Sustainability and resilience planning
Employing Strategic Planning in the Public Sector
Important:
This exam is to be answered individually without discussion with, or assistance from, others. Complete the midterm examination and submit it to the Midterm Assignment no later 11:59 p.m. Sunday, November 15, CST.
Examinations submitted up to 24 hours late after the due date will be penalized two grade steps, e.g., an A grade becomes a B+, an A- becomes a B, etc. No exam will be accepted after 24 hours past the due date without the expressed written approval of the instructor.
This examination is a case study analysis. This case study will require you to consider all of the knowledge you have learned this semester from weeks 1-4 and apply this to a real-world case. As you read the case study, think of how the readings for our course help you understand the case (the problem statement), help you analyze the situation presented (theories, concepts, and their application), and guide your recommendations (conclusions and what should be done).
There is no “one right answer” to this exam. As with your discussion posts, I evaluate your analysis based on the application of the readings, depth of study, and the quality of your recommendations.
Your paper should have eight pages minimum: one title page, one abstract page (to tell the reader what to expect within the paper), five pages of content (with a brief conclusion to sum up what your paper was about), one reference page (with a minimum of four references).
Strategic Sustainability Management in International Settings
In Chapter 3 of Joyce’s (2015) book Strategic Management in the Public Sector, the author discusses several countries’ experiences in strategic management. Select any country discussed and look at its strategic management experience and then compare it to the United States’ strategic Management experience and its effects on the local government of your choice. Make sure to expand your research and apply the strategic management properties and effects to local governments. For example, I provide examples of the case studies of local governments in Germany and Sweden.
Click on the link, and the e-Book will open in a new window.
http://docshare04.docshare.tips/files/26701/267011310.pdf
Joyce’s (2015) Strategic Management in The Public Sector (PDF)Preview the document
Your case study analysis requires you to explain how strategic planning helps create opportunities for growth. Then you should compare it with the current issues the state, federal, and local governments are facing in the United States. Your minimum 6-page paper should contain at least the following sections. Please use the subheadings to delineate one part of your analysis from another. The readings assigned thus far should help guide each section. Understand that this case study analysis does not require you to create a strategic plan for the entire country or for local governments.
Introduction and Problem Statement
Succinctly describe the strategic Describe why you think a strategic sustainability plan will be helpful in guiding further decision-making. You may also discuss (you are encouraged to do so) how strategic thinking could prevent the potential problems. Be very specific and support your work with references. Explain how strategic management makes better decisions, and exactly which aspects/tools of strategic planning help make this possible. Are there any sustainability-related initiatives currently in place? How are they being implemented and measured? You may go beyond the research provided in the book. How is this different for local governments in the United States?
Goals and Objectives
List, in bullet style, goals, and the objectives which the strategic management aims to achieve for the country you chose. How will these strategies affect local governments?
A scan of the Internal and External Environment
Identify and analyze critical internal and external stakeholders. Where are the local governments in this process?
SWOT Analysis
Identify and analyze strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Remember, strengths and weaknesses are the internal aspects and opportunities, and threats are the external aspects. You may apply another analysis, too, such as the Quadruple Bottom Line approach. However, you must show the explanation of how you are using the QBL analysis.
Action Steps and Strategy Formulation
Describe action steps and formulate strategies. Who should be involved in further planning and implementation of action steps? What actionable, sustainability-related initiatives need to be on the table and under consideration? How will they be measured and implemented?
Recommendations
Recommend a set of sustainability and management strategies for the country in dealing with the future planning issues demands, the stakeholder’s concerns, and other interested parties. Make sure to provide appropriate in-text citations and references.
Later in the semester, we will learn about other tools such as performance measures that can be incorporated into the strategic sustainability planning and implementation process; however, this midterm examination should give you sufficient practice at fundamental aspects of strategic planning and enable you to begin to tie these elements together to develop well-guided recommendations.
Format: General Information
Research papers are in 12 font size and Time New Roman (usually) and double-spaced with a 1-inch margin (top, bottom, right, and left). Do not use italics or bold print.
Do not use the “Center” or “Justify” feature for spacing within the text.
Have a running head in the upper left side of the header and page number, such as 1 in the top right part of the header. Make sure the running head is included on each page.
It should have a title page that includes; your name, title of paper, and college.
It should have an abstract. This is a one-paragraph summary of your paper. It tells the reader what information they can expect to find using facts from the document (no I statement) and tells the focus of the paper.
The conclusion at the end of the paper states a summary of the main topics/points made in the paper.
Do not use symbols such as (&), write (and) within the main text. This symbol can be used when citing two or more authors within the text (Jones & Smith, 2010).
No new information should be presented in the conclusion.
If you add a questionnaire or chart, cite it as an addendum (if more than 1; label A, B, etc.) and add to the end of the paper and refer to it in the paper.
Remember, it takes three sentences or more to make a paragraph.
Spell out acronyms the first time the reader is presented with it.
Citing Information
Cite where information has come from within the paper when it appears in the paper (especially when using quotes) using APA format. Do not put them all at the end of the paragraph unless the entire paragraph is from that/those authors.
Check how to cite in the text. If you add the page number (Author, Year, p. ##) Without page number (Author, Year)
If you cite a study, author, or quote from a book or article other than the author of the book/article you are using, check the reference page and find the reference information to cite the original author (referred to as double citing).
If the reference information is not available on the embedded source (Smith), avoid citing or use of direct quotes from that author (Smith).
If your site the Diagnostic Statistical Manual, cite it in text and on the reference page. Check the APA website to see how to document it.
Cite the author of the web page (in text and reference page), not the title of the document (if you know the author).
Websites referenced on the reference page should look like this: Alibašić, H. (2017). Measuring the Sustainability Impact in Local Governments Using the Quadruple Bottom Line. The International Journal of Sustainability Policy and Practice 13 (3): 37-45. Retrieved from https://cgscholar.com/bookstore/works/measuring-the-sustainability-impact-in-local-governments-using-the-quadruple-bottom-line?category_id=common-ground-publishing
Look how to cite a personal interview in text and on the reference page.
The reference page should be double-spaced and APA format style.
The references cited in the text and the references page should match.
Websites referred to within text should not include www or the .com, .org, or .net.
Be sure to remove hyperlink when using website references (right-click; then select remove) in text and on the reference page.
Avoid starting a sentence using a numeral; spell it out (Hundred percent not 100%)
Additional Note: If you wish to analyze a similar problem in your community, a county, city, township, email me with the recommendation and article to support your request, and I will consider it. I am interested in seeing these case studies applied broadly. For those interested in analyzing from a non-profit organization perspective, email me with your suggestion.
Good luck!
