OverviewDevelop a strategic action plan for yourself.Note: Developing a strategic plan requires specific steps that need to be executed in a sequence. The assessments in this course are presented in order and should be completed in sequence.ContextThe final step in developing your strategic plan is to translate your strategy into action. A robust action plan contains four elements:Identification of specific actions to be undertaken in the next year or less.Establishment of a clear time frame for the completion of each action.Creation of accountability by identifying who is responsible for each action.Determination of one or more specific, immediate objectives that the action should achieve.Functional tactics and monetary ramifications are the underlying details of your strategic action plan. Functional tactics are short-term, narrow-scoped plans that detail the activities you will use to achieve your short-term objectives. The monetary ramifications of your strategic plan will likely be expressed in both income and expenses, for example, the amount of increased income anticipated by climbing the corporate ladder and the amount of money you may need to spend on education or professional development.Questions to ConsiderTo deepen your understanding, you are encouraged to consider the questions below and discuss them with a fellow learner, a work associate, an interested friend, or a member of the business community.What does it take to advance in the corporate world?ResourcesSuggested ResourcesThe following optional resources are provided to support you in completing the assessment or to provide a helpful context. For additional resources, refer to the Research Resources and Supplemental Resources in the left navigation menu of your courseroom.Library ResourcesThe following e-books and articles from the University Library are linked directly in this course.Bryson, J. M. (2010). The future of public and nonprofit strategic planning in the United States [Supplement]. Public Administration Review, 70, s255–267.Ghani, K., Nayan, S., Ghazali, S., Shafie, L., & Nayan, S. (2010). Critical internal and external factors that affect firms strategic planning. International Research Journal of Finance and Economics, (51), 50–58.Baloch, Q., & Inam, M. (2009). Strategic competitiveness: Creating firm's future. Journal of Managerial Sciences, 3(1), 87–109.Assessment InstructionsNote: Developing a strategic plan requires specific steps that need to be executed in a sequence. The assessments in this course are presented in order and should be completed in sequence.In the previous assessments, you have developed your mission statement, conducted a personal SWOT analysis and environmental scan, and laid out your long-term and short-term objectives. Now, you will create a strategic plan to achieve your objectives.Your completed Strategic Action Plan will be based on the information from your mission statement, your SWOT analysis, environmental scan, and your long-term and short-term plans; however, you do not need to include these items in this assessment.Develop a strategic action plan in which you address the following:Specific steps you will need to take in the next year to achieve your 5-year objectives.A time frame for completing each action.The scorecard you will use to measure the success of each action.The functional tactics you will use to achieve your short-term objectives.The resources (financial, human, and other) you will use to complete each action.An analysis of the monetary ramifications of each action.A plan for monitoring the progress of the action plan.A plan for handling obstacles or roadblocks.An explanation of how your overall strategic plan reflects your mission statement.To successfully complete this assessment, you may need to do some research on strategic action plans. Format this assessment as a research paper following current APA guidelines for both style and citing sources, making sure that you also use correct grammar and mechanics. There is no required minimum or maximum page length; however, you should strive to be as detailed as possible in addressing each bullet point, while also being as clear and concise as possible.Strategic Action Plan Scoring GuideCRITERIADISTINGUISHEDWrite coherently to support a central idea in appropriate format with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.Writing is coherent, using evidence to support a central idea in a consistently appropriate format with correct grammar, usage, and mechanics.Describe the steps and associated time frames needed to achieve long-term objectives.Analyzes the steps and associated time frame needed to achieve long-term objectives.Explain how to measure the success of the steps needed to achieve long-term objectives.Develops a scorecard to measure the success of steps needed to achieve long-term objectives.Describe functional tactics used to achieve short-term objectives.Analyzes functional tactics used to achieve short-term objectives.Describe the resources needed to complete the steps of a strategic plan.Evaluates the resources needed to complete steps of a strategic plan.Explain the financial ramifications associated with a strategic plan.Analyzes the financial ramifications associated with a strategic plan.Describe a plan for monitoring the progress of a strategic plan.Develops a plan for monitoring the progress of a strategic plan and proposes an implementation plan to ensure success.Explain strategies for addressing roadblocks and obstacles to a strategic plan.Evaluates strategies for addressing roadblocks and obstacles to a strategic plan.Explain how a strategic plan reflects a mission statement.Analyzes how a strategic plan reflects a mission statement.

Some organizational theorists would assert that an organization's culture cannot be "managed" in the truest sense of how one "manages" the processes and activities and things that exist within an organization. David Campbell (2000, p. 28) says that an organization "is being constructed continuously on a daily, even momentary [italics added], basis through individual interactions with others. The organization never settles into an entity or a thing that can be labelled and described, because it is constantly changing, or reinventing itself, through the interactions going on within it." At the same time, Campbell says that an organization "does have a certain character to it, such that, like driving on the motorway, not just anything goes" (p. x).Consider the sheer multiplicity of formal and informal groups, structures, tasks, functional operations, and individual interactions that exist and occur within very large organizations; these are seemingly endless. Consider as well the potential number (and combination) of individual to individual, individual to group, and group to group interactions that are likely to occur on a momentary basis within an organization (and then, there are the seemingly endless numbers of contacts/interactions with external stakeholders as well). The possibilities are seemingly infinite—or at least they are indefinite. For this reason, organizational culture seems more abstract, fragmentary, perhaps fluid—perhaps even relative and momentary.What is organizational culture? Can culture be managed in the same way that other systems and processes can be “managed”? Depending on your answer, what does this mean as to the use of culture as a “strategic control”?Reference: Campbell, D. (2000). The socially constructed organization. London: Karnac Books.