NURS FPX 8020 Assessment 1 Strategic Plan Appraisal

NURS-FPX 8020 Assessment 1

Strategic Plan Appraisal

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Capella University

NURS-FPX8020

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Submission Date

Strategic Plan Appraisal

Healthcare organizations need to have an in-depth strategic plan to manage a complex regulatory environment and changing patient needs. The strategic plans have to strike a balance between competing priorities such as financial sustainability, quality improvement, workforce development, and community health outcomes, and operational excellence (Huebner & Flessa, 2022). Effective healthcare strategic planning involves stakeholder involvement, evidence-based decision-making, and performance measurement based on a systematic approach in clinical and administrative areas. Strategic implementation in any healthcare environment requires a constant adjustment to the changes in the regulatory environment, technological innovations, and demographic trends ( 2024). This analysis of the strategic planning approach of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will include the analysis of the reliability of the data, the processes of stakeholder engagement, and the holistic performance measurement systems of the institution.

Strategic Plan Analysis

Most organizations have elaborate strategic plans that are used to determine institutional direction and resource allocation. The Forging Ahead 2024-2028 strategic plan adopted by the UAB shows a high level of correspondence between the mission of enriching society and making it healthier and wellbeing and five main pillars of education, research/innovation, community engagement, patient care, and foundational elements of financial sustainability, diversity, and environmental stewardship (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). The focus of the plan on transformational education, breakthrough research, and high-quality patient care contributes directly to the university’s vision as a world-class research institution dedicated to enhancing the human experience.

The strategic priorities of higher education show the strength and market positioning of an institution. Research and patient care are priorities in the UAB plan, with aggressive goals such as 28 percent growth in external research spending to $913 million and 15 percent more patient visits (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). The emphasis on the growth of economic impact to 15 billion and the preservation of robust clinical programs in the plan is consistent with the fact that UAB is the largest research institution and comprehensive academic medical center in Alabama (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). The strategic planning should have clear priorities that can take advantage of the organizational capabilities as well as meet the needs of the stakeholders.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis offers an organization a logical approach to assessing its internal capacities and external environmental conditions. The UAB boasts considerable institutional capabilities, including a well-developed research infrastructure, the 27th highest research expenditure in the country, and a well-developed peer benchmarking system strategically placed among similar institutions (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). However, the university faces significant weaknesses, including a lack of comprehensive baseline data on key performance indicators and ongoing disparities in graduation rates between different student groups, which require targeted interventions. The external environment has significant opportunities, especially by aligning with national research funding trends and the needs of workforce development in Alabama, which may underpin the ambitious growth goals of UAB (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). On the other hand, risks are the stiff competition with aspirational peer organizations that rank higher and the possible scarcity of available resources due to the simultaneous growth strategy in eight strategic priority areas. Environmental scanning is an essential aspect of strategic planning that facilitates decision-making and deployment of resources.

The table below presents the data of the SWOT of the University of Alabama at Birmingham taken by the University of Alabama at Birmingham (2024).

Table 1

SWOT Analysis of UAB Strategic Positioning

Note. Data reflects internal assessments and public institutional benchmarks, including NSF HERD rankings and graduation metrics.

Validity of Data and Analytical Strategies

The overall analysis of data is what organizations are using to develop meaningful performance indicators and strategic priorities. The UAB has used more than 100 distinct measures based on various reputable databases such as the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), National Science Foundation Higher Education Research and Development Survey (HERD), and U.S. News & World Report ranking (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). The university included the metrics provided by the National Student Clearinghouse, Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). Other sources of data were the Association of American Universities (AAU), the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), and the U.S. Census Bureau demographics (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). The multi-source method enabled a comprehensive analysis of peer comparisons across research expenditures, enrollment patterns, retention rates, and operational metrics. The validity of strategic planning and the process of decision-making within an organization are enhanced by comprehensive data collection.

Internal performance data and external benchmarking standards should be well integrated with strategic planning. The current research expenditures, enrollment, retention, and graduation rates of the UAB are the baseline metrics with the values of 713 million dollars, 22,164 students, 84.2 percent, and 62.6 percent, respectively, which are obtained based on the institutional records (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). The university had the financial goals of FY24 philanthropic giving ($80 million), alums giving ($9.0 million), and credit ratings of Moody (Aa2) and S&P (AA+) (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). The metrics used in patient care involved the use of health system data across several entities that had a variation of >90 percent satisfaction baseline (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). The number of community engagement hours (24,704) and economic impact information ($12.1 billion) formed quantitative bases of growth indicators (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). Strategic planning based on data makes planning accountable and allows monitoring of progress systematically across organizational priorities.

Stakeholder Input

Effective strategic planning involves the involvement of stakeholders in a meaningful way so that there is complete input and institutional buy-in. In January 2022, the Strategic Planning Council of the UAB started its work under the guidance of President Ray Watts to update the 2018-2023 plan called Forging the Future to the next five-year cycle ( The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). In spring 2022, the council expanded to include several subcommittees and subject matter experts, providing research, analysis, and insights across education, research, patient care, community engagement, and foundational areas. Faculty, staff, students, and health system personnel numbering at least 55 across the university and the health system were involved in the development process (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). The presentation at a campus-wide town hall took place on October 25, 2023, and a comment period that was widely publicized to encourage the participation of broad communities was launched (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). President Watts also discussed the importance of stakeholder input, explaining that UAB’s most valuable resources are its students, faculty, and staff, who positively impact lives. The participation of stakeholders in strategic planning enables these plans to be more reflective of the diverse views and organizational needs of all institutional constituents.

The process of effective strategic planning includes feedback systematically, but with the focus on the priorities of the institution. All the feedback that was given was carefully reviewed, considered, and evaluated in opposition to other similar and competing feedback given by other members of the campus community. The final plan underwent several revisions based on stakeholder recommendations and suggestions. Feedback was provided in a narrow or area-specific manner with relevant schools, colleges, or units to be used in localized strategic planning activities (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). It was a tradeoff between extensive input and the necessity of a larger-than-life, institutional-level guidance. The ownership that comes out of structured stakeholder engagement enables the successful implementation of strategic plans at different levels of the organization.

Balanced Scorecard

A balanced scorecard is a methodology that offers an organization a wide-ranging strategy for measuring strategic performance, beyond the conventional financial measures. Kaplan and Norton created the methods and incorporated four overlapping points of view: economic, customer, internal processes, and learning and growth, so that the leaders could transform their strategic vision into practical goals and quantifiable results (Madsen, 2025). The financial aspect is concerned with conventional financial metrics, such as the goal of raising philanthropic donations by $12.5 million from an $80-million base, and attaining a 0.75 spendable cash proportion, as opposed to 0.57 points (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). The customer view will consider the satisfaction metrics of the UAB, aiming to raise the graduation rates to 70 percent based on the current 62.6 percent, and ensuring that patient satisfaction is more than 90 percent and that the visits increase by 15 percent (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). Operational efficiency is assessed through internal processes, such as the ambitious goal of UAB to increase research expenditure by 28 percent to 913 million and 25 percent in IP disclosures that rose to 104 per year (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). The learning and growth lens focuses on such development goals as surpassing 27,000 community engagement hours compared to 24,704 in the baseline and increasing economic impact to 15 billion compared to 12.1 billion (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). Balanced measurement systems are being used increasingly by modern organizations to gain sustainable competitive advantage by measuring strategic objectives in quantitative terms.

• Strategic Priority Balance Assessment

Strategic organizations must carefully balance competing priorities to optimize overall performance and mission achievement. The UAB’s strategic plan shows clear emphasis on research and innovation priorities, evidenced by the aggressive 28% target increase in external research expenditures to $913 million and substantial focus on intellectual property development (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). Patient care receives significant attention through 15% visit increases and telehealth expansion, while education priorities focus on modest enrollment growth of 5% and retention improvements (The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2024). Community engagement and sustainability initiatives receive relatively less emphasis, with smaller percentage targets and fewer specific metrics. The financial foundation receives appropriate attention through diversified revenue strategies and by maintaining strong credit ratings. Successful strategic implementation requires prioritization while maintaining organizational mission alignment across all operational areas.

Conclusion

The UAB comprehensive strategic planning process is a best practice since it has widespread stakeholder involvement, strong data verification, and priority setting. The balanced scorecard strategy of the university is an effective way of converting the strategic vision into a quantitative result in terms of financial, customer, internal process, and learning. A high degree of institutional mission and strategic pillars integration establishes accountability structures, but the priorities of research and patient care are more emphasized than community engagement activities. The success of the implementation hinges on managing the distribution of resources across the eight strategic areas and filling the baseline data gaps related to sustainability measures. To have transformational organizational results, effective strategic planning must involve continuous monitoring, stakeholder engagement, and adaptive management.

Appendix A: Balanced Scorecard for RUSH Health Equity Strategic Plan

The data for the balanced scorecard of The University of Alabama at Birmingham in the table below is taken from The University of Alabama at Birmingham (2024)