Project Title:
Strategic Planning Effectiveness in Public Transit Agencies

Project Objective:
It is the objective of this study to examine public transit agencies that have adopted strategic management and assess the relationships between the characteristics or dimensions of their strategic planning systems and the effectiveness of strategic planning as a tool of organizational strategic management. In particular, this study will adopt a multi-dimensional conceptualization of strategic planning and strategic planning effectiveness that is focused on a strategic planning system’s capabilities and objectives. This choice is based on public transit agencies being nonprofit organizations whose performance and effectiveness cannot be measured with the traditional financial performance measures of private sector organizations. Additionally, the multi-dimensional conceptualization of strategic planning and its effectiveness better represents emerging and promising research trends in strategic planning.

Project Abstract:
The objective of this research proposal is to measure the effectiveness of strategic planning models in public transit agencies. It seeks funding to support two principal areas of this study. The first is an identification of organizational contextual, design, process and top management leadership and commitment dimensions that have received considerable attention in the strategic management literature as essential to strategic planning effectiveness that are found in models of strategic planning that are currently used in public transit agencies. The second is the examination and documentation of the relationship between these dimensions or characteristics strategic planning effectiveness as a tool of strategic management, using qualitative measures of objectives of effective strategic planning systems and management. It is our hope that the results of this study will serve as a guide to managers of transit agencies, who want to design and use strategic planning as a tool of effective strategic management. Additionally, the results of this study will help transit managers to identify the strengths and weaknesses of their existing strategic planning systems. This study is a continuation of our current study, which is designed to study and document the practice of strategic planning in public transit agencies.

Technology Transfer Activities:
Three activities will be performed under technology transfer. First, we will print copies of the report and synopsis for distribution to public transit systems particularly those that participated in this study, the media, and we will post the findings and the full report on website of the Urban Transit Institute at North Carolina A&T State University. This will be done in the eighth month. Second, academic and practitioner papers will be prepared for presentation at conferences and for submissions to. This will be done during and after project duration. Third, we propose to conduct a one-day mini-conference fully funded by this project that will invite some transit systems to join in the discussion of our results. This mini-conference will be done three months after the project ends to allow for invitations to be mailed and responses to be received, and for full preparations for the conference to be made. Therefore, we seek funding for this conference beyond the eight months duration of the project.

Potential Benefits of the Project:
The effectiveness of strategic planning is expected to be a function of its organizational contextual, design, process, implementation, evaluation, control characteristics and leadership role of top management. This, in many ways, will be similar to the findings of previous studies of private sector firms. However, we expect organizational contextual dimensions to be different. In this respect, the findings will be useful in helping public transit systems develop organizational context and culture that support effective strategic planning.