NAIT Strategic Plan The STR/581 Strategic Planning and Implementation Week 5 Individual Assignment is to deliver a strategic plan for the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) . The document includes implementation plan, strategic controls and contingency plans. Overall Strategy The overall strategy for NAIT as recommended in the Week Four Individual Assignment of Strategic Planning and Implementation STR/581: Strategic Choice and Evaluation is to focus on product development. NAIT's product offering is educational programs that are custom designed to provide an educational background to NAIT's clients and students, to enable them to enter the industry with an education that will allow them to thrive. Supporting this grand strategy is the generic differentiation strategy and customer intimacy value proposition. To this end, it is NAIT's intention to implement a strategic plan that will focus the organization's energies on developing and presenting innovative, world-class customized programs to prepare students for the demands of modern industry. Implementation Plan Once the strategy for the organization is clear, the next step in the strategic plan is to begin implementing the plan. Implementation consists of five parts that include identifying short-term goals, initiating specific functional tactics, outsourcing non-core functions, communicating policies that will empower individuals in the organization, and effective reward system. Goals Goals within an implementation plan are a redefinition of the long-term product development strategy into a series of short-term goals that over the next year will provide clarity on the long-term goals… midway through document... to support the overall strategy then the development of short-term objectives which in turn support the long-term objectives. Change management in the form of a policy that empowers employees to make product development decisions and ensures that the decision-making focus is aligned with the overall strategy. The key success factors lie in maintaining high product quality, high product performance and keeping track of what the competition is doing. The risk is quite low and manageable through practices that include ensuring that market needs and wants are met and that quality control is applied during program development and delivery. Following the implementation presented in this document will ensure that NAIT will successfully implement the major product development strategy. A successful implementation will strengthen NAIT's position as the leading polytechnic in Western Canada.