Guikema, and Steven Quiring compare statistical approaches for estimating power outage durations during hurricanes. It is clear that SRA members can assist utilities and government regulators by estimating the consequences of storms in ways that would improve strategic planning efforts. Optimistic bias is widely observed in public health and increasingly in related disciplines. Craig Trumbo, Michelle Lueck, Holly Marlatt, and Lori Peek study optimistic bias associated with proximity to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Age, community tenure, and dispositional optimism are predictors, but notably proximity to the events is not. The five remaining articles address familiar risk-related topics. Funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA scientists Vernon Benignus, Philip Bushnell, and William Boyes develop a process to understand the potential for auto accidents caused by inhalational of ethanol fumes in gasoline. They suggest that the likelihood of a fatal car crash increases with acute exposure to organic solvent vapors at concentrations less than 1 ppm, and that their modeling approach could also be applied to estimating other consequences of acute exposure to solvents, including nonfatal car crashes, property damage, and workplace accidents. Nicolas Bronfman and Esperanza Lopez Vazquez examine the relative strength of perceived benefits and trust among undergraduate students in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, the United States, and Spain across a set of issues. The authors find that perceived benefits mediate perception of trust and acceptability. David Clifford and colleagues develop a model to track mites that invade honeybee columns. The authors report that increasing the number of hives and the efficiency of the detection method are the most effective means of decreasing detection time. Hormesis is a widely observed and debated phenomenon with notable implications for risk assessment. Supported by a U.S. NIH grant, Holger Dette, Andrey Pepelyshev, and Weng Kee Wong propose and evaluate a set of models for estimating parameters and variables associated with hormesis. Prior to the Fukushima events, during the period 1976–2004, Fumihiro Yamane, Hideaki Ohgaki, and Kota Asano conducted a hedonic land price analysis around the nuclear power plants in the Mutsu-Ogawara Region, Japan. The authors find little evidence of positive increases in land values and they discuss variations by facility.

Entrepreneurial behavior in family firms: A replication study

This study examines the entrepreneurial behavior of family firms by replicating a study undertaken in 2006 by Kellermanns and Eddleston [Kellermanns, F. W., & Eddleston, K. A. (2006). Corporate Entrepreneurship in Family Firms: A Family Perspective, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Vol. 30, pp. 809–830.]. Employing an extended replication-approach by applying a different national sample ( n = 413) from Austria, the relations between four distinct factors – willingness to change, generational involvement, perceived technological opportunities, and strategic planning – and the entrepreneurial behavior of family firms are examined, with the goal to extend the generalization of the original study's findings. Compared to the original study, the replication's results coincide in most parts. However, regarding the relation between strategic planning efforts and entrepreneurial behavior, the replication provides new insights into the entrepreneurial behavior of family firms by stressing the importance of considering organizational size in family-firm research. Accordingly, strategic planning in small family firms seems to comprise a certain ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ that directly influences the extent of their entrepreneurial behavior.

Global Telecommunications Security: Effects of Geomagnetic Disturbances

Global information and communication technologies permeate organizational structures, while questions of security pervade strategic plans of corporations worldwide. From the spectacular to the sublime, the effects of geomagnetic disturbances (i.e., electrical current produced by solar storms) can be as devastating to an organizationâ??s telecommunications systems as a hacker breaching a firewall. Using a dataset spanning 31 years (1978-2009) with 580,000 solar activity records, we investigate the effects and relationships of natural anomalies, specifically solar storms, on the security of corporate telecommunications. The ionosphere is a natural barrier around the earth to protect it from the sun and serve as a shield, but some electrical currents break this barrier causing significant telecommunications outages and security breaches within corporations. In this exploratory empirical study, we present the initial evidence that tracking geomagnetic disturbances can provide vital cautions for business continuity planning. The results of the study should help organizations with strategic planning efforts with respect to their overall security, especially as it relates to telecommunications.

