Applying Strategic Planning in Higher Education Institutions

Senior leadership involved in strategic planning for higher education generally complains about how to design a flexible strategic plan. They generally argue that the process is complex and that the end result does not justify the time spent preparing the plan. The existing literature on the strategic planning process for higher education institutions is comprehensive, since the success of universities depends largely on the effectiveness of their strategic planning, so special attention should be paid to the analysis of a university's strategic plan. This paper proposes a simplified and effective way of strategic planning that can be used by all managers to facilitate strategic planning in higher education institutions through the method of literature review from theories and applications in the field of strategy formulation and implementation by devising a new strategic planning model (S.T.A.R. Model).In addition, this study analyses the results obtained from the use of a strategic plan by a university and what factors can contribute to its success.Finally, the added value of this research is that it presents a new way of strategic planning in higher education institutions, as it builds on strategic theories but simplifies them to adapt them to each higher education institution.