Managing the Big Picture in Colleges and Universities: From Tactics to Strategy (review)

Richard L. Alfred offers important new insights for college and university presidents and other senior campus leaders and trustees who understand the challenges confronting institutions of higher education yet who are uncertain how to deal with the cultural inertia of those retaining outmoded approaches of goal setting. Heralded as "the first book of its kind to focus exclusively on strategy as it applies to postsecondary education" (inside cover), Alfred's Managing the Big Picture in Colleges and Universities: From Tactics to Strategy poses this key question to institutional leaders: "What is your institution's unique 'signature,' and how does it differ from competitors in the minds of stakeholders?" (p. xiv).

An introduction by Stanley O. Ikenberry provides the backdrop by offering a hard-hitting assessment of where higher education is located on a scale of change—positioning our nation's colleges and universities on the cusp of the major transition that we all know is coming but seem unable to face head on. Alfred then maps a logical process for thinking through the complex dynamics of change management at colleges and universities. He emphasizes the critical, but conceptual, differences between strategy and implementation. Alfred builds into this logical structure the steps that leaders can follow to "think differently" about these two arenas, which require different skills, support structures, and processes.

The author defines strategy as "a systematic way of positioning an institution with stakeholders in its environment to create value that differentiates it from competitors and leads to a sustainable advantage" (p. xiv). Further, he notes that "formulating strategy is not a science, it is an art. It is the art of asking intelligent questions and of thinking through issues in a creative way" (p. xvi).

Important to Alfred's work is his recognition of the many dimensions of the higher education industry in the United States. He references institutions of different size, governance, and mission and suggests how strategy and implementation might be thought of differently at various types of institutions. While many of us intuitively understand and acknowledge these differences, Alfred not only presents the differences, but also explains how they impact strategy development and plan implementation.

Although Alfred uses language that remains generally foreign to the vocabulary of many institutional leaders—including terms such as "stakeholders," "creating value," and "competitors"—in doing so he provides a valuable bridge between several decades of business research and literature that the theories and practices of higher education have usually avoided. His use of business terminology is driven home with his statement: "Value is the very essence of strategy" (p. 6). Alfred's extensive notes and references likewise identify some of the best of business management and strategy literature that can productively inform our academic culture.

In his second chapter, Alfred offers an excellent recapitulation of the work of many authors of the past 40 years. He does so with an emphasis on knowing one's institutional position relative to competitors and the array of unique strategies available for positioning an institution. The specific framework he offers provides multiple perspectives for integrating these past works. Because Alfred understands the complexity of getting one's hands around all factors and conditions that may affect an institution—internally and externally—he offers a formula for strategy development that transcends institutional types and conditions. This is especially helpful for those leaders caught up in the belief that their institutions are unique.

The sheer complexity of the current and future situations facing institutional leaders is mind-boggling. Alfred knows that merely offering a framework for thinking strategically is not sufficient. Accordingly, he wisely includes several chapters that discuss the importance of institutional "context." As he asserts, "Leaders and staff without an understanding of context lack a framework for creating strategy; it is difficult to craft strategy to fit an organization that is not understood" (p. 131). Three chapters that focus on colleges committed to the liberal...