What is it?
Logical strategy formulation is a practice that may be employed productively in regard to both process and content, on macro and micro levels. With respect to the process aspect, it can helpfully highlight generically applicable phases of a change management endeavour, on the larger scale of an overall project and in implementation of particular components within the venture.
In the content domain, on a macro level logical strategy formulation crafts a thoughtful and workable consistent master plan to show how a proposed course of action leads purposefully and progressively toward realization of a desired appropriate outcome. This gives a rubric within which particular component initiatives can likewise in turn be situated and legitimized as worthy coherent attempts to advance an agenda for change.
Level of research support: Strong evidence of effectiveness
Why do it?
The discipline of engaging in a process of logical strategy formulation gives clarity, focus, direction and guidance to an initiative. Process-wise it draws attention to inherent dimensions or dynamics in the undertaking with the demands and challenges to be faced in those areas. Content-wise it also confirms the propriety (or not) in principle of activities entertained for inclusion in an overall endeavour. As well, it facilitates determination of indicators and performance of evaluation along the way. This exercise in charting a credible course gives confidence of relevant and realistic goals with encouragement of positive prospects for attaining meaningful results. It supplies justification for an endeavour to others in the campus community whose support can strengthen the cause. Failure to engage in such planning jeopardizes success as less likely to occur and more modest if it does happen.
Who is it for?
Who can facilitate it?
How can we implement it?
Identify and clarify phases in the process of change
At the broad level of overall process a change management model can distinguish cyclical or recurrent stages that need to be worked through. Such a model is probably more useful if kept relatively simple (though not simplistic). It might, for example, be helpful to differentiate between stages that are focused on understanding the existing situation, articulating a desired outcome, preparing for the needed change, carrying out appropriate measures, and assessing the undertaking. The follow-through for such an order of phases would be to fill in the tasks and issues that pertain to each.
One integral aspect of grasping a situation is a careful assessment exercise (ideally taking various forms of inquiry) striving to identify and describe a significant problem to be tackled. This investigative job would do best to also take inventory of resources both on hand and yet to be developed (or acquired) to respond to that problem. It is from such considerations that the ensuing steps can be taken of defining fitting objectives and deciding on suitable strategic activities (with suitability judged also in view of the evident benefit of such activities as already conducted in other comparable contexts).
A management model can be likewise applied to the process of putting into place specific pieces that make up the intervention inventory chosen to bring about change. For instance, an analysis concluding part of a problem to be addressed involved a lack or deficiency in policy (e.g., pertaining to conduct, or availability, or alcohol advertising) could proceed to elaborate on what would be respectively required in new policy formulation, legitimation, implementation and evaluation.
It should be appreciated that the functionally distinct phases or stages of a change management process alluded to above are not necessarily entirely discrete, nor do they operate in a strictly linear flow. Rather, while sequentially related, they can at times take place somewhat concurrently with overlap in application and bearing.
Map out how an appropriate goal can be reached
By contrast to the characteristic cyclical dynamics of managing the process of change, in the domain of content a logic model can be fruitfully applied to explain how intervention measures of various kinds (individually focused and environmentally oriented) may be taken leading to the attainment of more immediate outcomes and then eventual impact.
The work of crafting such a model will run in the opposite direction of its proposed progression. Building it will, in view of an identified, thoughtfully defined concern, begin at the end with a summary statement of what the intended long term goal of the initiative is. The conceptual gulf between the recognized existing problem and the declared eventual goal is bridged by working consecutively backwards from that final prospect, articulating more intermediate objectives that will pave the way for its realization, deciding on attainable short term targets that mark progress en route, and finally specifying the strategies and activities within those methods that can reach such proximate mileposts and, via those, the more distant markers.
While such a logic model sets forth the overall plan of action, it is adjustable. As the learning experience supplies reason for altering course, revisions to the degree necessary can be incorporated. The constraint will be that modifications still have to meet the demands of consistent fit, with plausible connections of consequence in the expected outworking of the strategies and succession of outcomes.
A logic model can be utilized with specific strategies in charting out stages of outcome for those components and showing how various activities within the strategies can contribute to reaching the objectives laid out for them. This will assist resource allocation and will also aid appraisal.
Various resources exist to encourage logical strategy formulation in response to college student drinking.
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