Free Essay Example: Creating a Strategic Plan

A strategic plan is an organizational plan where an organization designs a systematic process that the organization will follow in achieving the defined goal and objectives that the organization wishes to achieve. The strategic plan contains the specific steps that need to be followed towards achieving the goals and objectives (Chang, 2008). The strategic plans are used created and implemented in the long term. The strategic plan needs to be aligned with the vision of the organization. The effectiveness of the implementation of strategic determines whether the strategic plan will be successful. The thesis of the paper is, therefore, premised on evaluating a strategic plan of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which is creating a nation of learners Strategic plan 2012-2016.

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IMLS Foundation

IMLS Mission The mission of IMLS is to offer museum and library services to learners in order to spur innovation, cultural and civic engagement, and lifelong learning.

IMLS Vision Provide leadership through research

• Policy development
• Grant-making
• Core Values The core values of the organization include:
• P Perseverance
• R Respect
• I Integrity
• D Dependability
• E Ethics
• Purpose

Planning is very important when developing strategic plans because the Institute of Museum and Library Services will be able to know the resources that will be required to implement the strategic plan and other factors that are likely to influence the strategic plan (Chang, 2008). Since the strategic plans are implemented for a couple of years, the Institute of Museum and Library Services need to ensure the organization is ready, including the employees, because they are part of the organization going to implement the strategic plan. The ultimate goal of the strategic plan is to meet the vision and mission of the company.

The purpose of the strategic plan is to create a nation for learners, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services has a role to play in creating an environment for people to become learners. Creating a nation for learners entails creating an environment that supports people to become learners (Chang, 2008). Planning ensures that all the activities are in order; hence, the strategic plan will succeed during the implementation. The planning guides all the stakeholders the roles that they will play in the implementation of the strategic plan. The strategic plan implementation is a process; hence, planning ensures that the process is followed strictly.

Action planning is part of the planning that is involved where the main goals and priorities are achieved. The organization needs to remain focused throughout the entire implementation of strategic planning (Chang, 2008). The aim of planning is the operation of the strategic plan; there are many factors that can affect the implementation of the strategic plan. The timings need to be followed, and budgets need to be used strictly for the intended purposes. Planning also ensures that there is the cooperation of all the stakeholders.

Objectives of the Strategic Goal

Objectives Impacts

• Increasing accessibility of IMLS services People will be more knowledgeable by accessing the information that they need.
• Increasing the spread of IMLS to cover more areas People from areas without a library will get the opportunity of accessing the services provided by a library. Students will access reading materials
• Expansion of services The IMLS plans to begin offering a wide range of services in terms of learning materials.
• Promoting Learning Some people have never got the opportunity to read because of the lack of reading materials.

Resources

In the Institute of Museum and Library Services, strategic allocation and use of resources are very important. IMLS has the responsibility of not only providing leadership, data, and policy analysis but also funding, which helps in managing change and evolving the services. Funding is among the critical components of strategic planning (Chang, 2008). The organization should be able to plan and rack both the inputs as well as the outputs. Financial analysis helps in the accountability of previous projects and also projects future performance. When it comes to the utilization of resources, what matters is not the huge amount but rather accountability and transparency. More results do not necessarily mean better results because the later depends on how well they are utilized. The way the resources are used leads to different levels of results and, subsequently, the benefits. It is also possible to do everyone that one wishes to do hence the reason why there is a balanced decision on where the resources should be channeled to.

IMLS strategic alignment of resources helps in ensuring that the resources are prioritized, thereby ensuring that the public gains value from the organization's activities. The organization helps in supporting museums and libraries through grants. It offers federal support for approximately 123,000 libraries in the United States of America (Losey, 2019). A significant amount of resources are used in promoting lifelong learning. The Institute supports learning and literacy for people of all ages. This is achieved through libraries and museums. Some resources are also used in building the capacity, thereby improving the welfare of the community members. The organization also channels resources in ensuring that the information is accessible through both museums and libraries. They ensure that the facilities have the relevant material that the users require.

Goals

IMLS key stakeholder is the learner, and all its activities are geared towards the support of library and museum activities that equip people with skills relevant to incomplete participation in their communities as well as globally.

