Paper at the International Leadership Training Program held at Islamabad 22 December - 6 January 1997 by Prof Dr Omar Hasan Kasule, Sr. MB ChB, MPH, DrPH (Harvard) Faculty of Medicine International Islamic University
OUTLINES
BACKGROUND READING
What is strategy?
Strategic planning
Strategic thinking
Strategic management
Strategy in the seerah and today
Strategy and change
Action planning
Planning and control
Effective plans
Classification of plans
Limitations of planning
Working without planning is common
Philosophical objection to planning
Resistance to planning
Fear of planning
Main elements of planning and strategy
Planning and reliance on Allah
Stages of strategy formulation
Uncertainty in strategy
Revision of plans
Impact of a plan
How much planning?
TEXT ANALYSIS
Humans can not know the future; they only guess
Trust in Allah: Prophet and Abubakr in the cave
Vision of conquest of Makka
Vision of paradise
Vision: conquest of Byzantine and Persia
Vision: conquest of Yaman, Syria, and Iraq
Vision of triumph of Islam in the peninsula
Niyyat (intention)
Resources: provisions for hijra
Internal weaknesses destroy the ummat
DISCUSSION
Organizational planning
Vision
Forecasting
Scenario casting
Preparing a mission statement
Mandates
Stakeholder analysis
Analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
Strategic issues identification
Collecting information
Outlining a strategic plan for our local area
BACKGROUND READING
INSTRUCTIONS: THE DISCUSSION LEADER OR THE MEMBERS (IN TURNS) WILL PRESENT THE MAIN POINTS IN THE BACKGROUND READING SECTIONS PRE-ASSIGNED THE PREVIOUS WEEK
WHAT IS STRATEGY?
Strategy is a rational approach to management of life's uncertainties. It involves assessment of the internal and external environments, forecasting the future, thinking forwards and reasoning backwards, and preparing for various hypothetical scenarios. Strategic planning is a very powerful tool for leaders and managers. Strategic behavior is a vital necessity for living and succeeding in a complex environment in which your decisions and actions have an impact on others and are also influenced by what else is going on around you. Strategic concepts are used in leadership thinking, analysis, planning, management, and negotiations. Organizations that only want to react to events and have no strategies, are waiting for their death. It is a major mistake for leaders to be so absorbed in day-to-day operations that strategic planning is neglected.
STRATEGIC PLANNING
Strategic planning is establishing strategic objectives and formulating plans to accomplish them. Strategic plans answer three questions: where are we now? where do we want to be? how do we get there?. Strategic planning involves thinking forward and reasoning backwards, preparing for all possibilities. You have to develop contingency strategies to be implemented if a chosen plan does not work as envisioned. Strategic planning has many benefits. You are not completely surprised by events. You are pro-active and not reactive. You will not be easily provoked into wrong responses. You can take pre-emptive moves ahead of the competition. Strategic planning is difficult because it essentially involves achieving and maintaining objectives in a changing and unpredictable environment. It requires considerable intellectual effort and creativity.
STRATEGIC THINKING
Strategic thinking are intellectual processes that are a background to strategy formulation, planning, and management. Strategic thinking enables you to see through difficult and complex situations and make the right decisions. A strategic thinker prepares for and exploits unpredictability and surprises. He anticipates, sees through, and prepares for a rival's strategic move. His frame of mind is prepared opportunism being ready to exploit opportunities that arise unexpectedly.
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
Strategic plans call for strategic management. Strategic management is managing pursuit of organizational mission while managing relation of the organization to the environment. It is characterized by always being ready to deal with sudden changes in the environment. Strategic management in a highly uncertain rapidly changing environment can be likened to shooting at a moving target when riding on a galloping horse.
STRATEGY IN THE SEERAH AND TODAY
Careful study of the seerah reveals effective strategic thinking and planning at all stages of the forward march of the Islamic mission. Although the environment and technology have changed, human nature has remained basically the same. Thus many human behaviors today whether strategic or not have their parallels in the seerah. You can learn from the lessons of the past and build on them to develop your strategic skills for the modern era. Some of the major crises that contemporary organizations and movements went through could have been prevented if the leadership employed strategic thinking and planning skills. There is a need to develop strategic planning and management skills among the leaders and managers of today to be able to face the multi-faceted challenges of today. In many cases they are dealing with or opposing organizations that operate strategically and they have no chance if they do not have comparable or better skills.
