16.8. SUMMARY

Strategic management and thinking are particularly important for research organizations due to many uncertainties and to the need to coordinate disparate activities to meet organizational goals and objectives. A strategy process can help focus the organization on future needs and thus stay in tune with fundamental organizational priorities and goals.

Strategy comprises a mission, strategic objectives, policies, and programs. Developing this picture of strategy is accomplished by scanning the environment for trends that imply opportunities or threats to the organization, analyzing internal strengths and weaknesses, identifying core competencies; creating growth strategies, analyzing the competition, and then identifying and allocating the resources necessary to fulfill strategy.

Overly specific quantitative goals and related action plans established in a strategic plan can be detrimental if misused. For example, overemphasis on numerical goals and targets often proves to be too rigid and tends to undermine the dynamic flexibility and creative vision that a strategic plan should strive to achieve.