Introduction

The Revitalizing Masachapa Project (RMP) was initiated with the goal of stimulating the growth of Nicaragua’s economy. The town has the potential of growth due to key economic activities in the town and its strategic location. Massive investment in infrastructure, technology, and financing of critical economic activities like fishing is needed. To implement  RMP project successfully, effective strategic planning is necessary. The strategic plan will aid in ensuring that the right decisions are made and resources are effectively utilized among many other things. Strategic change ought to follow a set of essential steps for the entire process to be a success. Bryson’s 10-step strategic change cycle will be crucial to the RMP (Bryson, 2018).

RMP and the Strategy Change Cycle

The first step in the 10-steps cycle is coming to an initial agreement (Bryson, 2018). Activities involved in the stage are planning on how to conduct the strategic planning and assessing the readiness of all critical stakeholders and organization(s). The analysis of stakeholders should be done in this step to involve them in the entire planning process. The key stakeholders for RMP are the government of Nicaragua, The World Bank, Masachapa town residents, and the Walden University team contracted by the World Bank.

The second step involves identifying an organizational mandate. Mandate concerns the requirements, expectations, constraints, and pressure that must be met or confronted (Bryson, 2018). All stakeholders in the RMP should participate in the identification of the project’s mandate. The government of Nicaragua and Residents of Masachapa are the ones who will primarily play the role of identifying the project’s mandate. The government conceived the project and the residents would be directly affected by the same.

Step three of the cycle involves the clarification of the project’s mission and values (Bryson, 2018). Identification of the mission will be crucial for the RMP. The purpose will help in the determination of strategic goals and objectives and strategies to adopt. The governments of Nicaragua and the town’s residents have the task of agreeing on the project’s mission and values. Values will help guide the conduct of the project’s team and the stakeholders.

The fourth step in the strategy change cycle is the assessment of Masachapa town’s internal and external environment (Bryson, 2018). The analysis of the situation is critical to the success of the project as it will help uncover vital information that will guide the revitalization project. One tool that the project team can use in the assessment of the internal and external environment is the SWOT analysis. The device will help identify the strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats facing Masachapa town. The stakeholder that will conduct the analysis is the Walden University team as the team has been tasked by the World Bank with managing the revitalization efforts.  The team will consult all the key stakeholders in their endeavor to assess the internal and external environment of the town.

The fifth step that Bryon discusses is the identification of strategic issues that face an organization or in this case, the project (Bryson, 2018). Strategic issues include challenges or policy questions that affect an organization of the project. Some such issues include funding and management among others. All the key stakeholders in the RMP ought to participate in the identification of the strategic problems facing the town. The perspectives of different stakeholders regarding strategic issues are vital as it will aid in ensuring the satisfaction of the needs of all key stakeholders. The Walden team will lead the process of identifying strategic issues as it is in the team’s area of expertise.

The sixth step is Strategy formulation (Bryson, 2018). The stage will involve the formulation of strategies that will help achieve the project’s mission. Formulation of strategy is to be guided by the mission of the project, identified strategic issues, and the results of the analysis of the external and internal environment. All stakeholders have a role to play in strategy formulation.

The seventh step involves the assessment and adoption of the formulated strategies and plan. An official decision is needed to determine whether to proceed with the pursuit of formulated strategy and plan (Bryson, 2018). The stakeholders who have a crucial say in the matter are the government of Nicaragua and the residents of the town.

The eighth stage in the cycle consists of the establishment of a vision for an organization or project (Bryson, 2018). A vision articulates the desired future. Having a vision statement for RMP will help guide the direction of resources and efforts towards the attainment of the desired future. The town’s residents and the government have a central role to play in the description of the desired future.

Step nine involves the implementation of the plan. Before implementation, a plan should be drawn on how to implement the project (Bryson, 2018). The implementation of different strategies will be done by the various contractors who will be assigned the roles of handling the various aspects of the project.

The final step involves the reassessment of the strategy and planning process (Bryson, 2018). Reassessment helps determine whether the adopted strategies and planning were effective and things that need to be improved among other things. The government, the World Bank, and the Walden University team have to be involved in the reassessment.

Conclusion

The 10-step strategic change cycle covers all the crucial aspects that need to be considered in strategic planning. Adherence to the cycle will help develop an excellent plan for the RMP. An effective plan will aid in the improvement of the town and the economy of Nicaragua.

References

Bryson, J. M. (2018). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement. John Wiley & Sons.