STRATEGY AND CHANGE
Strategic plans must be flexible enough to be able to adapt to rapid environmental changes. The organization must have an inbuilt capacity for change if it is to succeed. Strategy formulation requires a determination of whether the organization wants growth or stability. The plans are different for each scenario. Strategies that emphasize stability are less innovative and are based on premises and facts that are not likely to vary a lot. Strategies of growth anticipate a lot of change and with it the uncertainty and risks that are inevitable. Risk management is a very important aspect of such strategies
ACTION PLANNING
Action planning is laying down the detailed tactical or operational plans. Action planning is problem-solving for the future. Plans made today have an impact on the future. Action planning is charting how to get from a point in time today to a point in the future. Action planning is important because it is a basis for other management functions. Leading, controlling, and organizing are directly determined by the plan. Action planning is preparation for and commitment to the future. It fosters pro-active decision-making and problem-solving while eliminating impulsive urges. A plan facilitates communication within and outside the organization. A plan helps the integration and coordination of organizational activities. An action plan defines what an organization is because it details what it wants to achieve; you are what you do. Organizations with plans are trusted; they know what they want to do and where to go.
PLANNING AND CONTROL
Planning and control processes are closely linked and mutually influence one another. Control ensures that the plan is implemented well. The plan defines criteria for control. Control identifies deviations necessitating plan modification
EFFECTIVE PLANS
Effective plans have 4 characteristics: specific, action-oriented, flexible, and consistent with organizational long-term goals and objectives. A plan must be specific and cover only a clearly demarcated and well defined scope of work. The more specific the plan is the more effective it will be. General and vague plans can not be implemented easily and it is difficult to evaluate their impact at the end. A plan must be an action-oriented and not a theoretical document. It must specify what actions need to be taken to achieve the desired objectives. A plan must be flexible so that there is room for creativity during the implementation. This is necessary to be able to deal with sudden or unexpected changes. A very rigid plan fails in implementation as soon as an obstacle is encountered. A plan can not be free-standing; it must be consistent with established organizational objectives. If the plan deviates from those objectives or even contradicts them it has little chance of success. If implemented without first formally changing the organizational objectives, the organization will lose its credibility among the general public.
CLASSIFICATION OF PLANS
The following shows classification of plans according to different criteria: (a) Objective: strategic, tactical/operational (b) Duration: short, medium, long-term (c) Specificity: general, specific (d) Complexity: complex, simple (e) Methodology: top to bottom, bottom to top (f) Scope: comprehensive, narrow (g) Importance: major, minor (h) Scale of measure: qualitative, quantitative (i) Security class: confidential, public (j) Formality: formal, informal (k) Implementability: easy, difficult (l) Flexibility: flexible, inflexible (m) Creativity: rational, intuitive, creative (n) Cost: expensive, cheap
LIMITATION OF PLANNING
While emphasizing the importance of plans and planning, you should be aware of the limitations. Whole countries, organizations and even individuals have collapsed because they planned and implemented plans without being aware of the limitations. There are many factors in the environment that are beyond your control let alone your knowledge. Only Allah knows and controls everything. You must therefore take this into consideration by distinguishing environmental factors over which you have control and those over which you have little control. You can plan exactly for what you have control over. A lot of flexibility should be built into the plan when dealing with what you have no control over.
WORKING WITHOUT PLANNING IS COMMON
It is quite surprising that a high proportion of organizations do not have formal plans for guiding their activities. Most things are decided on an adhoc basis. All new issues are discussed from first principles in order to reach a decision there being no plan to act as a reference. It is therefore not surprising that many contradictions and wrong decisions are made. Many leaders and organizations are so eager to act that they proceed without first planning. They sometimes feel planning wastes time and delays action. They think of planning after making mistakes and meeting frustrations. Sometimes program failure is difficult to identify because there is no bench-mark plan against which to compare. Many organizations believe they have plans when they do not. They follow the leader's whims presented in the guise of secretly-concocted plans. Apparent contradictions are not explained on the excuse that information is secret. Some of these plans have no direct relevance to the methodology of work or the types of activity the organization should be engaged in. Failure to plan, whatever its reasons, will hurt the organization in several ways.
