STRATEGY

STRATEGY

Strategy is the third 'term' used to capture a sense of purpose and direction in organisations. As we noted earlier, it is distinguished by its holistic approach to management Grid by its extended timescale. it is also intended to be values-driven and to be linked to both vision and mission.


Until the shift to self-management in the late 1980s and 1990s, strategic management was the preserve of local, regional and national governments. They adopted an overview of the needs of education in their territories and developed plans to implement these ideas. These plans were typically expressed through the annual budget-setting process which allocated resources between cote( Dries of spending. Decisions were made about the relative priorities of different phases (preschool, primary, secondary, vocational education, etc.) LS well as between different heads of expenditure (teachers, other staff, equipment, buildings, materials, etc.). These priorities were inevitably territory-wide and could not be linked to the specific needs of individual schools and colleges.
The implementation of the Education Reform Act, and Its international equivalents, changed the focus of strategic management in many countries. While governments retained a budgetary role, they generally lost their control of the resource mix in individual schools and, in England and Wales, ceded all powers in respect of colleges which became independent of LEAs through Incorporation.
The reduced capability of LEAs to plan strategically for their areas was regretted by come heads (Bullock and Thomas, 1997, p. 110) but most welcomed the freedom to manage their schools holistically and to integrate curriculum, finance, staff and external relations (Bush et al., 1993; Levacic,1995). Further education colleges experienced the most fundamental changes and Limb (1992, p. 170).
Shows the significance of incorporation to the adoption if a strategic approach at Milton Keynes. College: 'The increased emphasis oil strategic planning which resulted from the Education Reform Act, encouraged us to look more closely at the strategy element of planning.

The links between Self management and strategic management are also evident in oilier countries. In Management Initiative (SNAI) in 1991 led to a focus on planning, as Wong et al. (1998, p. 67) suggest:
The School Management Initiative ... is a major restructuring of the operations of secondary and primary schools, with the belief that greater self-management can enhance school performance... An official aim of the SMI scheme is 'to, encourage more systematic planning and evaluation of programmes of activities in schools and reporting their performance' (Education Department, Hong Kong, 1993). Consequently, the development of an annual school plan is one of the changes required under SMI ... With self-management, schools are more free to address their own problems and, in order to manage change and routines in a controlled manner, systematic and effective planning is important and highly desirable. .
Caldwell and Spinks (1992, p. 92) make it clear that strategy is a key component of the principal's role, which is exercised by:
• Keeping abreast of trends and issues, threats and opportunities;
• Discerning megatrends;
• Sharing their knowledge;
• Establishing structures and processes which enable the school to set priorities rind formulate strategies;
• ensuring that the attention of the school community is focused on matters of strategic importance;
• monitoring the implementation of strategies as well as emerging strategic issues; facilitating an ongoing process ¬of review.

Wes Burnham (1994b, p.84) defines strategic planning as:
A process operating in on extended time frame (three to five years) which translates vision and values into significant, measurable and practical out comes. Although the primary responsibility of senior management, the process requires two-way communication at all stages and has to be focused on the core purpose and practical activities of the school or college.
Caldwell and Spinks (1988, p. 61), who have played an important role in disseminating self-management practice, adopt a similar definition in their discussion of 'corporate planning':
A continuous process in administration which links goal-setting, policy making short-term. and long term planning, budgeting and evaluation in a manner which spars "all levels of the organization, secures appropriate involvement of people according to their responsibility for implementing plan,- as well as of people with on interest or stake in the outcomes of those plans, and provides a framework for the annual planning, budgeting and evaluation cycle.
However, in researching the process of strategic planning in further education, Lumby (1999, p. 75 identifies the importance of the process itself: 'All of the principals referred to the unimportance o(.-' strategic planning document and the importance of the process.' What appeared to be important fox them about this process was the articulation of the ‘avaltres and understandings' that was involved: 'This may involve a limited group, such as the senior management team, or the entire college community but it is essentially a conversation, an exchange which is only secondarily designed to delineate action h Primarily, it is an act of union, designed to reinforce commitments and motivation' (ibid.)