Strategic Planning - External Environment
Effectiveness and efficiency of operations
A. Management obtains current information about the external environment as necessary to evaluate strategic assumptions.
- Are processes designed that systematically obtained data and information about the environment? Such processes include customer surveys, competitor analyses (including benchmarking), and other forms of business analyses.
- Are employees who interact frequently with customers trained to collaborate and their insights shared with personnel responsible for new service development?
- Is upward flow of information within the organization supported so that employees can provide University leaders with relevant information to guide their strategic assessments?
- Is bottom-up, horizontal and cross-function, and top-down communications supported throughout the organization?
- Is the University’s success in obtaining information about the external environment measured, as necessary to evaluate strategic assumptions, against its strategic goals?
B. Management understands the technological environment.
- Is responsibility for technology issues delegated to an appropriate manager?
- Are the technology research and development departments funded and staffed as appropriate so that it can monitor the business, technical, and industry literature and attend technical seminars, conferences, trade meetings, and expositions?
- Is the technology research and development department required to report regularly
on its activities, such as programs underway, current
status, persons responsible, sponsorship, and potential uses or applications?