Speaker 1: Hello everybody. Here we are again with healthcare quality presentation in a series of 12 videos about strategic planning in healthcare. I tried to divide them to help clarify different issues. We will start with this introductory video. For more videos, please visit my Facebook page Health Care Quality. Planning is one of the main management functions that include plan, implement, and evaluate. The concept of strategy has roots in both political and military history. The Greek verb strategio means to plan the destruction of one's enemies. Many terms associated with strategic planning, such as objectives, mission, strength, and weakness, were developed by or used in military field. Strategic planning refers to a process for defining organizational objectives, implementing strategies to achieve those objectives, and measuring the effectiveness of those strategies. Different steps for strategic planning. Scan the environment. Select key issues. Set mission statement, vision, and broad goals. Develop goals, objectives, and strategies for each issue. Develop an implementation plan to carry out strategic actions, and monitor, update, and scan. We will discuss each of these steps in detail. During the strategic planning process, we try to answer these questions. Where are we now? Where should we be going? And how do we get there? Strategic planning has been synthesized into four stages. The first stage is a situation analysis that focuses on the question of where are we now? And includes four activities. One, organizational reviews, including mission, philosophy, and culture. Two, external assessment of the market structure and dynamics. Three, internal assessment of distinctive characteristics. And four, evaluation of competitive position, including advantages and disadvantages. The second stage of the planning process is a strategic direction, followed by the third stage of strategy formulation. Stages two and three address the question, where should we be going? The main activity of the strategic direction stage is to develop a future strategic profile of organization. Strategy formulation establishes goals and objectives for the organization. The purpose of these stages of the planning process is to determine what broad future direction is possible and desirable, and what generally the organization is going to target as its future scope of service and position. The fourth and final stage is action planning, determining how we get there. This stage involves identifying the actions needed to implement the plan. Key activities include setting schedule, determining priorities, and allocating resources to ensure implementation. Yet, strategic planning is a journey without specific destination. It will take soul-searching courage and commitment to face a future full of uncertainty and potential threats. It's a good question to ask, what are the benefits of strategic planning? In fact, there are many, including improved financial performance, provides the organization with self-concept, specific goals, guidance, and consistency of decision-making, encourages managers to understand the present plan for the future and understand when change is vital, requires managers to communicate vertically and horizontally, improves overall coordination within the organization, and encourages innovation and change to meet the challenges of a complex and evolving environment. It's also a customer-driven process that builds important organizational goals from the diverse ideas and values of employees at every level. It's based on the philosophy that people support what they help create. Through collaborative efforts at every stage in the process, the work of the organization becomes aligned with the work goals and aspirations of the individual responsible for its success. Translate participation into a clear understanding of the organization's vision and into commitment to customer service and performance improvement. Thank you.