Cynthia-

In the text,

Healthcare Strategic Planning

, they analyze the third phase of the strategic planning process which addresses the strategy formulation of an organization. Once a clear overall direction is determined in phase two, the healthcare organization (HCO) can begin to determine its goals, objectives, and future strategic development (2012). It is best to have a wide variety of internal stakeholders involved in this phase because it presents multiple diverse perspectives which increases the probability of success. The internal stakeholders offer their unique expertise, business experiences, and connections.

The inclusion of external stakeholders has its pros and cons as the article,



Advantages and Disadvantages of Stakeholders

, suggests. External stakeholders are invested in how a health care organization’s performance will affect the community, local business economy, or environment (2020). They are also able to offer insight into possible financial or legal issues depending on their background. Potential disadvantages occur when external stakeholders work towards their own interests which can block the progress of the healthcare organization. Since some external stakeholders are community groups or local political appointees their agendas may not always line up with that of the healthcare organization (Leonard, 2020). This being said, it is up to individual healthcare organizations to decide if they want to utilize external steakholders.

Ashley-

Active involvement of internal constituents during the Strategy Formulation Phase is critical. Internal stakeholders, such as different members of a hospital staff, have unique insight into their organization?s operational strengths and weaknesses (Posey, 2022). Involvement from staff members from a variety of departments and roles offers the task force diverse perspectives and increases the likelihood of meeting objectives established during the Strategy Formulation Phase. Further, internal stakeholders like hospital staff have a more comprehensive understanding of the organization?s infrastructure and its ability to facilitate strategies and meet proposed targets.

When constructing a task force for the Strategy Formulation Phase, a delicate balance between insight from both internal and external stakeholders is essential. External stakeholders like community members can offer unique awareness of the healthcare needs within the surrounding community. Similarly, external stakeholders, like investors, have valuable knowledge about market forecasting and trends. Specialized diversity among the strategy formulation task force will ultimately lead to a broader spectrum of knowledge and enhance the probability of the task forces establishing realistic initiatives to successfully resolve the organization?s critical issues (Harris, 2018).

Lateria-

No, “goals” and “objectives” are not the same thing from a strategic planning perspective.

Tony DeFranco, T. C. C. C. (n.d.).

Principles of Management

. Lumen. Retrieved February 4, 2022, from

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atd-tc3-manageme…

Goals are outcome statements that define what an organization is trying to accomplish. They are a collection and a reflection of action within an organization. In contrast, the objective is the measurable actions that supports the completion of a goal, measured by performance. By not incorporating one of the features in the SMART acronym it will have you all over the place trying to achieve your goals. The acronym gives a sense of direction and helps you to be organized while working towards your goals. It will further encourage you to define your objectives and set completion dates. SMART acronym stands for Specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound all of which is needed to in order for anyone to be successful in the process of strategic planning and achieving goals.

David-

As an organization plans, the planners will seek to find out what goals the organization will set goals and objectives that will set the path of how the unfolding of the organization will follow and prioritize what must come first (Harris, 2017). A goal is a guide that everyone in the organization that makes the decision will follow for the unfolding future (Harris, 2017). When an organization what?s to determines how to get from the present situation to the future point, the organization will set an objective. When planning objectives, it is vital to develop those objectives to be set at a baseline and measurable to have a readable outcome. Planners can use the specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) tool, which allows the development of objectives to take place (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, n.d.). If one of these SMART tool features can cause objectives to be miss measured and outcomes of planned objectives to not have the potential desired product the organization is looking for (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, n.d.). For example, an organization has a ten-year plan that sets a specific goal that has a measurable action off the baseline message. Plus, with relevant information pertaining to the objective, the planners skip the achievable objective and ignore practical issues that the organization will face within the community can cause that organization to lose out (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration n.d.).