Not for Profit Planning

Business Planning

A business plan is critical to the effectiveness of strategic planning in the program. The business plan is essentially a more comprehensive vision of the strategic plan . Where the strategic plan focuses strictly on objectives, and finding ways to achieve those objectives, the business plan discusses a wider range of factors. In particular more detail goes into things like analysis of internal resources. Understanding what the financial implications of strategy are is part of the business plan. The business plan also explains what resources might be available to the company and how those resources can be deployed to achieve the strategic objectives. Thus the business plan elaborates on the strategic plan, tying together more comprehensive factors such as finances, marketing, resources and leadership (Ballowe, 2010). Implementation is a major part of the business plan, and in that respect the business plan is more comprehensive in nature than a strategic plan.

The logic model is a "conceptual approach to describing the activities of the project and the relationships among the activities, theoretical foundations of the program and the program's goals." The logic model is not explained, but a diagram is provided that serves as an example of what a logic model would look like. The diagram does not explain actions that would take place. The logic model in this case lacks logical flow -- using arrows is not a substitute for using words to effectively convey how doing one thing will create the objective change in another. The logic model seems only to provide an explanation of the system in question, so in that respect is does outline the relationships between different components of the system, but nonetheless it says nothing about how change will be affected. In that, the logic model is only helpful for people who need to understand the system they are trying to change. My hope is that somebody who is in charge of a system already understands everything that is in the logic model -- I wouldn't personally hire anybody who didn't.

Program theory models are another tool by which the relationships between different components of the system can be understood. They use words instead of pictures, but the effect is the same -- they get managers to think about the systems they are supposed to be running. This allows for a far greater level of detail and clarity to be provided -- pretty pictures don't explain anything. Wilder (2009) notes that the "if" "then" approach can help to draw causal links between the different elements of the system. In that, the program theory model actually has use, because it can be used to design strategy implementation. When you know how to change something, that informs the development of strategy implementation plans. If you know that if you increase physical education funding then obesity rates will be lowered, and lowering obesity rates is one of the strategic objectives, it stands to reason that more funding will be given to physical education in order to bring about that strategic outcome. That is a simplistic example, but the use of program theory models works that way -- by getting administrators to understand the causal links that exist within the organization.

3. Business planning relates to program planning in two key ways. A program plan is essentially a subset of the business plan, and this relationship lies at the heart of the relationship between the two. A business plan is overarching, for the entire organization, and takes into account all of the different aspects of the business. The program is typically one of many programs within the business. The program planning methodology outlined in the text, for example, has the budget before setting the objectives, something that would never happen in a business plan. But the program and its outcomes are inherently going to be constrained by the funding. The funding level is laid out in the business plan. Thus, the business plan is a precursor to the program plan, framing the program both in terms of budgets and objectives. The program plan also only exists within the context of the business plan. If the program does not meet the needs of the business as a whole, it will not be an active program. Thus, the program plan has to fit within the context of the business plan.