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In between university level assessments, the BYU Library conducts internal reviews of each library department, describing its value to the library and university, and providing recommendations for improvement. The process used a team of library employees in departments not under review and an external reviewer to conduct the internal review. Using a case-study approach, the development of an internal review system, its meta-evaluation at the end of its first cycle, and the on-going efforts to improve the internal review process are described. Using a graduate level evaluation class followed by a task force, changes were made to the internal review process that has standardized assessment, allowed flexibility for each department, and solidified training for both the department under review and the review team. Each of the findings and recommended changes helped to address the internal review's first-round weaknesses and struggles. The result is a stronger, consistent process that provides additional training and guidance for each internal review. This article is a case study that describes a library wide process used by an academic library to describe the value of each department and to provide feedback for improvement between university reviews. The process engages all library employees as each department is reviewed and helps to create a culture of assessment. This article reviews the history and progress of a LIR to evaluate an academic library's value and to provide data for improvement. The process may be used or adapted by other libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study I investigated the involvement of top management and teachers in the strategic planning process in 5 district schools located in the Bulawayo Metropolitan Province guided by the Take Stock Analysis (TSA) model. The constructivist/interpretivist paradigm was the qualitative methodology adopted for the study using a case study research method. The participants were 5 education managers and 5 focus groups of 4 teachers, each purposively selected from each school as an in-depth analysis of the phenomenon was sought through face-to-face interviews. Interview data were inductively and thematically analysed while strategic plans provided were inspected using content analysis and supplemented with interview data. The findings were reported following the concept of strategic planning, the formulation, monitoring and evaluation process. The results reveal that some schools used the centralised or decentralised strategic planning process while others hired strategists with minimal involvement from the teachers and the top management of the school. I recommend that stakeholders are actively involved in the entire strategic planning process to enhance ownership and commitment at the operational level. Most importantly, joint periodic evaluations are needed for modification purposes and relevance.

As centers for teaching and learning increasingly offer support and leadership for the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) at their institutions, educational developers need better tools to plan their SoTL programming. This article shares the work of a regional network of educational developers across six institutions in Virginia, who aimed to enhance SoTL offerings within and across their institutions. While SoTL tools and models for individual instructors proliferate, this community of practice noted a gap in support for developers doing more institution-level planning. Through their collaboration, they developed two tools for planning and launching institution-level SoTL programs: the SoTL Strategic Planning Worksheet and the SoTL Program Taxonomy. This article describes the development of these tools and assesses their implications for educational development practice.

Great organizations have a clear sense of what they want to accomplish and how they are going to get there. For state boards of education, this vision and roadmap are typically articulated in a strategic plan. The best plans are living documents that guide state board actions or multiple years; lesser plans gather dust. What separates the two? The answer lies partly in what the plan includes, partly in the process by which state boards arrive at the plan, and in large measure by what happens after the state board approves the plan.

This article studied and analyzed the reality of the domestic tourism sector in Russia by using the strategic planning approach. First, the current situation of the tourism sector in Russia was studied. Then the concept of domestic tourism and strategic planning was discussed. Then, a group of works and studies by Russian and foreign authors on the reality of the domestic tourism sector and strategic planning were analyzed. Then the environmental profile method was used to identify the internal and external factors affecting the domestic tourism sector and were evaluated based on a group of studies by Russian and foreign authors. A SWOT matrix was created based on the results of the environmental profile method. Based on the intersection of SWOT matrix factor pairs, development strategies for the domestic tourism sector in Russia were formulated. In conclusion, the authors made some recommendations about the measures that the domestic tourism sector needs based on the results, which must be implemented within the proposed strategies. This study can help researchers in literary works and understand the reality of domestic tourism in Russia in light of the new policies and sanctions imposed on Russia.

Since agriculture is an important sector of the Russian economy, the problem of lack of capital in this industry is still relevant. The article shows that the effective functioning of agricultural enterprises in modern conditions of a dynamic and rapidly changing business environment in the long term depends on the development of new and more advanced approaches to investment planning. The problem of the study is related to the absence or imperfection of strategic management of investment policy at many enterprises in the agricultural sector, which leads to their difficult financial situation, slows down their development and reduces competitiveness. The main purpose of the presented research is to form proposals for improving the strategic planning model by developing and implementing investment strategies of enterprises of the agro-industrial complex (hereinafter referred to as AIC). In the course of the study, a review of domestic and foreign literature has been conducted reflecting the issues of the investment planning. Within the framework of the modern approach to the problem, the following research methods are used in the article: literature analysis, classification, comparative analysis, description, observation, and statistical method. Special attention in the methodology is paid to the digital transformation of the investment activity of the AIC in Russia and the world. The author substantiates that the modern strategy of attracting investments in the AIC enterprises should radically differ from previous approaches and be implemented with consideration to the development of the information technology market. It is necessary that this approach facilitates the transition of the Russian AIC to the formats of “Agriculture 4.0” and “Agriculture 5.0”.

