Strategic Management

1. Strategic Management

2. Capacity at the environment level: Legal Socio-economic Political Cultural Gaza infrastructure, etc. Environment Capacity at the organization level: capacity of the staff, computers, equipment, leadership and commitment of the leadership, etc. Organización Capacity at the individual level: skills and knowledge of water sciences, attitude towards and commitment to the work, etc. of the staff members. Staff members Introduction • Organizations can be regarded as people management systems.

3. Introduction

4. Definitions, Concepts and principles • Strategic management is the art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that will enable an organization to achieve its objectives. • It is the process of specifying the organization's objectives, developing policies and plans to achieve these objectives, and allocating resources to implement the policies and plans to achieve the organization's objectives.

5. Definitions, Concepts and principles • Strategic management combines the activities of the various functional areas of an organizationto achieve organizational objectives. It is the highest level of managerial activity, usually formulated by the Board of directors and performed by the organization's Executive Manager and executive team. • Strategic management provides overall direction to the organization and is closely related to the field of Organization Studies.

6. Definitions, Concepts and principles • "there is strategic consistency when the actions of an organization are consistent with the expectations of management, and these in turn are with the context.“ • “Strategic management is an ongoing process that assesses the organization’s business; assesses its competitors and sets goals and strategies to meet all existing and potential competitors; and then reassesses each strategy annually or quarterly [i.e. regularly] to determine how it has been implemented and whether it has succeeded or needs replacement by a new strategy to meet changed circumstances, new technology, new competitors, a new economic environment., or a new social, financial, or political environment.” (Lamb, 1984:ix)

7. Tasks of Strategic Management • Strategic thinking (Needs assessment of target beneficiaries and organization). • Formulation of Vision, mission and values. • Setting SMART objectives. • Crafting a strategy to achieve objectives. • Implementing a strategy. • Monitoring and Evaluating performance, reviewing new developments and initiating corrective adjustments.

8. Classical Management Functions Four basic management functions Planning Organizing LeadingControlling Lead to Achieving the organization’s stated purpose Determining what needs tobe done, how it will be done, and who is to do it Defining goals,estab- lishing strategy, and developing subplans to coordinate activities Directing and moti- vating all involved parties and resolving conflicts Monitoring activities to ensure that they are accomplished as planned

9. Differences between Strategic Management and Classic Managerial Functions • Strategic Management: • Entrenches the cultures of management by (developmental) results, learning and quality of resources and processes within organization. • Improves the sensitivity of organization towards gender, participation and human rights based approaches in organization management. • Promotes Performance/results budget based approach in organization management.

10. Differences between Strategic Management and Classic Managerial Functions • Reflects the consensus, synergy and complimentarity reached with all relevant stakeholders. It compliments the work of other stakeholders and avoids any duplication. • Focuses on the priority needs of the target groups and not on their desires. • Concludes strategic analysis including internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats/risks. • Addresses the organizational weaknesses.

11. Differences between Strategic Management and Classic Managerial Functions • Integrates likely risks and mitigation measures into management • Transforms the work of organization from charity and relief, and from crises to opportunity. • Develops a logical framework matrix for every program as a transparent management tool ensuring rational linkage between intervention logic components (goal, objectives, outputs, activities and inputs).

12. Differences between Strategic Management and Classic Managerial Functions • Indicators-based. • Upgrades appropriate organizational structure with required staff and job descriptions to implement the strategic plan. The organizational structure responds to the technical and managerial inputs required to the strategic plan implementation. • Links between the organizational structure and logical framework matrices which are an essential step towards a results-based accountability system.

13. Differences between Strategic Management and Classic Managerial Functions • Develops a conceptual model for reporting, monitoring and evaluation system based on indicators. This allows minimizing the deviation between the planned and achieved results and concludes lessons learned from successes, less successes and failures. • Establishes efficient mechanisms including administrative and financial systems to support the institutional development of organization

14. Differences between Strategic Management and Classic Managerial Functions • Develops an applied training of organization staff and board of directors based on a participatory needs. assessment of organization staff and senior management. • Improves organization outreach, marketing and communication. • Improves organization fundraising.

15. The Strategic Management Process The smartest and most effective Managers think, plan, and act strategically Strategic Thinking Strategic Management Implementation (Act, monitor and Learn) Strategic Planning

16. The Strategic Management Process Step 1: Strategic thinking (situation analysis, self-evaluation and stakeholder analysis) • It is sometimes referred to as determining where were you and where you are now. • Situational assessment focuses on analysis and diagnosis of past experience and present situation for better understanding as follows: • The past experience of organization will be analyzed with focus on problems faced; lessons learned and experienced risks and opportunities. • The present situation of organization will be assessed with emphasis on:

17. The Strategic Management Process • Primary stakeholder analysis: characterizing potential major stakeholders who affect or be affected by organization work and assessing their concerns, capacities and interests. • Donor analysis: potential donors will be interviewed to assess donor future priorities, the image of organization and improvement needs to strengthen their strategic partnership with organization.

