LEVERAGING THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS TO ADVANCE EXCELLENCE IN UNIVERSITIES

Organizations use the strategic planning process to manage Organizations use the strategic planning process to manage purposefully the daily operations and anticipate challenges that may affect the operations of the enterprise to build a stronger future. In this era of COVID-19, planning has become vital and a way of life for organizations, including universities, currently faced with a turbulent economic, political, cultural, and pandemic stresses of the 21st century. To manage change, including the current stresses from the COVID-19 pandemic, university managers must confront tough questions regarding universitys technical, structural, political, and cultural foundations. The present study examines the divergent views, beliefs, and assumptions about the benefits of strategic planning process undertaken to improve excellence. Questions in the data-gathering instrument were directed to probe the perceptions of faculty and staff of a university in Tanzania.