Homeland Security- Course of Action (COA)

Homeland Security- Course of Action (COA)

Organizations tend to have many strategic alternatives, and thus, it can be difficult to identify an appropriate alternative that gives the best outcome. Organizations, in most cases, employ screening techniques to identify the most suitable courses of action (Barker, et al., 2003). Screening the suitability, feasibility, acceptability, distinguishability, and completeness of a particular strategy helps pick one. In carrying out the analysis, there are three steps to be followed. For instance, Homeland Security can use screening to identify the most appropriate strategy that can be used in combating radicalization in the U.S.

First, one should decide the criteria that suit the organization because not all criteria suit all organizations. The functions of the organization determine the kind of criteria to choose. For instance, Homeland Security would have specific criteria that may not suit other organizations that perform different functions (GetLucidity.com, 2020). Step one involves working through each of the topic areas and listing the main elements. Step 2 entails listing out the strategic options ready for evaluation (Barker, et al., 2003).  Step 3 should now work through every strategic alternative going through the suitability, feasibility, and acceptability matrix, scoring every strategy against the criteria.

Evaluating suitability

Suitability aims at checking whether the strategy will help to achieve the goals the organization has set. Asking whether the strategy will achieve the targeted goals is an important question since the organization always adopts a particular strategy to hit particular goals. Suitability tends to have a range of topics. Thus, one should consider the suitability to hit the goals and a suitable strategy to promote organizational culture, and market environment, and boost organization capability (GetLucidity.com, 2020).  Therefore, suitability questions are very important since if answered well, the organization is likely to attain its goals. Still, if answered wrongly, the organization is at risk of not attaining its set goals.

Evaluating acceptability

Acceptability analysis ten to focus on the opinions of the stakeholders. It is important to note that stakeholders’ management is a vital aspect of the strategy since one needs to ensure that everyone involved is positive about the strategy. If the strategy receives a cold reception, then it is not acceptable, but if it is received warmly by all the stakeholders, then the strategy has been accepted. Acceptability mainly focuses on areas of risk, return, and reactions (GetLucidity.com, 2020).  A strategy that breeds risks may not be accepted. A strategy that brings in good returns may overwhelmingly be accepted. Just like suitability, acceptability is also linked to the organization’s goals (Barker, et al., 2003). The returns the organizations get from the chosen strategy and the level of the risks involved in using the strategy help in knowing whether the strategy is the best option.

Evaluating feasibility

Feasibility is important since it asks if the organization can execute the strategic plan effectively. Some of the indicators that indicate that the organization will execute the plans successfully are; accessibility to finances, the skills available, the available resources, the timing, and even the market changes (Barker, et al., 2003). An organization such as Homeland Security needs to carry out a thorough feasibility evaluation of the available strategies in fighting radicalization to gauge whether the strategy would be sustainable in terms of financing and available time.

Some of the advantages of conducting suitability, acceptability, and feasibility analysis are; first, it provides a way to structure the strategic evaluation. Secondly, this analysis helps in strategic decision-making. The analysis is fair since each strategic alternative is evaluated against the same score. Lastly, the analysis is important because it is a flexible approach that management teams can use in creating their scoring.

References

Barker, K. et al., (2003). A Knowledge Acquisition Tool for Course of Action Analysis. American Association for Artificial Intelligence.

GetLucidity.com. (2020). Guide to the SFA Matrix. Retrieved from https://getlucidity.com/strategy-resources/guide-to-the-sfa-matrix

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OBJECTIVES
Complete the following
-Using the technique of screening for suitability, feasibility, acceptability, distinguishability, completeness, and evaluation criteria, conduct a critical analysis to identify the most practical course of action (COA).

-Develop a comparison matrix slide that examines the COAs against the evaluation criteria.
-Provide a supporting analysis in a 2-page information paper.