Strategic Position 177
statement of institutional position in several paragraphs provides focus to the pro-
cess. It draws out the implications of the SWOT analysis and the environmental
scan and enables a purposeful and coherent selection of specific strategic issues for
intensive analysis and action. Adams University says of itself, for example,
The university is poised to capitalize on its distinctive strengths in applied
research and the assessment of student learning to meet the educational
and economic needs and opportunities of a growing population in its state
and region. It has the focus, resourcefulness, and decision-making systems
it needs to respond to changing circumstances. Through partnerships with
state government, the private sector, and individual donors, it can attract
the resources required to reach its goals. Adams can plausibly set high ambi-
tions for its future.
In choosing the issues to address in its strategies, the analysis of an institution’s
position sets a series of demanding conditions. It places the focus on matters that
are genuinely strategic, not primarily operational. An analysis of position also will
be able to put the spotlight on strategic possibilities that offer the best returns for
the effort and resources invested. To choose its priorities meaningfully, an insti-
tution has to be able at a minimum to accomplish what it sets out to do (Bryson
1995). The clearer sense of itself that it gains through the definition of its position
provides deepened knowledge of the capabilities that are required. The goal of
strategic leadership is ultimately to find ways to dominate the environment and
to have the abilities and the resources to meet the demands of change resiliently
and responsibly. One of the tasks of leadership is to anticipate what is required to
build a sustainable level of effectiveness to fulfill a vision of the future.
We have proposed that the motif of institutional position is one component
of the fourfold infrastructure of strategic self-definition. When a college or a
university articulates its narrative of identity, states its mission, creates a vision
of its possibilities, and develops a statement of its strategic position, it has put
in place a comprehensive foundation for strategic leadership. On this basis it
can move forward with confidence to craft the specific strategies that it needs to
address the challenges and opportunities of its future. We turn to those subjects—
first the form of strategies and then elements of their content—in the next two
chapters.