Case two. Development of a strategic plan and the planning process at a medical center.

In 1983, the medical center had no strategic planning process and no individual or department with an identified responsibility for planning to meet the needs of the organization and its service community. There were limited resources to apply to this endeavor and a prevailing attitude among current leadership that any planning done should be focused solely on facilities development. While the process pursued in this case is similar to that in Case One, unlike Case One, conditions within the organization are less than ideal for the implementation of any process, formal or informal, for the formulation of strategy. Read alone, the case is instructive. Considered in combination with Case One, it provides grist for a good discussion of the differences between organizations which have the capacity to be strategically managed and those which have learning to do.