Now you have a solid understanding of the importance of strategic planning, your selected organization's key core concepts and components, and goals that align with its mission, vision, and values.

Assessment 4

• Now you have a solid understanding of the importance of strategic planning, your selected organization's key core concepts and components, and goals that align with its mission, vision, and values. You have evaluated where the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats exist. You also have created an action plan with goals and determined how it will be communicated to stakeholders.

Your final task will be creating an implementation plan and considering the metrics to evaluate the plan moving forward. If you were to create a real-life strategic plan, there are specific tools most leaders use in this process. The two most often used are the Balanced Scorecard and SMART goals.

Often balanced scorecards are created to communicate strategies, align strategies, and measure and monitor strategies. "The name 'balanced scorecard' comes from the idea of looking at strategic measures in addition to traditional financial measures to get a more 'balanced' view of performance" (Balanced Scorecard Institute, para. 1). It gives stakeholders a visual representation of goals or objectives that are being worked on, responsible parties, and ways these goals are being measured to track their success, e.g., with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Watch the brief video titled "What is a Balanced Scorecard?" in the following reading list to learn more about balanced scorecards.

·        Assessment 4: Monitoring Plan Implementation reading list.

Once the goals of the strategic action plan are created, you must evaluate them. A popular method to consider when creating these KPIs or measurable goals is the SMART method (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound). Using the SMART method also encourages accountability, because it creates ownership by indicating who will be responsible for accomplishing each goal.

Watch the brief video titled "How to Set SMART Goals: Goal Setting for Business" in the following reading list for a better understanding of the SMART method and how it is applied to creating goals so that you can measure them successfully.

·        Assessment 4: Monitoring Plan Implementation reading list.

In this final assessment and section of your strategic plan you will create an executive-level implementation plan and specify how you will monitor this plan.

Reference

·        Balanced Scorecard Institute. (n.d.). Balanced scorecard basics. https://balancedscorecard.org/bsc-basics-overview/

Assessment Instructions

Using the same organization and the same factor from the current AHA Environmental Scan report that you used in all the prior assessments, in a 4–5 page, double-spaced paper for the CEO, explain how you will help the organization successfully implement its strategic plan and how this plan will be evaluated.

In your paper:

4.     Provide a brief overview of the factor from the current AHA Environmental Scan report that you chose in the first assessment.

5.     Briefly explain the issues you identified in the second assessment and the action plan initiatives you created in the third assessment.

·        This brief explanation should serve as a simple reminder of these items.

6.                  Explain 4–5 steps you would take to implement your action plan.

·        Do not just list ideas. Instead, provide an in-depth discussion behind each suggested step and explain why you think it will allow for a successful implementation.

·        Evaluate the strategies you would suggest to ensure the plan is implemented successfully.

·        Keep in mind the communication strategies you mentioned in the third assessment to persuade your stakeholders to climb on board.

7.                  Create 4–5 meaningful benchmarks or performance measures and explain how you would use them to monitor the success of your implementation plan.

·        Identify questions you would ask to reveal measurable goals.

·        Consider the Balanced Scorecard and SMART methods here to help guide your responses.

8.                  Your paper should include the following components:

·        Title page.

·        Introduction.

·        Implementation plan.

·        Evaluation plan.

·        Conclusion.

·        Reference page.

All the work you have done so far in this course has prepared you for this final step, and you are ready to present this document to your CEO.

Additional Requirements

·        Document Length: 4–5 double spaced pages, not including the title page or reference page.

·        Supporting Evidence: Include at least 4 scholarly and authoritative sources to support the steps you suggest and the performance indicators you chose.

·        APA Formatting: Your paper, citations, and references should be formatted according to APA style and formatting guidelines. Evidence and APA can help with this.

·        Submission Requirements: Submit your paper in the Assessment area.