PHILOSOPHICAL OBJECTION TO PLANNING
Philosophical objections to planning the future prevent some people from planning. They misunderstand the concepts of QADAR and ILM AL GHAIB. They reason that since only Allah knows the future and since everything is in His hands, it is preposterous for the human being to plan the future. The truth of the matter is that planning does not contradict QADAR or assumes knowledge of the unseen. It is just a human effort to organize human affairs in a better way. Like all human efforts it has its limitations and could be mistaken. Planning is therefore accepted as long as the planner is aware of the limitations and after making his plans places trust in Allah the almighty.
RESISTANCE TO PLANNING
Resistance to change in large well established organizations and bureaucracies is the underlying reason to oppose planning. People want to continue business as usual. Planning is objected to because it may be a catalyst for asking fundamental questions about the operation of the organization and thus lead to changes. Failure to see planning as rational and creative is a reason for many people avoiding planning. This is because of the bad reputation that centralized government planning has acquired in the past. Incompetent bureaucratic planners who have no touch with reality, possess no understanding of the real problems, and who had no visions to guide them have produced monstrous plans that caused havoc and waste. Fear of commitment to plans once made is a major reason for leaders to refuse to plan. Once a plan is made and is known, there is bench-mark against which their performance will be measured within a given time frame. Accepting a plan implies being committed to a certain course of action. They want to retain their freedom to do what they want, when and how they wish. Unclear goals and objectives make it virtually impossible to produce any plans. A plan is in essence a restatement of goals and objectives and practical measures for achieving them. Excessive reliance on experience and failure to appreciate the need for fresh approaches and outlooks makes many long-standing leaders reject planning. Previous experience is good and should be used but there is a need for analysis of the situation and planning for the future. The future can not be the same as the past. It is a mistake to use yesterday’s solution for tomorrow without any modifications.
FEAR OF PLANNING
Fear of planning as a difficult and complex process better left to experts results in organizations not planning if they do not have experts in planning. Planning is a difficult intellectual exercise that many people are reluctant to undertake. The basics of planning are easy to grasp and a non-expert can make a fairly good plan. Ignorance of the methodology of planning rather than making organizations seek to acquire the necessary technics and skills, sometimes makes them recoil away from the process. Planning takes time, effort and money. Sometimes a small project or organization may feel that they can not afford the expense of planning and that it is easier for them to proceed with action. You should always think also in terms of the cost of not planning. Misplaced priorities, failed projects, costly mistakes, and repetition of the work are costly and may be more expensive than the cost of planning. Individual resistance to planning may turn into systematic organizational resistance. There are individuals or groups of individuals within the organization who will resist the plan. This may be on valid and rational considerations or it may be just the disinclination to accept the systematic work that planning institutes, reluctance to change old and tried ways of working, or personal animosity to those formulating and executing the plans.
MAIN ELEMENTS OF PLANNING AND STRATEGY
The following are the main elements in strategy and planning that are discussed in subsequent sections of this paper: (a) Vision (b) Mission (c) Goals (d) Objectives (e) Intentions (niyyat) (f) Sincerity (g) Forecasting (h) Scenarios (i) Trust in Allah. A vision is a broad general direction. Vision is very important. There can be no strategy in absence of a guiding vision. Human experience down the ages shows that there is always a direct association between what you envision and what you achieve. Vision is non-specific. It is at the conceptual and emotional levels. It defines the general direction for the organization. Vision is the visualization of what you want the organization to be at some point in the future. The more graphic the description, the more effective. Mission is line of work and how to proceed with it. Goals are a broad definition of the mission. Objectives are exact specific definitions of goals. Intention (niyyat) is internal more spiritual than conceptual. Sincerity: intentions and objectives must be sincere for success. Forecasting is the ability to predict the future. The better the forecasting the better the planning. Forecasting depends on available information, study of current trends and a deep understanding of the people and institutions that you are working with. Forecasting does not assume ILM AL GHAIB. It is based on what is known at the moment. When forecasting you must know the human limitations and appreciate that you could be wide off the mark. Scenarios are various possibilities envisaged for the future. Scenario description must be as detailed as possible.
