Strategic planning in the small private liberal arts college
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, (1982)Abstract
The literature on strategic planning for institutions of higher education is overwhelmingly prescriptive in nature, and its prescriptions urge the adoption of a planning model that is virtually identical to that developed for and employed by profit- and growth-oriented industry. No clear evidence has been shown, however, that the industrial model is appropriate for college use. Furthermore, the prescribed planning process is almost invariably comprehensive, formal, highly structured, and rational, a process often referred to as "synoptic." Deviation from this formal mode is not recommended; indeed, alternative modes of planning are rarely even recognized or identified except pejoratively. Here again, there is no clear evidence that the prescribed, formal process is preferable or even necessary. There have been a few studies which have examined the applicability of industrial planning models and concepts to larger universities and graduate schools of business, but there has been virtually no investigation of this matter in the small, private, liberal arts college sector. This dissertation describes an inquiry into the planning practices of several such small institutions. Three case studies were prepared and analyzed based on our field investigations, and nine others were found in the literature. The questions examined by this research were: (1) Are the concepts of industrial strategic planning also applicable to small college planning? (2) Does application of these concepts require a formal, highly organized, continuously functioning planning system? (3) Under what circumstances are college planners most apt to practice comprehensive or synoptic planning, and under what circumstances are they apt to deviate towards incomplete processes? (4) What is the nature of these deviations? Broadly, the study shows considerable support for the applicability of industrial planning concepts, not only when employed in formal, highly organized planning systems, but also--significantly--even in ad hoc planning episodes or in informal, unstructured planning systems. In addition, there is evidence that departures from fully synoptic planning tend to occur under conditions of extreme environmental pressures or when strategic alternatives are well-known prior to the beginning of the planning effort. These departures appear to include various forms of incrementalism. Finally, these findings raise questions about the necessity of installing the formal, highly structured--and expensive--planning systems called for by the prescriptive literature.