Building on the Strategic Planning and Development assignment from Week 3, prepare a 10-slide Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, with narration

Week 6 Assignment – Strategic Planning Implementation and Evaluation

Introduction

Building on the Strategic Planning and Development assignment from Week 3, prepare a 10-slide Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, with narration, of your plan to present to the executive committee.

In this assignment, use the health care organization you selected in your Week 3 assignment. Determine why you are embarking on this strategic planning process (securing funding, establishing and focusing on organizational priorities, et cetera). In this presentation:

· Establish a clear vision for the strategic planning process.

· Paint a picture of where your organization will be going and of your desired outcomes.

· Locate at least three peer-reviewed journal articles to support your work. For example, to identify clinical quality that does not compare to other hospitals, see the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services  Hospital Compare  site.

· Use Strayer Writing Standards format for your references.

Note: Refer to the instructions and PowerPoint resources in the Week 5 Assignment Preparation for support in completing this assignment.

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STRATEGIC PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 1

Strategic Planning and Development

Michelle Houston

Strayer University

The Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Neurology is one of the comprehensive medical facilities in Massachusetts offering consultative services, diagnostic testing and treatment for a broad spectrum of neurological conditions, like brain and spinal cord diseases; peripheral nerves and muscles (https://www.massgeneral.org/neurology/about/). The Massachusetts General Hospital has an overall mission and vision statements that all departments work towards achieving. The mission is to improve the health and well-being of the diverse communities we serve. The vision on the other hand is to envision healthy, safe and thriving communities where all people have equitable access to employment, food, education, housing and a high-quality health care system that addresses these and other social determinants of health (https://www.massgeneral.org/community-health/cchi/about/mission). However, one thing that would assist the neurology department to achieve the mission and vision of the facility is having a working strategic plan in place.

Difference between strategic management, strategic thinking, strategic planning, and managing strategic momentum

When it comes to strategic planning, it is important to apply different practices that would make the plan work effectively leading to achievement of desired goals and objectives. As a strategic planner, it is important to make use of strategic thinking, planning and management which are completely different practices. For instance, strategic management is the act of having continuous planning, monitoring, analyzing, and assessing all strategic plan goals, plans, and processes till the desired goals and objectives are achieved. Strategic thinking is the act of intentionally taking the time and consider all necessary factors in a strategic plan ensuring that possible consequences of each action is taken thereby eliminating a chance of having to take unconsidered actions.

Strategic planning is the art of creating specific business strategy that would be used to achieve desired goals and objectives, designing how the strategies will be implemented and identifying results after implementation of the designed strategy. Lastly, managing strategic momentum is the act of making sure that the same spirit in which the strategic plan commenced with in the planning stages is pushed through with to the last stages of the plan. It means keeping involved stakeholders motivated to work and address issues in the same pace if not making the pace better.

Suitable analytical tool

It is a fact that having the most suitable adaptive strategy would be the best thing that can ever happen to Massachusetts General Hospital's Department of Neurology. This is because with an effective adaptive strategy, the facility would be able to make the best out of the strategic plan. To do this, it is important to adapt an effective analytical tool which in this case is a SWOT analysis. According to Benzaghta, et al., (2021) a SWOT analysis helps in analyzing an organization internally and externally which is a perfect way of understanding the situation before a strategic plan can be designed and implemented. The analytical tool focuses on pointing out and analyzing the amount of strengths the department has as well as the present weaknesses that ought being addressed to make the plan work effective. Externally, the analytical tool investigates and analysis the threats and available opportunities which makes it possible for the strategy to have a positive impact on external world.

Analytical tool application

The SWOT analysis is an analytical tool with ability to result most desired result but only when applied properly. As a strategic planner there is a specific way I would utilize the tool to support the strategic plan proposal. First, I would have to conduct an internal investigation within the department and identify some strengths and weaknesses (Williams, 2019). The information can be obtained from department records to determine the quality of leadership the department has based on decisions made, quality of staffs working in the department, financial stability and how collaborative the staffs are among other aspects. I would record all noted or identified strengths and weaknesses (Williams, 2019). Further I would conduct an internal research to gather as much information from members of management and staffs alike. It is after understanding the internal environment I would focus on external environment where I would engage department leaders and key external stakeholders to understand opportunities the department can explore as well as threats facing the department that should be avoided. All these information I would also record. During strategic plan development, I would make use of available strengths to address available weaknesses and exploit available opportunities in order to contain threats.

Internal and external factor hindering the success of the strategic plan

When designing and implementing a strategic plan, there are some internal and external hindrances the team is likely face. Nevertheless, the hindrances should not paralyze the entire plan designing and implementation process. As a matter of reality, the planner must understand all possible barriers for the purpose of having ways of maneuvering along while making sure that these hindrances are resolved amicably. Some internal barriers include;

a. Lack of ample support from the management and employees when it comes to sharing necessary information that would help in making the strategic plan a reality. This is a major hindrance because a strategic plan is expansive and complex (Cao, & Chen, 2018). It requires accurate and latest information that can help addressing issues facing the company as well as achieve desired goals, mission, and vision. As a matter of reality, the employees have the power of sabotaging a strategic plan.

b. According to Bryson, et al., (2018) finances and other resources necessary in designing and implementing a strategic plan. It comes as a major barrier when the organization lacks ample and reliable resources since it can lead to incomplete strategic plan.

c. The manner in which communication is carried out within an organization would determine the levels of proposed strategic plan would fail or prove to be successful (Cao, & Chen, 2018). Ineffective or poor communication channels can attract high levels of misunderstandings thereby demotivating many from playing their roles necessary on promoting the success of the strategic plan.