Strategic planning's popularity in public organizations cannot be denied, with legislative initiatives even making it mandatory for certain public organizations. Due to strategic planning's continued popularity in practice, recent years have seen a surge in research on the topic. A synthesis of said research is necessary to identify empirical, conceptual, theoretical, and methodological challenges that remain to be tackled. Drawing from a systematic review of 75 studies through a Strategy-as-Practice lens, this paper contributes to public management theory, research, and practice in three significant ways. First, it provides a structured synthesis and integration of a growing and disparate body of literature, offering a roadmap for future research on strategic planning in public organizations. Second, it proposes a middle-range theoretical framework that captures the complex and dynamic nature of strategic planning in public organizations, providing insight into how strategic planning is conducted and why it may or may not work in certain contexts. Finally, it offers practical relevance for public managers and other public professionals by providing an overview of the various strategic planning choices available and how to optimize them according to their unique contexts and desired outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic planning is the deliberative, disciplined effort to produce decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does, and why. [State] Cooperative Extension invested considerable time and effort in conducting a statewide process to engage internal and external stakeholders and nonusers. The strategic planning steering committee balanced negotiations in defining the process, determining who should be involved, and how to develop goals. The semi-structured interviews with the steering committee members, generated three themes: effectiveness of the team enhanced results; context and process can inhibit stakeholder participation, the steering committee needs a commitment to diverse voices.

This study aimed to scrutinize the implementations based on the strategic planning of Ankara Provincial Directorate of National Education, Turkey. The participants of the study comprised 516 branch managers, chiefs and civil servants in Ankara Provincial Directorate of National Education. The data were collected via a structured questionnaire comprising four parts using five-point Likert-type scale. The first part focused on the identity information, the second part dealt with the strategic planning elements of the Ankara Provincial Directorate of National Education, the third part was on strategic planning for targeted questions, and the last part aimed to collect data on the official system of the directorate of national education in general. The data were analyzed via frequency and percentage, and Kay-square tests. The results were classified in accordance with the titles of the participants and could be stated as follows: Deputy directors, education supervisors, chiefs, and civil servants agreed on the statement "moderate level"; branch managers assumed that the strategic planning as "legal obligations"; civil servants and provincial deputy directors were of the opinion that the strategic plans were not implemented exactly, and branch managers believed that the prepared strategic plans were exactly implemented.

The authors of this article identify the status of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria and propose the use of a classic strategic planning paradigm to mitigate its spread until it may be completely arrested. Vaccines have been developed to combat the disease which current evidence suggests is spread by respiratory droplets among people who are in close contact with each other (WHO, 2020). But this presumed mode of transmission has led to concerns in the scientific and medical communities about the disastrous effects the virus may have on the African continent which has historically lagged the rest of the world in the delivery of quality health care especially for some of the most vulnerable populations like children under 5 years of age. This article provides information regarding the contemporary health care situation in Nigeria for such vulnerable populations, analyzes the current impact of COVID-19, and recommends a successful strategic planning paradigm to address similar catastrophic health experiences in the future.

Purpose: Higher education institutions (HEIs) must take on a leadership role in building a sustainable world, given their responsibility for preparing future professionals and leaders worldwide and considering the role they provide to society. To accomplish this goal, HEIs need to holistically embody sustainability in everything they develop. This study aims to help HEIs in this purpose by developing a method to integrate sustainability into the strategic planning process in these institutions. Design/methodology/approach: In the first stage, the method was developed based on papers selected through a systematic literature review. The proposed method was then applied in a Brazilian HEI to validate and adjust it. Findings: A method that adopts a participatory process to integrate sustainability into HEIs' strategic planning was proposed. Practical implications: This study provides university leaders with a simple and practical method to aid with elaborating on strategic plans for holistic sustainability integration. Originality/value: This study uniquely applied a framework called "HEIs sustainability action archetypes" as the foundation for selecting sustainable objectives, goals and actions to be integrated into these institutions' strategic planning.

