Week two

Previous week I have discussed the set-up of my research with my supervisor in Jakarta. We analyzed which information could be useful and how they could be achieved. I immediately sensed that mister Sawarendro was very enthusiastic about strategic planning; he already had huge knowledge on S.W.OT. analysis and notified the importance of stakeholder participation in Indonesia. His enthusiastic reaction contributed to the idea that strategic planning in Indonesia could be of real use and made me even more motivated to get excellent results.

Strategic planning is a method for strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement. My research is based on the Strategic Change Cycle from John M. Bryson. This method focuses on the participation of stakeholders, creating a fit between the internal- and external environment, and designing strategies for the implementation of plans. During my research I want to gain knowledge on how these elements are currently approached and how these approaches could be improved for future projects. I belief that an integrated approach of these elements will greatly contribute to the realization of polder projects in Indonesia.

The Strategic Change Cycle is derived from the business sector and adapted to spatial planning. The method is developed in and aimed at the developed world. In other words, the Strategic Change Cycle is not yet adapted to the Indonesian context, nor to polder projects. Based on my research, I hope to adapt the method to the Indonesian context successfully and thereby develop a strategic planning model for the development of polders in Indonesia.

This week I have absorbed the strategic planning in order to form a notion of the needed information for developing the strategic planning model. After the exchange of ideas with misters Sawarendro I got a clear vision on how to continue my research. I came to the conclusion that the successfulness of a project and the right method for developing them are very complex and non-quantitative. The best definition of them should be based on the involved stakeholder’s perception. These perceptions will be achieved by interviewing the stakeholders on the project’s issues and planning model’s elements.

I have planned to use the next week for studying the project in order to fit my theoretical ideas to the reality of the project. This study will exist of examining the project’s documentation and mapping the important persons involved. Based on this exploration I am going to set-up my interviews, adjusted to each interviewee and their role in the project.

The fog from the beginning of the research is starting to clear up and the steps lying ahead are becoming more and more clear, let’s go to work!

Wim