Assignment Prompt & Instructions
**Assessment 4**
**Implementing and Evaluating the Strategic Action Plan**
Prepare a 4-5 page paper for a health care organization's CEO that explains how you plan to successfully implement its strategic plan and evaluate the success of the plan.
## **Introduction**
**Note:** Each assessment in this course builds upon the work you have completed in previous assessments. Therefore, you must complete the assessments in the order they are presented.
This assessment provides an opportunity for you to create an executive-level presentation explaining how your strategy can help the organization successfully implement its strategic plan. In addition, you will create benchmarks or performance measures to monitor the success of your implementation plan.
**Reminder:** Complete the assessments in this course in the order they are presented. You will complete sections of a strategic management plan for each assessment, and in this assessment, you will continue to use the organization you chose and the factor from the AHA’s most recent Environmental Scan report you chose in the first assessment
## **Professional Context**
Now you have a solid understanding of the importance of strategic planning, your selected organization's key core concepts and components, and goals that align with its mission, vision, and values. You have evaluated where the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats exist. You also have created an action plan with goals and determined how it will be communicated to stakeholders.
Your final task will be creating an implementation plan and considering the metrics to evaluate the plan moving forward. If you were to create a real-life strategic plan, there are specific tools most leaders use in this process. The two most often used are the Balanced Scorecard and SMART goals.
Often balanced scorecards are created to communicate strategies, align strategies, and measure and monitor strategies. "The name 'balanced scorecard' comes from the idea of looking at strategic measures in addition to traditional financial measures to get a more 'balanced' view of performance" (Balanced Scorecard Institute, para. 1). It gives stakeholders a visual representation of goals or objectives that are being worked on, responsible parties, and ways these goals are being measured to track their success, e.g., with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Watch the brief video titled "What is a Balanced Scorecard?" in the following reading list to learn more about balanced scorecards.
– [Assessment 4: Monitoring Plan Implementationreading list.](https://capella.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/leganto/public/01CAPELLA_INST/lists/2409960390006731?auth=SAML§ion=2432606750006731 "Select this link to launch this material in a new window.")
– [Assessment 4: Monitoring Plan Implementationreading list.](https://capella.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/leganto/public/01CAPELLA_INST/lists/2409960390006731?auth=SAML§ion=2432606750006731 "Select this link to launch this material in a new window.")
##### [**Reference**](https://capella.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/leganto/public/01CAPELLA_INST/lists/2409960390006731?auth=SAML§ion=2432606750006731 "Select this link to launch this material in a new window.")
– [Balanced Scorecard Institute. (n.d.)._Balanced scorecard basics_. https://balancedscorecard.org/bsc-](https://capella.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/leganto/public/01CAPELLA_INST/lists/2409960390006731?auth=SAML§ion=2432606750006731 "Select this link to launch this material in a new window.")
– [basics-overview/](https://capella.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/leganto/public/01CAPELLA_INST/lists/2409960390006731?auth=SAML§ion=2432606750006731 "Select this link to launch this material in a new window.")
## **Assessment Instructions**
Using the same organization and the same factor from the current AHA Environmental Scan report that you used in all the prior assessments, in a 4–5 page, double-spaced paper for the CEO, explain how you will help the organization successfully implement its strategic plan and how this plan will be evaluated.
In your paper:
1. Provide a brief overview of the factor from the current AHA Environmental Scan report that you chose in the first assessment.
2. Briefly explain the issues you identified in the second assessment and the action plan initiatives you created in the third assessment.
– This brief explanation should serve as a simple reminder of these items.
3. Explain 4–5 steps you would take to implement your action plan.
– Do not just list ideas. Instead, provide an in-depth discussion behind each suggested step and explain why you think it will allow for a successful implementation.
– Evaluate the strategies you would suggest to ensure the plan is implemented successfully.
– Keep in mind the communication strategies you mentioned in the third assessment to persuade your stakeholders to climb on board.
4. Create 4–5 meaningful benchmarks or performance measures and explain how you would use them to monitor the success of your implementation plan.
– Identify questions you would ask to reveal measurable goals.
– Consider the Balanced Scorecard and SMART methods here to help guide your responses.
5. Your paper should include the following components:
– Title page.
– Introduction.
– Implementation plan.
– Evaluation plan.
– Conclusion.
– Reference page.
All the work you have done so far in this course has prepared you for this final step, and you are ready to present this document to your CEO
## **Additional Requirements**
– **Document Length:** 4–5 double spaced pages, not including the title page or reference page.
– **Supporting Evidence:** Include at least 4 scholarly and authoritative sources to support the steps you suggest and the performance indicators you chose.
– **APA Formatting:** Your paper, citations, and references should be formatted according to APA style and formatting guidelines. [Evidence and APAcan help with this.](https://lat.strategiced.com/redirect?linkid=1540 "Select this link to launch this material in a new window.")
– [**Submission Requirements:**Submit your paper in the Assessment area.](https://lat.strategiced.com/redirect?linkid=1540 "Select this link to launch this material in a new window.")
## **Competencies Measured**
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:
– Competency 1: Analyze organizational structure, design, culture, and climate in relation to environmental forces.
– Describe in an executive report an environmental factor from an AHA Environmental Scan report.
– Describe in an executive report issues identified in an environmental scan.
– Competency 3: Recommend an organizational structure and design to optimize a strategic plan.
– Explain in detail 4–5 steps to take to implement an action plan.
– Evaluate strategies for ensuring an action plan is implemented successfully.
– Create 4–5 meaningful benchmarks or performance measures and explain how they would be used to monitor the success of an implementation plan.
– Competency 4: Communicate in a manner that is scholarly, professional, and consistent with expectations for professionals in health care administration.
– Convey purpose, in an appropriate tone and style, incorporating supporting evidence and adhering to organizational, professional, and scholarly writing standards.