This paper describes the innovative approach of using liberating structures to the development of the AUR 2023 strategic plan, and lessons learned in their application. The 2023 strategic plan built on the results and approach of the prior 2015 plan. Similar to the 2015 strategic plan, traditional tools such as a SWOT analysis and strategic retreat were used. In addition, the 2023 process included tools called liberating structures and was iteratively co-produced through a series of virtual meetings over 18 months. Advantages of liberating structures included increased creativity and speed in moving through meeting tasks, increased number of meaningful contributions from AUR members and increased engagement from participants during discussions and meetings. The 2023 AUR strategic plan is provided along with examples of completed goals and those under early implementation. Lessons learned from using these tools for strategic planning can be applied to other society and group meetings. Moving forward, the 2023 strategic plan will be a living document, which will be reviewed at each Board of Directors meeting and periodically adapted., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest Competing interest statement: Hanna Zafar is on the AUR Board of Directors. James Rawson is on the Academic Radiology editorial Board. Otherwise, the authors have no competing interests to declare., (Copyright © 2024 The Association of University Radiologists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study is aimed at analyzing trends of gender equity in admission and graduation, during the twenty years (2000-2020) of higher education (HE) strategic planning in Mozambique, to ascertain the extent to which gender equity is being achieved. I also examined a possible association between admission and graduation rates. To address these trends, I adopted a basic research design with three characteristics: quantitative, descriptive, and correlational. The sample consisted of the entire population of students, from public and private higher education institutes. The main conclusions are: (1) male students outnumber female ones, in admission and graduation although in 2011 and 2018 female students outnumbered slightly male ones. This means that the system fails to promote gender equity in both dimensions; and (2) there is a statistically significance (at [less than or equal to] 0.05) and strong relationship between admission and graduation, meaning that the normal flow of students is under the risk of system congestion since graduation rates are about 63.7% of new admission. The study recommends legal effort to rule gender equity achievements as well to revise admission policy to make it more sensitive to gender equity.

Due to the minimal role of statutory city-regional planning in Finland, the Finnish state promotes inter-municipal, integrated planning of land-use, housing and transportation in the biggest city regions by a strategic planning instrument and a contractual policy tool called MAL procedure. MAL procedure includes MAL agreements, where the central government agrees to fund transportation infrastructure, while the municipalities in the city-regions commit to certain planning principles. MAL policy has advanced sustainability goals in planning, but it has also been argued to be prone to legitimacy problems as MAL negotiations take place behind the backs of citizens. The article discusses the structure of the MAL policy, assessing the ways in which this structure supports the legitimacy of the policy. It focuses on the interplay of strategic and communicative rationalities in the MAL procedure, starting from the observation that the theorists of strategic planning have focused predominately on communicative rationality as the legitimacy basis of planning. This paper aims to show that from a broader, structural perspective, both rationalities – and the way in which they interact – have a role in maintaining the legitimacy of planning. The article builds on theoretical studies and interviews with actors engaged in the MAL procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic plans are more participatory, more responsive, more integrated and more empowering when compared to the traditional plans. It has been nearly 20 years since the Financial Management and Control Law in Turkey required public institutions, including municipalities, to prepare strategic plans and to apply strategic management techniques. It has been observed that most of the metropolitan municipalities in Turkey just conduct surveys in the preparation process of strategic plans without organising workshops with the participation of various stakeholders. It seems that through surveys the legal requirement of ensuring the participation of stakeholders in the preparation process is met. It is considered that the local authorities in Turkey need to revise their approach to the strategic planning process in terms of good principles of governance, especially participation.

Studies have been conducted to determine the nature of the relationship between strategic planning and competitive advantage, with some studies presenting that strategic planning has an impact on the organisation's competitive advantage, while other studies present that strategic planning has no impact on competitive advantage. Therefore, this research was conducted to settle this existing inconclusive debate by including a contingency variable as a mediator of this relationship using data collected from management employees of TAZARA. The research study contributes to the literature by determining the mediating effect of productivity on the relationship between strategic planning (SP) and competitive advantage. Reliability, model fit and validity were tested using factor analysis, principal component analysis and regression analysis using Jamovi software. The results of the study show that there is a positive significant relationship between strategic planning (SP) and competitive advantage, and also between productivity and competitive advantage. Productivity was found to partially mediate the relationship between strategic planning and competitive advantage. The results of this study would help decision makers to focus more on productivity when implementing strategic planning in order to survive this tense, fierce competition of the 21st century. Replication of this study in other industries is recommended. Future studies should also include other moderating and/or mediating variables.