On the other hand, the external environment also has a series of barriers which include;

a. Unexpected and drastic technological change is likely to be the main barrier in regards to the success of Massachusetts General Hospital's Department of Neurology strategic plan. This is because during the planning process, there are specific technologies that would be identified as the most preferred to effect strategic plan implementation. With constant changes confusion might be realized and even compel the team to invest more something that might compromise levels of success.

b. The social environment which covers the target population as well as members of community in which the department operates in can become a major barrier. This is especially if the social environment is not supportive and this means that the strategic plan would not have a purpose or reason as to why it should be pursued (Bryson, et al., 2018). For instance, with reduced number of clients within the department and members of society failing to support the department.

c. Unhealthy political legislations are also a major barrier because strategic plans requires being in full compliance with government legislations. Failure to do so can lead to the actions required in the plan classified as illegal (Cao, & Chen, 2018). But when the policies to comply with becomes stiff and demanding, it is something that can make the strategic plan costly, demanding and hard to achieve something that would hinder overall success levels.

Possible solutions for each possible barrier

It is a good thing that the above identified internal and external barriers to successful strategic plan have possible solutions that can resolve the barrier amicably. Some internal barriers solutions include;

a. The management should take the initiative of informing all employees about the strategic plan, its impact to the organization and their overall personal/career goals. The management should also provide a healthy environment that would make it possible for the employees within the department to remain positive and supportive of the strategic plan (Timilsina, 2018).

b. Preparing for the strategic plan in advance is a reliable solution in order to have the right amount of necessary resources put in place. Such a preparation would grant the management ample time to prepare without pressure and have the right attitude towards the strategic plan. Moreover, the plan should also have a clear way of proving how the invested resources would be regenerated back into the department for the purpose of making it proof its worth investing in.

c. The management with the help of the strategic planner should device and implements an effective communication plan. The plan should allow information to freely flow among all stakeholders for the purpose of arguing issues out and making a solid decision that all must comply fully.

For the external factors the following solutions are applicable

a. On technological changes, the strategic plan should be designed in a manner it would work perfectly using the current technologies and if changes would be applied, on to technologies with massive similarities with initial technologies. Hence, the plan would not completely get affected while also allowing other changes that might arise to push through.

b. Conducting a comprehensive social environment research and making sure it aligns with demand in the market while also trying to take part in corporate social responsibilities to attract community members’ support.

c. On political factors, it is important for the management to contact professionals on legal matters to make sure the strategic plan complies with all legal aspects of the plan and that the management is ready to handle even the complex policies.

Market segment of target

The department focuses on neurological services and this means that there are specific kinds of clients that are referred to the department as others get treated in the general section of the facility. For this strategic plan, the main market segment of target is the psychographic. These are people who believe in their neurological healthy and they are aware they need one of the best facilities with qualified and eligible physicians. The plan targets such people with a positive attitude, beliefs, and their lifestyle allows them to get services from professionals within the region. This is to mean that the plan targets even clients from other states other than Massachusetts as long as they fit in the psychographic market segment.

The reason why the strategic plan targets this specific group of people is because the services offered by the department are unique and due to the sensitivity nature of the services, they are considered costly by many people. The plan hence needs clients who do not take value cost over their health and this is where the aspect of attitude and beliefs comes in. moreover, there are many other clients with neurological related health issues but cannot afford and this means despite them having the positive attitude and desire, they are not capable. The strategic plan also targets such individuals since it would develop ways to reaching out to desperate cares in dire need of medical attention but the client cannot afford for the services.

Marketing approach recommendation

It is a good thing that the Massachusetts General Hospital's Department of Neurology is famous and widely known not only by locals but by people from far located regions. However, due to the fact that the strategic plan is new creates a perfect reason as to why I should be marketed. There are diverse approaches to marketing that can be used in this case but in this case it is important to have one approach that would create the right awareness. The recommended approach is first introducing and marketing the plan internally before using other channels like advertisement to create awareness to the outside world. This is important because for a strategic plan to work effectively it must have ample internal support. First, the employees must be convinced that the plan is working towards improving a certain situation and their beliefs in the plan would make it possible for them to offer necessary support. It is only with ample support that advertisement through social media, television channels, and newspaper/ magazine publications among others would be used to inform target population.

For instance, the employees must be trained about the strategic plan and get completely engaged so that they can understand all the concepts and what they stand for. With employees involved, they can be involved in creating video clips that would be uploaded on the internet to communicate to the target population the overall purpose and content of the strategic plan. The same employees and other members of public who are already clients of the facility would be useful in coming up with professional adverts that can be published and others aired.

References

Benzaghta, M. A., Elwalda, A., Mousa, M. M., Erkan, I., & Rahman, M. (2021). SWOT analysis applications: An integrative literature review. Journal of Global Business Insights, 6(1), 55-73.

Bryson, J. M., Edwards, L. H., & Van Slyke, D. M. (2018). Getting strategic about strategic planning research. Public management review, 20(3), 317-339.

Cao, H., & Chen, Z. (2018). The driving effect of internal and external environment on green innovation strategy-The moderating role of top management’s environmental awareness. Nankai Business Review International, 10(3), 342-361.

https://www.massgeneral.org/neurology/about/

https://www.massgeneral.org/community-health/cchi/about/mission

Timilsina, B. (2018). Overcoming the Barriers of Strategic Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring in Turbulent Business Environment: A qualitative study on Finnish SMEs. In Global Business Expansion: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications (pp. 1276-1298). IGI Global.

Williams, A. E. (2019). Exploring the utility of an emerging altmetric platform: a SWOT analysis of Plum Analytics. Digital Library Perspectives.

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