Application: The Strategic Planning Process

"The volatile healthcare market demands that providers be nimble competitors with advanced, ongoing planning processes that drive growth and organizational effectiveness" (Zuckerman, 2006, p. 3). How does-or should-this perspective inform strategic planning and management in today's health care organizations?

For this Application Assignment, you will create a visual representation (model) of the strategic planning and management process for a particular organization using either PowerPoint and/or MS word functions to create a one to two page document with a visual that describes the model of strategic planning and management process. The design you create for this Application Assignment will help you begin to think about aspects of strategic planning that you explore throughout this course. As you proceed through each week, you are encouraged to review your Week 1 Application Assignment and integrate new insights into the project. You will be required to submit a more robust version of this assignment for the Week 7 Application Assignment, so you may find it helpful to preview that assignment now.

Prepare for this Application Assignment as follows:

Based on the information presented in the Learning Resources, what are the key characteristics of strategic planning and management? How would you illustrate the process?What are the main steps of the process that should be included?What sub steps do you think should be added?Are there variations that need to be reflected, or is the process fairly standard?What additional factors-within organizations or surrounding them-shape this process? How should these be included in a graphic?

What unique aspects of the health care field might influence strategic planning? Consider the various insights you have gained throughout this Master of Healthcare Administration program.

Do approaches to strategic planning and management vary among health care providers? If so, how? What circumstances might influence how a particular organization approaches this process? Consider issues identified in previous courses as well as developments in current events.

Select a particular type of health care organization to focus on for this assignment. You may bring to mind a health care organization you examined for the Discussion, or a different one. (You will not need to convey how strategic planning is actually carried out in a specific organization, but you should have some organizational specifics in mind as you think through this assignment.)

As you begin to draft your graphic, consider:

• How could you use lines or other graphic representations to show connections between various elements?
• How could you use color to convey meaning?
• What labels or text is needed to ensure the graphic elements make sense?
• Word and PowerPoint provide the tools you will need to create this document. For example, in MSWord you will find ideas in the "insert" functions such as picture, clip art, shapes, Smart Art, etc. In PowerPoint, you will find functions in Shapes and Layout. You can also create elements in MSWord to cut and Paste into PowerPoint. Select symbols, flow designs and connectors to create your visual representation. If you would prefer to use a different type of software program other than Microsoft to create your visual document, contact your instructor as soon as possible to see if it is acceptable.

Then create a 1- to 2-page document that addresses the following:

• Use images, symbols, and words to form a graphic representation of the strategic-planning and management process for a particular organization.
• Be creative but keep your final deliverable professional. Visual representations are an efficient and effective way to communicate complex ideas. Assume this is a formal document that you would present to the board of trustees for your organization.
• Please do not copy and paste graphics or figures from other resources. The objective of this assignment is to improve your skills, and there are several applications to prepare graphics and figures such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Visio, OpenOffice etc.
• Please send your application assignment as a Word attachment. You will use the software above to prepare the visual component of this assignment, then insert the graphic(s) into the Word document. Also, please assign a label (i.e., Figure 1. The Representation of XYZ).
• In other words, please do not send a PowerPoint presentation. The end product will be an application assignment similar to the assignments that you prepared earlier, but you are encouraged to add some visual component(s) this time. You can only use PowerPoint to prepare a graphic and insert this in the application assignment.

The Application Assignment is due by Day 7 of this week