• Through the promotion of museums and libraries, IMLS creates a strong community which enhances cultural opportunities, civic engagement as well as economic liveliness.
• IMLS promotes the use of technology in museums and libraries, which facilitates knowledge discovery as well as culture.
• The organization plans to come up with strategies and policies that will facilitate public accessibility of information and ideas.

Libraries and museums require funds to operate so that they can be equipped with necessary materials. The demand for library and museum services is increasing because the public needs to obtain knowledge affordably. The economic strain is one of the barriers to funding for private and public libraries and museums. Libraries and museums help learners, those seeking employment as well as those searching for information that helps in living healthy lives. Public access to information is key in the IMLS strategic plan. The organization should come up with strategies that can take care of the rising demand of knowledge and ideas. There should be equitable access to museums and libraries. Since this might be costly, they should devise means of making the information accessible and less expensive by embracing technology such as e-books. Also, IMLS greatly increases the knowledge gaining by providing free internet (Losey, 2019). To ensure that the learners can become more productive, all the libraries and museums should have free internet. IMLS creates a learned community through the creation of digital content through recordings and paintings. Also, the accessibility of computers in libraries and museums should be highly increased, and the searches are mainly on education, work as well as health-related.

To create a nation of learners, accessibility, and equity in the museum and library facilities are key. Different stakeholders, such as the government and the IMLS, can achieve this by ensuring that the facilities are equipped with the relevant materials and that the users are motivated to use them (Losey, 2019). Each community should have at least one library and museum where they can obtain knowledge and ideas for academic excellence, economic excellence as well as wellbeing. Libraries and museums are not only used by students but by other people such as entrepreneurs. By creating a learning nation; therefore, it means there will be academic excellence, economic prosperity as well as healthy living.

Outcomes

Increasing the accessibility of museum and library facilities will increase the number of people who are well informed, knowledgeable, and skilled. Through access to free internet, the learners can broadly research in all spheres of life, including economic, academic as well as other areas that help in improving the quality of life (Losey, 2019). In a learned nation, individuals have a strong civil life, as well as preserved cultural heritage. Computer accessibility in libraries will help in helping individuals who wish to gain knowledge of health and well as research on the workforce. It will also boost the levels and quality of education in the communities. The following graph shows how the strategy can boost in increasing the number of people assessing the library.

Evaluation of Methods and Tools

Outcome evaluation is carried out to establish whether the project's intended objectives were achieved (Sullivan, & Richardson, 2011). One of the methods of evaluating project outcomes is interviews. After the implementation of the strategic plan, interviews can be carried out in the libraries as well as the museums. The questions should be framed to access the knowledge and skill levels. The other tool that can be used to access the outcome of the project surveys. Before the implementation of the strategic, a survey should be conducted to establish the position of the organization. Another survey should be carried out after implementation to determine the improvement.

The Implementation of the Assessment Process

Aligning strategic planning with the assessment helps in promoting the effectiveness of an organization (Sullivan, & Richardson, 2011). IMLS activities are designed as per the mission, vision, and goals. The activities help in increasing the learner community by assisting individuals to access the materials needed to increase the level of knowledge and skills in education, workforce as well as in health. When an organization's activities are anchored on its goals, the outcomes are as planned.

Results

The strategic planning and its alignment to the outcome base assessment have helped in increasing the number of learners (Sullivan, & Richardson, 2011). The policies made in both library and museum is anchored on the improvement of knowledge and skills among the learners. The accessibility of library and museum facilities has a positive impact on the education, economy as well as healthy living of the people. The knowledge and skills obtained would significantly help in improving public management.

Reference

Chang, G. C. (2008). Strategic planning in education: Some concepts and methods. In Directions in educational planning: a symposium to honor the work of Francoise Caillods.

Losey, E. (2019). Retrieved 29 November 2019, from https://www.imls.gov/assets/1/AssetManager/StrategicPlan2012-16_Brochure.pdf

Sullivan, T. M., & Richardson, E. C. (2011). Living the plan: Strategic planning aligned with practice and assessment. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 59(1), 2-9.