| Three weaknesses plague the literature on the use of strategic planning in higher education. First, the term isn't well-defined. Second, no empirical research exists which measures whether strategic planning enables an institution to change more efficiently than other planning processes. Third, researchers haven't examined the compatibility between the assumptions about decision-making behavior inherent in strategic planning and the assumptions about decision-making behavior in colleges. Critical differences include degree of centralization, goal conflict, and faculty authority.;The research hypothesis was: The percent change between the year planning began and 1-3 years after planning began in financial strength, financial independence, tuition dependence, and liquidity won't improve more for 4-year private institutions which engaged in institution-wide strategic planning than for comparable institutions which didn't engage in institution-wide strategic planning during the same time period.;Whether an institution conducted strategic planning was determined based on a survey mailed to the nation's 873 four-year private institutions. The response rate was 63%. 94% reported they had conducted a centrally-coordinated planning process considering issues that crossed departmental and administrative unit boundaries at some time since 1984. The survey provided numerous insights regarding attitudes and activities associated with strategic planning. It didn't appear the existence or degree of financial problems were an impetus to engage in strategic planning.;Using ANOVA, the hypothesis was supported. The use of an institution-wide strategic planning process didn't create greater differences in the fiscal condition of institutions which conducted planning compared with institutions which didn't use the process. There was substantial evidence that the findings could be explained by the mismatch of assumptions concerning decision-making behavior.;This research was the first known attempt to systematically determine which private colleges engage in strategic planning and one using a formal research design to determine what effects, if any, resulted when such institutions conduct strategic planning. Future research is needed to investigate how the use of strategic planning affects other aspects of the functioning of an institution of higher education. Also beneficial would be research on how strategic planning can be used in a professional, decentralized, loosely coupled environment. |
