Strategic Plan

The Price College of Business launched a strategic planning process in late January of 2021 to set the strategic direction of the College through the year 2026. The process was led internally by the College’s Executive Committee. The process was structured and facilitated by Juniper, a boutique strategy consultancy, and aided by a consulting team of talented students from our own Ronnie K. Irani Center for the Creation of Economic Wealth.

The planning process, which ended in mid-July, was divided into three stages.

In the first stage, we analyzed our external and internal strategic context. We conducted 24 interviews with a cross-section of highly informed Price College stakeholders and an online survey about the College’s internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats (SWOT), to which 550 students, faculty, staff, alumni, and advisory board members responded. We also conducted a benchmarking analysis of peer and aspirational business schools and reviewed over 50 reports from local, national, and international sources of relevance to the analysis. Our consultant distilled these data into a 54-page SWOT analysis report, which served as the foundation for the remainder of our planning process.

The second stage of the planning process consisted of two parts. In the first part, we used the SWOT analysis to generate ideas about strategic initiatives that Price College might pursue going forward. To generate ideas, we conducted a half-day online workshop consisting of members of the Executive Committee (EC) and representatives of our different stakeholder groups. We also conducted an idea generation survey of all College faculty and staff. More than 300 unique ideas were generated from the workshop and survey. We then synthesized and organized these ideas in preparation for their evaluation.

In the second part we evaluated the list of potential initiatives using multiple criteria via a survey of EC members and stakeholder representatives, resulting in a filtered list of the most favorably evaluated initiatives. We conducted another half-day workshop involving EC members and stakeholder representatives to organize the filtered set of initiatives into thematic, priority areas, resulting in a draft strategic plan. The draft plan was then subjected to a feedback round consisting of an online workshop involving all EC members and a survey of different stakeholder groups.

In the third and final stage, we used the feedback from the workshop and survey to refine the structure of the plan and finalize its priorities, goals and objectives. For each objective, we developed an action plan by specifying the project owner, timeline and milestones, key performance indicators and results, as well as resource needs. We finished by defining the process we would use to review and monitor the execution of the plan.

The Price College Strategic Plan is a dynamic and flexible roadmap for our future. It will guide and inform the decision making and action planning and serve as a blueprint for our success.

The modern public research university is an organization of scholars engaged in discovering and sharing knowledge to improve the human condition, particularly for residents of the state funding the university. Reflecting the essence of this view, The University of Oklahoma’s Purpose is elegant in its simplicity and profound in its depth: We change lives.

The AACSB, the world’s leading accreditor of business schools, promotes the view that business schools are a force for good by contributing to the economy and society through scholarly thought leadership, education, and community engagement.

The Purpose of Price College, codified in 2014 under Dean Daniel Pullin, effectively integrates these two perspectives. As the business school of the flagship public research university in the state of Oklahoma, the Purpose of Price College is to ensure the enduring global competitiveness of Oklahoma and the nation. In other words, we exist to be a force for good for the economy and people of Oklahoma and the nation. We do this through our three core activities of scholarly thought leadership, educational programs, and community outreach.

The Price College of 2026 will be Bigger, Broader, and Better. Over the next five years, we will outpace our peers by reaching further, farther, and higher than any other business school in the region to transform individuals and businesses, develop and champion innovative ideas, and deliver exceptional educational experiences.

• We will grow Bigger by investing in growth to meet rising demand for our successful programs, increasing the size of our faculty and staff to support higher enrolments, pursuing larger funding endowments to fuel our success, completing renovations and further expanding our campus, and playing a leading role in the transformation of OU as an engine of startup creation and innovation.
• We will Broaden our impact by diversifying our portfolio of academic programs, extending our reach and improving access through best-in-class online delivery, incorporating high-impact learning experiences from beyond the classroom, serving lifelong learners through a wider array of offerings, catalyzing innovation across OU and within Oklahoma’s start-up ecosystem, and developing a thought leadership platform to share our insights with the world.
• We will perform Better by improving the quality of education and the student experience, incorporating best practices into our teaching, expanding student services, increasing research quality and productivity, recruiting and retaining top talent, fostering a diverse and inclusive community for all stakeholders, revitalizing our infrastructure and processes, and investing in rebranding and integrative marketing to share our stories with the world. 

Our Strategic Plan consists of five Priorities that reflect our Purpose and define how we will achieve our Vision. While these Priorities are equal in importance, they differ by whether they directly or indirectly serve to realize the Vision. The plan consists of three visionary Priorities that are focused on directly achieving the Vision and two enabling Priorities that facilitate the achievement of the visionary Priorities.

A.   Deliver relevant, flexible, and accessible business education to support lifelong learning and the future of business

B.   Establish and promote Price as a top-tier producer of impactful research, thought leadership, and academic talent

C.   Support OU strategic verticals while driving entrepreneurship and innovation across Oklahoma and beyond

D.   Foster a vibrant culture and an inclusive environment for all Price community members

E.   Attract, develop, and retain resources to enable visionary priorities

Priority A:

Deliver relevant, flexible, and accessible business education to support lifelong learning and the future of business

Priority B:      

Establish and promote Price as a top-tier producer of impactful research, thought leadership, and academic talent

Priority C:       

Support OU strategic verticals while driving entrepreneurship and innovation across Oklahoma and beyond

Priority D:

Foster a vibrant culture and an inclusive environment for all Price community members

Priority E:

Attract, develop, and retain resources to enable visionary priorities