PLANNING AND RELIANCE ON ALLAH
When planning never forget that the ultimate aim is pleasure of Allah. Goals, targets achieved without achieving the higher purpose of the pleasure of Allah are not worth much. You have to exert your best human effort in planning then entrust your affairs to Allah. The best of plans with very good execution can fail. Trust in Allah without planning and effort if TAWAAKUL and differs from TAWAKKUL which is effort followed by trust in Allah. Planning can not substitute for trust in Allah. He ultimately has final control over our destinies however much we plan. The trust we talk about is that which follows planning and taking all the humanly possible measures for success and then leaving it to the Lord. Blind trust without making any effort is not trust but failure and true religion can not countenance it.
STAGES OF STRATEGY FORMULATION
Strategy formulation goes through the following steps: defining organizational vision and mission, clarifying externally-imposed mandates, analyzing stakeholders, analyzing the internal and external environments, identifying strategic issues, collecting information, making assumptions and forecasts, formulating general strategic approaches for various possible scenarios, choosing the most favored scenario and formulating detailed tactical plans for it. Each stage is based on the stages before it and in many cases there are functional interrelationships among the stages
The first and second stages are vision and mission clarification and they have already been described above. The third stage is clarification of mandates, internal and external. Mandates are expectations from the organization and its leaders. Internal mandates are expectations of the members. External mandates are expectations of those outside the organizations. Fulfilling internal mandates is necessary to maintain member morale and support. Externally-imposed mandates can not be ignored. If you can not fulfil them for lack of resources or if they contradict your mission, you must at least recognize them as important and explain your situation.
The fourth stage is analysis of stakeholders. Stakeholders are people or organizations who have an interest or vested interest in what you are doing. They are usually influential and can either reward or punish you. You have to understand the stakeholders’ interest, inclinations, potential rewards if you please them and potential punishments if you annoy them. Stakeholders will not support your strategies if you carelessly brush aside things that they consider important and that they would like you to address. They could even actively oppose you. The best approach is to get the stakeholders on your side. If this is not possible try to make them neutral. It is a mistake to provoke them into active opposition to your plans. You want all your energies to be directed to achieving your objectives and not to be diverted to the side-issue of fending off attacks from a powerful stakeholder. Sometimes all energy is wasted in this type of defensive action leaving no effort for achieving what you set out to do in the first place!
The fifth stage is environmental analysis. The environment may be supportive, hostile or passively neutral. Strategic planning requires careful and correct assessment of the environment: internal and external. Your strengths and weaknesses reflect your internal environment. Opportunities and threats are in the external environment. The internal and external environments are organically linked. Your strengths correspond to the opportunities available to you. You need the strengths to be able to exploit the opportunities. Your weaknesses correspond to the threats that you face. Threats will hurt you from the points of weakness.
The sixth stage is identification of issues of strategic importance. Strategic issues are those that if not handled, the organization's continued existence, welfare, and successful performance will be affected negatively. You must be very careful in selecting strategic issues. You will be guided by your vision and those aspects of the environment that have a bearing on achieving or failure to achieve the organization’s objectives. Normally there are only a few issues that are really of strategic importance. A laundry list of issues indicates an unclear vision or an imperfect understanding of the environment in which you are operating
The seventh stage is information gathering. No successful strategic plan can be formulated without collecting, analyzing, and using all the available information relevant to the issues under consideration. It is not possible to collect all the information needed. The future is essentially unknown; only Allah knows 'ilm al ghayb. Some assumptions and forecasts will have to be made for information that is not available.
The eighth stage is forecasting future trends. The main ingredient of a strategic plan is forecasting the future. The more accurate that forecast is, the better the plan. Inadequate forecasts result into unsuccessful plans. Forecasting is best done in brain storming session. Current trends are identified and their future movement is predicted using information available about the environment
The ninth stage is working out possible future scenarios. Potential future scenarios are worked out using various combinations and permutations of the trends that were forecast above. A strategic planner should never be taken by surprise. He should formulate general plans for each possible future scenario. One of the scenarios is selected as the favored one based on certain pre-determined criteria. A detailed action plan is made for only the favored scenario. The other scenarios are kept as contingency plans
The tenth stage is analysis of the favored scenario. Once the favored scenario has been elaborated and the outlines of its action plans are clear, it should be analyzed using the following guidelines: Does it conform to the vision? Does it conform to the mission? How well does it address the mandates, internal and external? What are the likely reactions of the stakeholders? what will be your responses? What is the degree of uncertainty in the forecasts? How practicable are the actions envisaged? What in general will be the internal and external impacts? What reactions are expected? How will you deal with the reactions?