Developing a Multidisciplinary Model of Comparative Effectiveness Research Within a Clinical and Translational Science Award

The Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) were initiated to improve the conduct and impact of the National Institutes of Health's research portfolio, transforming training programs and research infrastructure at academic institutions and creating a nationwide consortium. They provide a model for translating research across disciplines and offer an efficient and powerful platform for comparative effectiveness research (CER), an effort that has long struggled but enjoys renewed hope under health care reform. CTSAs include study design and methods expertise, informatics, and regulatory support; programs in education, training, and career development in domains central to CER; and programs in community engagement.Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and Montefiore Medical Center have entered a formal partnership that places their CTSA at a critical intersection for clinical and translational research. Their CTSA leaders were asked to develop a strategy for enhancing CER activities, and in 2010 they developed a model that encompasses four broadly defined "compartments" of research strength that must be coordinated for this enterprise to succeed: evaluation and health services research, biobehavioral research and prevention, efficacy studies and clinical trials, and social science and implementation research.This article provides historical context for CER, elucidates Einstein-Montefiore's CER model and strategic planning efforts, and illustrates how a CTSA can provide vision, leadership, coordination, and services to support an academic health center's collaborative efforts to develop a robust CER portfolio and thus contribute to the national effort to improve health and health care.

Living the Plan: Strategic Planning Aligned with Practice and Assessment

The purpose of this article is to provide leaders of continuing education enterprises with an integrated model for sustaining strategic planning initiatives. Global economic conditions, shifting competitive forces, continuing calls for accountability, and dramatic changes in institutional funding streams contribute to an environment characterized by both opportunity and challenges. These shifts in the landscape of American higher education increasingly elevate strategic planning efforts to high levels of importance, and continuing education leaders can benefit from planning models that integrate mission and vision-based initiatives with practice and continuous assessment. The authors provide a model designed to move beyond the traditional strategic planning processes by aligning strategic planning initiatives with continuing higher education practice, employee performance, and outcomes assessment. This proposed model will assist leaders engaged in strategic planning efforts in attaining identified goals and outcomes.

Drivers of Corporate Social Responsibility: the Role of Formal Strategic Planning and Firm Culture

Scholars have paid considerable attention to studying the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and firm performance. Yet, little empirical research demonstrates what actually shapes or drives CSR. This paper builds a case that formal strategic planning is one such driver in that it creates awareness of and formulates responses to stakeholder demands for CSR. However, exploring single variable relationships is problematic, as other important endogenous factors need to be considered in explaining CSR. Specifically, firm culture is identified as influencing a firm's orientation towards the responsible treatment of stakeholders. One such cultural factor, humanistic culture, is argued to have a positive effect on CSR. By studying a sample of heterogeneous firms in Australia, results demonstrate that a formal strategic planning effort is positively linked to CSR. Further, a humanistic culture positively impacts CSR, after accounting for a firm's formal planning efforts.

Flight Delay Propagation Impact on Strategic Air Traffic Flow Management

Despite recent decreases in air traffic, congestion is still at higher levels than it was several years ago. Because of this congestion and expected increases in traffic, strategic planning for daily operations in the air traffic system has taken on an increasingly important role. Weather typically has a strong influence in developing such plans, as it leads to degraded airport and airspace capacity, which in turn causes delays. However, many reported delays are induced by these initial effects. Thus, it is essential to understand the scope and impact of propagation of flight delays in a strategic setting. In this paper, delay propagation is examined over several years in spatial and temporal terms. Two models, each incorporating different levels of fidelity and flexibility, are applied in an effort to examine this phenomenon. The first model tracks individual aircraft as they operate several flights and explicitly separates the new delay from the propagated delay. The second model operates at a higher level by relating earlier and later delays at several airports. Results identifying the various impacts of delay propagation are reported for several airports and scenarios, and recommendations are made for incorporating these models and their output into strategic planning efforts.

