The Power of Strategic Thinking | Association of Governing Boards

The Power of Strategic Thinking | Association of Governing Boards: Indeed, one could argue that the institutional conservatism of colleges and universities and the different ways in which market incentives work in higher education motivate institutions to devote most of their resources and energy to the first box—doing even better what we already do. Certainly that is the goal of our strategic plan at Smith College, like the plans of many colleges and universities. Furthermore, the alumni support so vital to reputation and fundraising often depends on a certain cultivated nostalgia, the opposite of “selective forgetting.” Projects that represent a radical change in an institution’s business model, even when undertaken as pilot endeavors, are relatively rare at colleges and universities.