From Strategic Thinking to a Plan of Action: The Process of Mapping Organizational Quality: A Case Study of the USC Rossier School of Education

Abstract

What is strategic planning? The idea of allowing organizations to “think” and “contemplate” their future enterprises through some disciplined process is not a new phenomenon. The process of strategic planning can be seen everywhere, from complex large-scale multinational corporations and government to small-scale businesses and non-profits. This focus on planning has allowed organizations of all sizes to engage in processes in which actors think, strategize, develop, and implement measureable strategies and outcomes that define both internal and external success and quality. This chapter will be a case study of the University of Southern California (USC) Rossier School of Education strategic planning process that began in August of 2011 with an inaugural Strategic Think Week. This process brought the Rossier community and outside stakeholders together to develop a common identity and big picture ideas that would be refined and culminated into the current 2012–2017 USC Rossier School of Education Strategic Plan that drives and defines the operations, development, and assessments of quality and success for the school internally as well as communicated to the external world.