18. The Strategic Management Process • Beneficiaries' analysis: defining the target groups who will be directly positively affected by the strategic plan and final beneficiaries (i.e. Society) who benefit in the long term at the level of the society at large. • Defining geographical scope of interventions. • Needs assessment of target groups will be determined by problem tree analysis based on cause & effect relationships. Gender issues were considered with emphasis on the needs of females and males, their perspectives and priorities both practically and strategically. Focus should be given to what target groups need and not on what they want/ desire.

19. The Strategic Management Process • Organizational capacity assessment of organization using Participatory Organizational Needs Assessment Technique (PONAT) to determine the capacity building needs of organization and its staff to fulfill the needs of target beneficiaries.

20. The Strategic Management Process • All above are summarized in a SWOT (internal strengths and weaknesses and external threats and opportunities) analysis.

21. The Strategic Management Process Step 2: Strategic Planning (Strategy formulation) • It is referred to determining where you want to go, and then determining how to get there. • Concurrent with situational assessment, future outlook will be developed including vision, mission statements highlighting core values based on human rights. • Using vision statement as a guide, programs' strategic goals will be developed to accomplish that vision considering marketing and communicating the plan to donors and other stakeholders with emphasis on management by results (outputs, outcomes and impacts). • Logical framework matrix will be developed for each program - defining program structure and results (goal impacts, SMART objectives’ outcomes, outputs, activities and inputs), testing its internal logic & risks, formulating measurable indicators of success.

22. The Strategic Management Process Step 3: Strategy Implementation 3.1 Allocation and management of sufficient resources (financial, personnel, time, technology support) 3.2 Organizational structure • Review the existing organizational structure and work loads of allocated staff in the framework of responding to the requirements of results-based organizational culture. • The key elements to be considered in reviewing proper organizational structure are:

23. The Strategic Management Process • Work specialization: To what degree are tasks subdivided into separate jobs? • Departmentalization: On what basis will jobs be grouped together? • Chain of command: To whom do individuals and groups report? • Span of control: How many individuals can a manager efficiently and effectively direct? • Centralization versus decentralization: Where does decision-making authority lie? • Formalization: To what degree will there be rules and regulations to direct employees and managers?

24. The Strategic Management Process • Propose modifications (if any) to organization organizational structure including allocation of additional staff and work loads indicating new duties and responsibilities. • Review job descriptions and propose improvement, if any. Redraft job descriptions needing improvement to fit with the organizational structure and allocated staff. • Conduct Staff training needs assessment • STAFF SATISFACTION is a priority to ensure beneficiaries’ satisfaction as strategic partners. To this end, a questionnaire with close ended questions will be distributed to organization’s staff to define determinant factors for their satisfaction. Data of questionnaires will be analyzed to conclude the significant determinant factors of staff satisfaction as a decision support tool.

25. The Strategic Management Process 3.3 Institutional Mechanisms After concluding the organizational structure: • Produce written Personnel Affairs System and procedures • Produce written Administrative System and manual • Produce written Financial System and manual • Produce and setup the computerized Accounting System.

26. The Strategic Management Process 3.4 Control System (Monitoring and evaluation) • Monitoring focuses on minimizing deviation between planned and actual time, cost and performance. It is an internal responsibility. • Evaluation draws learned lessons from successes, less successes and failures. • Reporting system will be developed to ensure improved communication within organization and with donors and other stakeholders.

27. The Strategic Management Process 3.5 Networking and Communication • To maximize outreach and visibility of organization. • To enhance synergy and Concertation with other actions within and outside the organization. • To promote exploitation of results by other stakeholders. • To disseminate and exchange information with other stakeholders. • (Newsletter, brochure, poster, pamphlets, TV and radio shots, local newspapers, community forums).

28. Methods used by Strategic management • To undertake the five phases of strategic management, a multi- methodological and dynamic learning-oriented approach will be used combining qualitative and quantitative techniques based on triangulation, cross checking and validation.

29. Methods used by Strategic management • The multi-methods include: • secondary data analysis (materials review), • semi-structured interviews, • focus groups, • case studies, • participatory observation, • community forum and • PONAT/OCAT questionnaire with close ended questions based on Lickert scale.