In the education system in Trinidad and Tobago, only 60% of students are achieving mastery in literacy and numeracy as documented by national tests. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore principals' experiences leading strategic planning designed to increase achievement in literacy and numeracy in eight high-performing primary schools in Trinidad and Tobago. Fullan's change process theory provided the framework for the study. Data were collected from interviews with eight principals. Data analysis included coding, categorizing, and identifying themes. Findings indicated that principals plan, implement, and monitor the facilitation of change processes through in-depth strategies in teaching and learning with a continuous focus on literacy and numeracy. Findings also revealed that there is continuous professional development to support teachers and transform their capacity in practice. The extension and confirmation of knowledge were validated by the change process theory that change process at the campus level of the school must include strategies for improving the school. Findings may be used to evaluate strategic planning quality and assessment practices in low-performing schools in Trinidad and Tobago, and to improve principals' capacity for effective strategic planning.

The present study aimed to identify the reality of strategic planning practice by the leaders of the Faculty of Education, Damietta University from the perspective of faculty members. Therefore, it adopted the descriptive approach based on a survey of (63) faculty members. It applied a five-domain questionnaire. Results revealed the weak practice of strategic planning from the perspective of the participants. "Future challenges" domain was ranked first and rated "high" with a weighted average of (3.62) and a percentage of (72.38%). "Preparation for strategic planning" domain was ranked second and rated "moderate" with a weighted average of (3.14) and a percentage of (62.74%). The 3rd, 4th, and 5th domains regarding "quadratic strategic analysis, implementation of the strategic plan, and evaluation and strategic oversight" were ranked low. Their weighted averages were rated (2.28-2.50) with a percentage of (49.91%-64.24%).

This study aimed at finding out the reality of strategic planning in the faculties of educational sciences in Jordanian private universities. A questionnaire was distributed to the study population of (84) faculty members. A total of (67) questionnaires were retrieved, seven of which were excluded. The results of analysis of the remaining (60) questionnaires indicated that the level of strategic planning in Jordanian private universities was high. Also, the level of achieving academic excellence in Jordanian private universities was high. Furthermore, there was a positive significant correlational relationship at (a [less than or equal to] 0.05) between the level of the reality of strategic planning and the level of achieving academic excellence in Jordanian private universities. The recommendations of this study included providing rewards to distinguished teaching staff at Jordanian private universities and the commendation of their efforts.

The objective of the paper was to provide an overview of strategic planning and how a Strategic Plan (SP) can be developed and implemented effectively in Higher Education Institution (HEIs) in developing countries for continuous quality improvement. Related literature was reviewed and analysed using the narrative synthesis approach. It was established from the review that a SP serves as a framework for determining the quality path a HEI should chart to achieve its desired future. Advantages of strategic planning include; providing opportunity for relevant constituencies to participate in institutional governance, synchronising plans towards achieving institutional goals; prioritising for efficient allocation of resources, and engaging stakeholders for collective ownership of institutional agenda. SPs are developed based on internal and external environmental scan for institutional strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; and aligned with institutional mission, vision, values, and goals. Issues for consideration in strategic planning may include academic (teaching, research, and extension) matters, institutional governance, finance, infrastructure, Information and Communication Technology, human resource, institutional advancement and internationalisation. Challenges in planning and implementation of SPs in HEIs in developing countries include resource constraints, inadequate expertise and commitment, as well as resistance to change. For effective implementation of a SP, there should be an implementation plan that details who should do what at what time and with which resources. Successful strategic planning and implementation of the Plan depend on commitment of and collaboration among qualified planners, implementers, monitors, evaluators and other relevant stakeholders.

