Overview
Reflective Strategic Plan:
Guidance
Scenario of the Reflective Strategic Plan
For this assignment, you are the leader of a strategy development team working for an
organisation. Your strategy development team (in this case consisting of one person,
you) can adopt the role of an external consultant to or an internal strategy development
team or task force for the organisation.
Your task is:
1) to identify a present or future strategic issue (strategy challenge) and briefly explain
why that issue is a strategic issue for the organisation.
2) to develop a strategic plan for the organisation to address the strategic issue you
have identified.
3) to be critical of your strategic plan and consider the limitations of the plan. As we
know from the module discussions, strategic plans have some inherent weaknesses.
Thus, reflect on the effects the plan, when implemented, might have on organisational
culture, or in terms of power and politics in the organisation, or in terms of ethics. (The
themes of the last three ‘issues’ lectures in the module. You should focus on one of
them so that the reflection retains a sharp focus.)
Choosing the Organization
The Team (that is, you) can choose an organisation you 1) work for, or you are
otherwise familiar with. Or, 2) it can be an organisation you might establish yourself, a
future enterprise you might be involved with. The strategic challenge or issue can also
be real or imagined but in both cases it should be plausible and meaningful for the
organisation.
You can choose any organisation, except those we have discussed in detail during the
lectures as example cases.
1. 'real' refers here to a strategic challenge the organisation actually faces in current
circumstances (the organisation is already grappling with the issue).
2. 'imagined' refers here to strategic challenges that the organisation, given the
circumstances, could very likely face (although it is not yet
evident that it will).
If you work on a real organisation and their real strategic challenge, be sure not to
disclose confidential information in a way that is identifiable. You can give a real
organisation and the people you discuss pseudonyms so that anonymity is ensured.
The reason why it is good to work with an organisation you have an affiliation with or
plan to establish (a for-profit company, a social enterprise, a cooperative, an association
1or a club, etc.) is that you can then easily provide the background/contextual information
needed for the assignment.
You will identify the strategic issue/challenge (see next page for further guidance) that
you think is meaningful and relevant to the organisation in question. This strategic issue
may relate to one of the themes in the module, or it may be something that you have
identified through further reading. The strategic challenge can be something that is
related to the organisation's goals, competitive advantage or future success.
Requirements
Focus on one key strategic issue
Again, you can choose any organisation, except those we have discussed in seminars
as example cases. You have the flexibility to choose the specific strategic issue or
challenge to focus on, but it is essential to provide a clear rationale for your choice.
Explain why and how the issue is of strategic importance to the organisation.
The purpose of this assignment is to delve deeper and analyse the strategic issue you
have identified. Make sure to maintain a clear and focused approach in addressing
the particular strategic issue you choose to address in the strategic plan. Part of the
task in this assignment is to demonstrate your ability to develop a strategic plan with a
specific and effective focus, all within the allocated word limit.
Ensure you clearly indicate the strategic issue your plan addresses and justify why it is
indeed a strategic issue for the organisation. Essentially, you are aiming to make a
persuasive argument through reasoning and evidence. This strategic plan assignment
emphasises developing analytical focus, reflecting on potential plan effects, and critically
using supporting evidence.
References
You can use non-academic sources to provide additional information or supporting
evidence, but the core analysis must be rooted in academic sources, primarily from
the research literature, which may include, but is not limited to, strategy literature.
Incorporate at least five sources from the module's reading list and utilise them
knowledgeably and meaningfully in your text. Be sure to also include and use other
sources you consider to be important.