The final stage of planning is to translate the strategic plan into action/tactical plans. A strategic plan usually covers a long period of time. Its practical implementation is through a series of annual action or tactical plans.
UNERTAINTY IN STRATEGY
A strategic plan should always incorporate a degree of uncertainty because forecasts of the future are not always perfect. When forecasts are made, the forecaster must include a statement of degree of confidence in the forecast or should use a confidence range. Situations may arise in which due to uncertainty, the strategic planning process ends with various contingency plans with no chosen plan. Since none of the plans is favored, you can wait for environmental factors to indicate which plans are to be selected. Each chosen plan must be subjected to a workability test: can it work in practice?, can the underlying vision be maintained, can the barriers be overcome?
Contingency plans should be ready for immediate implementation if the chosen plan fails or encounters obstacles. Contingency plans are based on the several scenarios that were generated in the process of arriving at the chosen strategy. Strategic planners do not stop to think how to get around an obstacle. They already have a plan for that contingency.
REVISION OF PLANS
Strategic plans need constant revision as the basic information, assumptions, and forecasts on which the plans were based change with time and with implementation experience. In most normal circumstances the changes are small. Major radical changes could indicate either poor initial forecasting and planning or a radically changed environment.
IMPACT OF A PLAN
Any chosen strategy will have external and internal impacts. Internally it will have an impact on action plans, resource allocation, policies, organizational structure & behavior, and motivation of the followers. Externally it may provoke other strategies that may be synergistic or competitive depending on the circumstances.
HOW MUCH PLANNING?
A final word about how much planning should be done. Too much planning could stifle creativity and growth as happened in centralized totalitarian societies.
TEXT ANALYSIS
INSTRUCTIONS: READ OUT EACH TEXT ALOUD TWO TIMES. MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THE MAIN POINTS RAISED. WRITE DOWN THE MAIN LESSON(S) YOU HAVE LEARNED FROM THE TEXT.
HUMANS CAN NOT KNOW THE FUTURE; THEY ONLY GUESS
"Narrated Ibn Umar: Allah's Apostle ( may peace be upon him ) said, " Keys of the unseen ( knowledge ) are five which nobody knows but Allah nobody knows what will happen tomorrow; nobody knows what is in the womb; nobody knows what he will gain tomorrow; nobody knows at what place he will die; and nobody knows when it will rain"
Bukhari 2:82
TRUST IN ALLAH: PROPHET AND ABUBAKR IN THE CAVE:
If you help not ( your Leader ) ( It is no matter ): for Allah did indeed help him, when the Unbelievers drove him out: he had no more than one companion: The two were in the Cave, and he said to his companion, "Have no fear for Allah is with us" then Allah sent down His peace upon him, and strengthened him with forces which you saw not, and humbled to the depths the word of the Unbelievers. But the word of Allah is Exalted to the heights: for Allah is Exalted in might, Wise. Qur'an 9:40
"Narrated Abubakr: I was in the company of the Prophet ( may peace be upon him ) in the cave, and on seeing the traces of the pagans, I said, " O Allah's Apostle! If one of them ( pagans ) should lift up his foot, he will see us." He said, " What do you think of two, the third of whom is Allah". Bukhari 6:148, Hadith #185
VISION OF CONQUEST OF MAKKA
Truly did Allah fulfill the vision for His Messenger: You shall enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah wills, with minds secure, heads shaved, hair cut short, and without fear. For He knew what you knew not, and He reanted, besides this, a speedy victory. Qur'an 48:27
VISION OF PARADISE:
"Narrated Abu Huraira: the Prophet ( may peace be upon him ) said, " Allah said, " I have prepared for My righteous slaves ( such excellent things ) as no eye has ever seen, nor an ear has ever heard nor a human heart can ever think of". Bukhari 9:435-436, hadith # 589
VISION: CONQUEST OF BYZANTINE AND PERSIA
"Narrated Jabir bin Samura: The Prophet ( may peace be upon him ) said, " If Caesar is ruined, there will be no Caesar after him; and if Khosrau is ruined, there will be no Khosrau after him; and, by Him in whose hand my soul is, surely you will spend their treasures in Allah's cause". Bukhari 8:408, Hadith #625