Insights from enterprise assessment: How to analyze LESAT results for enterprise transformation

Due to the growing recognition of the importance of plasticity and adaptability in organizations, many enterprise leaders have sought to integrate transformation processes and continuous improvement goals into strategic planning efforts. Assessment tools provide the necessary insights to support and guide enterprise level transformation efforts. They contribute a multitude of information, including the current state of the organization, strengths and weakness, and team cohesion and prioritized needs; all of which assist in planning and guiding ongoing transformation efforts. In this paper, we examine a specific assessment tool LESAT, the Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool, and associated ways of analyzing and interpreting assessment results in order to drive the transformation process. The insights draw from a combination of strategies including developing measurement tools, experiences collecting data, facilitating self-assessment exercises, and interpreting results in support of transformation planning. In addition, we examine common mistakes and threats to validity that may undermine or hurt the assessment analysis. This paper is designed to aid practitioners in choosing the most beneficial interpretation strategies to gain the greatest possible benefit from their assessment process.

Integrating values and risk perceptions into a decision support system

One of the thorniest challenges to effective wildland fire management is integration of public perceptions and values into science-based adaptive management. One promising alternative is incorporation of public values into place-based decision support technologies that are accessible to lay citizens as well as to fire-management experts. A survey of individuals, including residents, fire and fuels managers, volunteer firefighters, and others living in or near four mountain areas of the US Southwest, identified a set of personal values and perceptions about wildland fire risk that could be spatially represented in a geographic information science-based decision support system designed for wildland fire strategic planning efforts. We define values, in this context, as phenomena that are not necessarily quantifiable but that strongly attract and connect individuals for whatever reasons to particular areas. Inclusion of this type of information into interactive decision tools for fire management may contribute to improved understanding and finer-scale spatial visualisation of public perceptions of fire risk. The integration of such factors in decision support tools offers opportunities for improving interactions between managers and the public involved in strategic planning processes for fire management.

Examining the interrelationships between supply chain integration scope and supply chain management efforts

In this article, we study the concept of supply chain integration scope by comparing firms that involve immediate supply chain partners in their strategic efforts (narrow supply chain scope) versus firms that involve supply chain partners beyond the immediate level, for example second tier suppliers and end customers (broad supply chain scope). By relying on Coordination Theory and expanding upon Frohlich and Westbrook's (2001) ‘arcs of integration’ principle, we propose that supply chain integration scope and the type of supply chain management efforts deployed by firms are correlated. We use data from a large sample of US and European firms to explore the association between supply chain integration scope and supply chain management efforts. The results show that supply chain integration scope can be predicted by a firm's supply chain management efforts. The implications of our results for practising managers are also offered. Our results suggest that supply chain managers should consider the practices identified in this study while deciding on the appropriate level of supply chain integration scope, i.e., which extended supply chain members to include in their strategic planning efforts.

Surge Capacity Volunteer Perspectives on a Field Training Exercise Specifically Designed to Emphasize Likely Roles During a Disaster Response

Experience gained from involvement in a number of emergency response activities since September 2001 in Texas indicated that the likely roles of statewide medical reserve corps units typically included aspects such as crowd control, registration and tracking, and information management. The need for training specifically focused on these likely roles became apparent. A novel field training exercise was developed that specifically focused on these likely roles. The exercise centered on a scenario involving the surreptitious placement of radioactivity in high traffic areas across the country, resulting in the contamination of large numbers of individuals. Because the source of the contamination was unknown, surge capacity contamination screening and data collection centers became necessary. Feedback collected from drill participants was measured to be overwhelmingly positive, with the vast majority of participants indicating a marked improvement in their understanding of their likely roles in a disaster of this type. The approach used in this training effort may be of use to other disaster surge capacity organizations as part of their strategic planning efforts as a means of ensuring that individuals involved in response activities possess familiarity with their likely roles during a wide scale public health disaster event.

Elizabeth King Eaton, 1943–2009

Elizabeth King Eaton, 1943–2009

Postcards From the Road

Postcards From the Road