Based on the importance of strategic planning and its impact on various administrative variables such as institutional excellence, the goal of this study is to explore the current status of these variables and the relationship of correlation and impact between them in one of the higher education institutions in Saudi Arabia. The study adopted a descriptive-analytical methodology and used a questionnaire as a data collection tool to ensure its validity and reliability. It was distributed to a random sample of 101 faculty members at Hafr Al-Batin University in Saudi Arabia. The study found that despite the moderate reality of both strategic planning and institutional excellence at the university, the results showed a strong positive relationship between these variables at a significance level of 0.01, three of the four dimensions of strategic planning had a significant impact on institutional excellence. The study provides a useful reference for higher education institutions regarding the current status of strategic planning and institutional excellence, as well as the relationship and impact between them. It also offers valuable data for decision-makers to improve the state of strategic planning in these institutions. The results can potentially help enhance strategic planning practices in Saudi universities and, on a broader scale, in other parts of the Middle East and the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Albert S. Cook Library at Towson University was charged with developing a new strategic plan under new library leadership and in the midst of remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This article details Bryson (2018)'s Strategy Change Cycle as an approach for an academic library for conducting bottom-up strategic planning. Additionally, the project details department break-out activities that were used to help library employees stay engaged in an activity that had to be conducted remotely and in the midst of telework fatigue. This work is framed within the context of moving to a model of strategic management instead of one-and-done strategic planning as well as considering how to integrate a Critical Management Studies lens to make sure all feel included and empowered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how managers test strategies, focusing on their understanding of the strategic planning process, and aims to develop a framework for integrating cutting-edge technologies in strategy testing. We used elite interviews with top hotel managers in Turkey and a hermeneutic approach to establish this framework. Results indicate that managers have limited knowledge of strategy testing, which is not yet recognized as a distinct phase in strategy development. Scenario planning and AI-driven methods are only minimally adopted in the industry. We introduced a “techno-human” model that integrates AI and human-oriented decision-making for strategy testing. Our paper contributes significantly by analysing top managers’ use of testing methods in strategic management and highlighting an overlooked area in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the strategic planning of national and sustainable development, focusing on international experiences in the first part and the state of national strategic planning in the second part. It discusses the legislative framework for strategic planning and the development of long-term strategies for national and sustainable development. The first part provides an overview of strategic planning frameworks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the EU, as well as international experiences in formulating national and sustainable development strategies within the EU. This section emphasizes the strategic planning process and the establishment of monitoring indicators for evaluating interventions, strategies, and programs. EU countries adopt a participatory approach to goal-setting, integrate digital technologies into monitoring processes, and define standards for evaluation of strategic documents. Planning processes in the EU are rooted in results-based management principles, particularly the theory of change, and evidence-based decision making. Goal-setting is informed by research on national development specifics, the participatory identification of social needs, and a long-term vision for the country’s future. The targets of national and sustainable development strategies, along with their corresponding indicators, are clearly aligned with the overall goals. These strategies guide other medium-term plans, programs, and budget processes for the medium term. The direction and pace of future transformations in each country largely depend on setting targets, programming, and establishing a system of action plans and measures with defined indicators, as well as on the evaluation of previous development strategies. Most strategies in developed countries incorporate a digital monitoring model. Analyzing the dynamics of indicators set as targets in the strategic documents of developed countries, along with reviewing reports and their public presentation, reveals that open public monitoring of government institutions’ commitments to the national development strategy is a hallmark of democratic society.

The article addresses the issues of strategic planning for national development over the long term, specifically presenting an analysis of international experience and the current state of domestic strategic planning. It discusses the legislative framework and experience in developing long-term strategies for national and sustainable development. The second part of the article provides an overview of domestic practices in strategic planning, including a review of the legal framework, a retrospective examination of the development of long-term national development strategies, and strategic documents on sustainable development. It also highlights the current state of strategic planning in Ukraine. The author emphasizes the urgent need to improve the national system of state strategic planning by incorporating the experience of other countries and best international practices. Considerable attention is given to the challenges in the long-term segment of strategic planning for national development. The article asserts the necessity of modernizing the legislative framework, employing a participatory approach to engage citizens and stakeholders, introducing digital technologies in monitoring processes, and revising evaluation requirements. The planning process should adhere to the principles of results-based management and be grounded in evidence, facts, and qualitative data at both the planning and monitoring and evaluation stages. The long-term national development strategy of Ukraine can serve as the core of an updated system of strategic documents and a guideline for making evidence-based decisions. The long-term strategy should fulfill several key functions, such as goal-setting, coordination, integration, regulation, and guidance. In conclusion, the article finds it advisable to improve strategic planning in Ukraine to ensure sustainable development, even amidst the current challenges of transitioning from recovery to development.