VISION: CONQUEST OF YAMAN ,SYRIA, AND IRAQ:
"Narrated Sufyan bin Abu Zuhair: I heard Allah's Messenger ( may peace be upon him ) saying " Yemen will be conquered and some people will migrate ( from Medina ) and will urge their families, and those who will obey them to migrate ( to Yemen ) although Medina will be better for them; If they but knew. Sham will also be conquered and some people will migrate ( from Medina ) and will urge their families and those who will obey them, to migrate ( to Sham ) although Medina will be better for them, if they but knew. Iraq will be conquered and some people will migrate ( from Medina ) and will urge their families and those who will obey them to migrate ( to Iraq ) although Medina will be better for them, if they but knew". Bukhari 3:56-57, Hadith # 99
VISION OF TRIUMPH OF ISLAM IN THE PENINSULA:
"Narrated Khabab bin Al Art: We complained to Allah's Apostle ( may peace be upon him ) about our state ) while he was leaning against his sheet cloak in the shade of the Kaba. We said, " Will you ask Allah to help us? Will you invoke Allah for us?" He said, " Among those who were before you a ( believer ) used to be seized and, a pit used to be dug for him and then he used to be placed in it. Then a saw used to be brought and put on his head which would be split into two halves. His flesh might be combed with iron combs and removed from his bones, yet, all that did not cause him to revert from his religion by Allah! This religion ( Islam ) will be completed ( and triumph ) till a rider ( traveller ) goes from Sana ( the capital of Yemen ) to Hadramout fearing nobody except Allah and the wolf lest it should trouble his sheep, but you are impatient". Bukhari 9: 62, Hadith #76
NIYYAT (INTENTION)
"Umar b Al Khattab reported the Apostle of Allah ( may peace be upon him ) as saying: Actions are to be judged only by intentions, and a man will have only what he intended. When one's emigration is to Allah and His Apostle, his emigration is to Allah and His Apostle; but when his emigration is to a worldly end at which he aims or to a woman whom he marries, his emigration is to that for which he emigrated". Abu Daud 2:593-594, Chapter 727, Hadith # 2195
RESOURCES: PROVISIONS FOR HIJRA:
"Narrated Asma: I prepared the journey food for Allah's Apostle ( may peace be upon him ) in Abu Bakr's house when he intended to emigrate to Medina. I could not find anything to tie the food container and the water skin with. So, I said, to Abu Bakr, " By Allah, I do not find anything to tie ( these things ) with except my waist belt." He said, " Cut it into two pieces and tie the water skin with one piece and the food container with the other ( the subnarrator added, " She did accordingly and that was the reason for calling her Dhat un Nitaqain ( i.e. two belted woman). Bukhari 4:141, Hadith #222
INTERNAL AND NOT EXTERNAL WEAKNESSES DESTROY THE UMMAH:
"Thauban reported that Allah's Messenger ( may peace be upon him ) said: Allah drew the ends of the world near one another for my sake. And I have seen its eastern and western ends. And the dominion of my Ummah would reach those ends which have been drawn near me and I have been granted the red and the white treasures and I begged my Lord for my Ummah that it should not be destroyed because of famine, nor be dominated by an enemy who is not amongst them to take their lives and destroy them root and branch, and my Lord said: Muhammad, whenever I make a decision, there is none to change it. Well, I grant you for your Ummah that it would not be destroyed by famine and it would not be dominated by an enemy who would not be amongst it and would take their lives and destroy them root and branch even if all the people from the different parts of world join hand together ( for this purpose ) but it would be from amongst them, viz your Ummah, that some people would kill the others or imprison the others". Muslim 4: 1497, Chapter 1194, Hadith # 6904
DISCUSSION
ORGANIZATIONAL PLANNING
Think of one organization that you know well and answer the following questions:
(a) Does it have a strategic plan?
(b) Does it have action plans?
(c) Who plans for the organization?
(d) How is the follow-up of plans?
VISION
Think of your particular organization or any other organization that you know well and answer the questions. Make sure you mention the name of the organization and the nature of your involvement with it.
