A Case Study: The SFC and The Strategic Management Process
Laura Cooley `02
Issue date: 2/13/01 Section: Johnson News
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Caught amid unending cases, readings, and group meetings, it can sometimes be difficult to see the practical applications of what we learn here at the Johnson School. But members of the Student-Faculty Committee (SFC) had an opportunity to do just that last Sunday, Jan. 21st at the annual SFC offsite meeting.
First, for those of you for whom the word "offsite" evokes images of multi-day retreats to posh golf courses in tropical resorts, let me define the term so it more aptly fits the situation. The "offsite" was held in Ithaca, at Professor Joe Thomas's home. (It's all relative-that which isn't in Sage Hall is, by definition, "off site.") After some teambuilding exercises facilitated by Clint Sidle, the group camped out in the living room to start planning. The house quickly morphed into a conference center; notes cluttered the coffee table, flipcharts hung where a fireplace once stood, and other areas of the house were commandeered as breakout rooms.
But perhaps the offsite should have been at Professor Suwinski's house, because as I returned home and read through The Strategic Management Process, I learned that what the SFC had begun was a bona fide "strategic planning process." According to the text, step one of the planning process requires developing the organization's mission and goals. "The mission sets out why the organization exists and what it should be doing. ... Major goals specify what the organization hopes to fulfill in the medium to long term." With Professor Thomas and Susie Welgos '01 facilitating, the SFC did just that.
Mission: While the exact wording of a new mission statement is not finalized, the SFC is leaning towards something like: "Improving the overall Johnson School experience for prospective, current, and past students by coordinating efforts with the faculty, staff, student body, and Ithaca community." Still, a proposed mission statement of "Do good stuff" won high marks for getting right to the point.
Goals: Though the activities of the SFC are not limited by this list, the SFC also identified the major initiatives for this year:
First, for those of you for whom the word "offsite" evokes images of multi-day retreats to posh golf courses in tropical resorts, let me define the term so it more aptly fits the situation. The "offsite" was held in Ithaca, at Professor Joe Thomas's home. (It's all relative-that which isn't in Sage Hall is, by definition, "off site.") After some teambuilding exercises facilitated by Clint Sidle, the group camped out in the living room to start planning. The house quickly morphed into a conference center; notes cluttered the coffee table, flipcharts hung where a fireplace once stood, and other areas of the house were commandeered as breakout rooms.
But perhaps the offsite should have been at Professor Suwinski's house, because as I returned home and read through The Strategic Management Process, I learned that what the SFC had begun was a bona fide "strategic planning process." According to the text, step one of the planning process requires developing the organization's mission and goals. "The mission sets out why the organization exists and what it should be doing. ... Major goals specify what the organization hopes to fulfill in the medium to long term." With Professor Thomas and Susie Welgos '01 facilitating, the SFC did just that.
Mission: While the exact wording of a new mission statement is not finalized, the SFC is leaning towards something like: "Improving the overall Johnson School experience for prospective, current, and past students by coordinating efforts with the faculty, staff, student body, and Ithaca community." Still, a proposed mission statement of "Do good stuff" won high marks for getting right to the point.
Goals: Though the activities of the SFC are not limited by this list, the SFC also identified the major initiatives for this year: