Strategic choice vs strategic planning
17/Jan/2007 17:18
When David
Weil asked how many of our unions engage in some form
of strategic planning, almost everyone in the class
raised a hand. But how many unions actually stick to
their strategic plans? So often the plan represents
the ideal – the reality is represented by everyday
decisions that are unconnected to the plan. It is no
wonder that strategic planning is regarded by many as
a distraction at best, or at worst a waste of time.
Weil’s
strategic choices framework offers a way to bridge
the gulf between strategic planning and day-to-day
union operation and decision-making. It is a
framework to help union leaders and activists make
strategic choices about what they are going to do—and
not going to do—in order to reach their goals.
In his words: “Strategic choices occur when leaders evaluate and make decisions in light of (rather than separate from) their long-term and strategic objectives. Strategic choice, therefore, does not only occur in those rare forums where fundamental change in union strategy and structure can be adopted…Instead it is an intrinsic part of ongoing decisions on internal matters (hiring, promotion, resource allocations) and day-to-day operations (collective bargaining, contract administration, organizing campaigns) that cumulatively affect the direction in which a union is moving.”
Strategic leverage and organizational capacity
Weil’s strategic choices framework suggests that all decisions (day-to-day operational decisions as well as longer term strategic decisions) must take into account two factors: strategic leverage and organizational capacity.
Strategic leverage arises from external factors. For example, a union that operates in a country with strong labour laws has more strategic leverage than a union in a country with weak laws. Unions that represent highly skilled workers may have more strategic leverage than unions with members who can be more easily replaced. These external factors might be influenced by a union’s strategy in the long term, but the union has little control over them in the short and medium term.
Organizational capacity, on the other hand, is something that a union can determine. For example, a union’s organizational capacity is impacted by its own financial decisions, human resource decisions (who is recruited, who is assigned to do what, what training is provided), structural decisions (what the union’s internal collective bargaining structures look like), and so forth.
Unions with high organizational capacity are more capable of implementing key strategic decisions, of increasing the union’s strategic leverage, and ultimately achieving success. It is possible to be in a position of high strategic leverage without having organizational capacity—a union that represents very skilled workers in highly regulated industries may be in such a position. But it is difficult if not impossible to move from a position of low strategic leverage to a higher position without increasing organizational capacity. Most importantly, it is very rare that a union can succeed (or sustain success) without having both high organizational capacity and high strategic leverage.
David Weil has developed a really nifty web-based “Strategic Choice Assessment Tool” at www.scatsurvey.com. It is designed to assist union leaders to carry out a strategic choice analysis of their own union. It is free of charge and anyone can use it to assess their own union’s strategic leverage and organizational capacity. Interestingly, the students in our class assessed their own union strength and capacity very high. (There is a tendency in the labour movement for leaders at all levels to over-estimate strength, perhaps because we feel a need to counter the negative views of unions that dominate society.) Regardless of individual results, the assessment tool generates good discussion and leaders can use it to try to agree on a common starting point for the journey forward and upward on the strategic board game.
In his words: “Strategic choices occur when leaders evaluate and make decisions in light of (rather than separate from) their long-term and strategic objectives. Strategic choice, therefore, does not only occur in those rare forums where fundamental change in union strategy and structure can be adopted…Instead it is an intrinsic part of ongoing decisions on internal matters (hiring, promotion, resource allocations) and day-to-day operations (collective bargaining, contract administration, organizing campaigns) that cumulatively affect the direction in which a union is moving.”
Strategic leverage and organizational capacity
Weil’s strategic choices framework suggests that all decisions (day-to-day operational decisions as well as longer term strategic decisions) must take into account two factors: strategic leverage and organizational capacity.
Strategic leverage arises from external factors. For example, a union that operates in a country with strong labour laws has more strategic leverage than a union in a country with weak laws. Unions that represent highly skilled workers may have more strategic leverage than unions with members who can be more easily replaced. These external factors might be influenced by a union’s strategy in the long term, but the union has little control over them in the short and medium term.
Organizational capacity, on the other hand, is something that a union can determine. For example, a union’s organizational capacity is impacted by its own financial decisions, human resource decisions (who is recruited, who is assigned to do what, what training is provided), structural decisions (what the union’s internal collective bargaining structures look like), and so forth.
Unions with high organizational capacity are more capable of implementing key strategic decisions, of increasing the union’s strategic leverage, and ultimately achieving success. It is possible to be in a position of high strategic leverage without having organizational capacity—a union that represents very skilled workers in highly regulated industries may be in such a position. But it is difficult if not impossible to move from a position of low strategic leverage to a higher position without increasing organizational capacity. Most importantly, it is very rare that a union can succeed (or sustain success) without having both high organizational capacity and high strategic leverage.
David Weil has developed a really nifty web-based “Strategic Choice Assessment Tool” at www.scatsurvey.com. It is designed to assist union leaders to carry out a strategic choice analysis of their own union. It is free of charge and anyone can use it to assess their own union’s strategic leverage and organizational capacity. Interestingly, the students in our class assessed their own union strength and capacity very high. (There is a tendency in the labour movement for leaders at all levels to over-estimate strength, perhaps because we feel a need to counter the negative views of unions that dominate society.) Regardless of individual results, the assessment tool generates good discussion and leaders can use it to try to agree on a common starting point for the journey forward and upward on the strategic board game.
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