(a) What is the organization's long-term vision?
(b) How was the vision formulated?
(c) How far has the vision been translated into mission, goals, and objectives
FORECASTING
Think of your particular organization that you know well and answer the questions. Make sure you mention the name of the organization and the nature of your involvement with it. Think of three strategic issues for which you want to make a strategic plan. Answer the following questions about forecasting future trends.
(a) What is the present status?
(b) What are the expected trends in the next 5 years?
(c) What factors will affect these trends? Explain how each factor will impact the trends?
SCENARIO CASTING
Think of your particular organization that you know well and answer the questions. Make sure you mention the name of the organization and the nature of your involvement with it. Think of three strategic issues for which you want to make a strategic plan. Answer the following questions about future scenarios.
(a) Work out a possible scenarios for your organization in 5 year's time if the external environment is supportive assuming that other factors are constant
(b) Work out a possible scenario for your organization in 5 year's time if the external environment is neutral assuming other factors are constant
(c) Work out a possible scenario for your organization in 5 year's time if the external environment is hostile assuming other factors to be constant.
PREPARING A MISSION STATEMENT
Think of your particular organization or any other organization that you know well and answer the questions. Make sure you mention the name of the organization and the nature of your involvement with it.
(a) Who are we?
(b) In general, what are the basic societal needs we exist to fill (or what are the basic societal problems we exist to address)?
(c) In general, what do we want to do to recognize or anticipate and respond to these needs or problems?
(d) What is our philosophy and what are our core values?
(e) What makes us distinctive or unique?
MANDATES
Think of your particular organization that you know well and answer the questions. Make sure you mention the name of the organization and the nature of your involvement with it.
(a) What are the externally-imposed mandates on the organization?
(b) How will the organization respond to the mandates?
(c) What are the consequences of not responding to the mandates?
STAKEHOLDER ANALYSIS
Think of your particular organization that you know well and answer the questions. Make sure you mention the name of the organization and the nature of your involvement with it.
(a) Who are the individuals and organizations that have a vested interest in what your organization does?
(b) What are their expected responses to your plans?
(c) How will you deal with them?
ANALYSIS OF STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES AND THREATS
Think of your particular organization that you know well and answer the questions. Make sure you mention the name of the organization and the nature of your involvement with it.
(a) List the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats for the organization
(b) Identify relationships (i) between strengths and opportunities (ii) weaknesses and threats
STRATEGIC ISSUES IDENTIFICATION
Think of your particular organization that you know well and answer the questions. Make sure you mention the name of the organization and the nature of your involvement with it.
(a) What is the issue? (Be sure to phrase the issue as a question about which your organization can take some sort of action).
(b) Why is this an issue?
(c) What are the consequences of not addressing this issue?
(d) What are the practical alternatives we might pursue to address this issue?
COLLECTING INFORMATION
Think of your particular organization that you know well and answer the questions. Make sure you mention the name of the organization and the nature of your involvement with it. Think of one strategic issue for which you want to make a strategic plan. Answer the following questions about the information that you will need to collect.
(a) What is the information needed for the plan?
(b) Where is the information available?
(c) How will the information be collected?
(d) How will the information be used?
OUTLINING A STRATEGIC PLAN FOR OUR LOCAL AREA
Think of a geographically and socially well-defined Muslim community that you know very well. Select one of the following areas of concern in the community in the area and outline a 10-year strategic plan for it using the methods that you have learned.
Assume that the number of Muslims will either be stable or will increase. Assume that the general environment will be supportive of Islam.
Prepare a strategic plan as well as prepare contingency plans for the following scenarios: hostile external environment, neutral external environment, a situation of complete chaos.
Select the most favored scenario and give reasons for your choice.
The following are the areas of concern: family programs, youth programs, children programs, women programs, student programs, labor and professional unions, Islamic centers and mosques, schools and education, social welfare, disaster relief, fund-raising, awqaf and investments, dawa, translation and publication of books, mass media, training, politics.
Follow the following outline:
(a) Vision
(b) Mission
(c) Mandate(s)
(d) Stakeholder analysis
(e) SWOT analysis
(f) Strategic issues
(g) Various scenarios
(h) Favored scenario
(I) Analysis of the favored scenario
YOUR NOTES:
