Introduction
The following is an essay on strategic planning of Hope for New Life, which is a non-profit making organization (Dubost, 2010). “Strategic planning is a systematic process of envisioning a desired future and translating this vision into broadly desired goals or objectives and a sequence of steps to achieve them” (Desourdis, Rosamilia, & Jacobson, 2009, p. 127). Strategic planning begins with what the management desires and works on to achieve the set objectives (Krug, 2004). It also looks at the wider picture and is very flexible in choice of its means. As the chairman of Hope for New Life, the planning may differ from that of profit making organizations, yet the foundations of strategic planning remains the same. This essay will look into the goals and objectives that the association has set towards the youth groupings in Malaysia and the country in a wider perspective. It will also focus on how strategic planning may assist in achievement of the company’s goals and objectives (Hafsi, 2005). This essay will look at how effectively the leader works with board of directors to fulfill the organization’s mission, and correlate strategic leadership perspectives, principles and tactics to Hope for New Life (Carper, 1983).
Background Information
The Malaysia scouting association was formed in 2006 and became a member of the world organization. It is the national scouting association in Malaysia (Krug, 2004). Its vision is to create a better world, and its core mission is to educate young people to play constructive role in the society (Jäger, 2010).
The main objective of Hope for New Life is to contribute to the development of young people in achieving their full intellectual, physical, emotional, spiritual, social and character formation in the society by equipping them with knowledge, skills and positive attitudes useful to themselves and the communities (Hafsi, 2005).The purpose of strategic planning is to look into how these goals and objectives may be achieved through such a method in terms of organizational mission, work, finances, governance and administration (Jäger, 2010).
The Strategies on Mission Work
Paraphrasing the quote of Peter Drucker, an influential management consultant, the first job of the leader of Hope for New Life is to think through and define the mission of the company with the board of directors. The leader must translate the intentions of the members of Hope for New Life, as reflected in its mission, into work to produce meaningful results (Hatten, 1982). The association may communicate its vision to its members and the society in any preferable way. Therefore, the mission to educate young people to be constructive in the society is among the core objectives of Hope for New Life (Krug, 2004).
The main goal of the Hope for New Life is to develop the physical, emotional, intellectual, social, spiritual, and character formation of young people to be reliable and responsible members of their local and international community through education and development by providing a safe environment where young people can learn and grow by developing their talents and skills as well as discovering for themselves (Dubost, 2010). At the same time experiencing fun, adventure and challenge. Both board of directors and the chairman play a major role of mentoring the young people and providing them with adult they can relate to. All these activities require finances, administration, and management therefore; it will incorporate all aspects of management to ensure that the core mission work is effective through governance management, proper financial management, and effective administration (Hafsi, 2005).
Short-Term Strategies
For the Hope for New Life to be successful it must incorporate both long term and short term planning strategies. Short term planning strategies are day to day business operations that set short term goals of one to 12 months that provide validation and evidence of success towards achieving the mission of organizational movement (Hatten, 1982). While long term planning strategies are based toward achieving long term plan to achieve a specified mission through attainment of the objectives set (Carper, 1983). As part of short-term strategies the movement must incorporate all aspects of management. The administration department will help the young scouts understand their tasks and responsibilities. Administration helps the management to delegate their responsibilities effectively from the top leadership to the junior representatives. Effective administration is important because it allows for transparency and accountability and therefore smooth running of movement affairs. In the case of Hope for New Life it is important for the board to have the church’s administrator who will be in charge of education and development (Dubost, 2010). Under the overall administrator we will have the regional coordinators who will be in charge of coordinating the education activities at the provincial level. From the provincial representatives there will districts and divisional heads who will be charged with promoting Hope for New Life’s activities and coordinating youth to assist in societal development.
Financial planning is very important aspect of strategic planning. The boards of governance have responsibility of ensuring that the financial manager is competent to deal with full financial planning. This is important because the church’s movement has the core objective of developing young talents through education and physical activities that require a lot of finances to implement, and therefore, it should focus on its major goal, which is education, when disbursing its funds. Another aspect is proper salaries for the managers working in offices to motivate them, and finally, the company should allocate some funds for the first aid kit (Jäger, 2010).
To ensure effective communication, the board must have system manager who will be in charge of managing the information system and developing scouting website that will assist in effective communication and reduce the cost of education. The board should also set up guidance and counseling offices where the young boys and girls will be guided how to develop their moral values and mode of interaction (Hafsi, 2005). This is very important because the youth will be well-educated, well-bred and aware of the kind of groupings they should interact with. For the movement to implement its core objectives effectively, it should employ well-trained teachers who can carry on the process of educating, while aiming at achieving the mission and vision that require corporation of both the top management and the board of directors. They should, therefore, work together to attain the organizational goals and objectives and incorporate the four functions of management with the strategic management (Krug, 2004).
Conclusion
In conclusion, strategic planning is very important aspect in any organization, either profit making or non-profit making one. Sometimes, staff members and the board need to recognize that strategic planning requires investment of time and money (Medley, 2008). They need to know the importance of the process to the organization. Strategic planning brings clarity and agreement on vision and mission of the company by providing an avenue for dialogue between the staff and the board. It helps the organization prepare for the future by outlining the steps to achieve a desired goal (Schalm, 2008). Strategic planning helps the company anticipate and manage change and improves the decision making by clearly defining the organizational direction. For an organization to achieve its goals and objectives, it must incorporate the aspects of management and its four functions (Hafsi, 2005).
References
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