Elevating Collaboration through Diversity : Interrelated Perspectives in Strategic Planning View Digital Media

Workshop Presentation
Jennifer Elmore,  Patricia A. Clary,  Sherrita Denson,  Shanna Flecha,  Violet Taylor  

Strategic planning includes integrating and coordinating strategic content, stakeholder involvement, and environmental contingencies. In the last ten years, the application of strategic planning has grown beyond business management and is being used to focus on societal systems, issues, and ills, and the attempts of organizations to collaborate across sector boundaries to address ambiguous and consequential public problems. Researchers have approached strategic planning differently, both as a practice or as a process, and on either macro or micro levels. Methodologically, micro-level and process-based approaches are useful because they give attention to the experiences of the individuals involved in strategic planning efforts. Macro-level and practice-based perspectives are important because they focus on the outcomes and effectiveness of strategic planning. The two different approaches are interrelated in strategy work, especially within the public and non-profit sectors. Combined, both perspectives allow practitioners to acknowledge that planning participants, along with their unique experiences, intrinsic motivations, knowledge, cognitive styles, and norms are critical contributors to the planning process and may also influence whether strategic plans ultimately succeed or fail during implementation. Through interaction, dialogue, and activities, this session will explore ways to increase quality collaboration in strategic planning, with a particular focus on increasing diversity among individual and organizational stakeholders. An increase in collaboration and diversity during strategic plan formulation will encourage better engagement during plan implementation - a critical aspect for executing public sector or non-profit strategic ideas.