Strategic Planning & Implementation Flashcards

Which key performance indicator (KPI) best measures fleet maintenance effectiveness?

Answer: Miles between road calls

Miles between road calls (breakdowns) directly shows how well preventive maintenance is working.

A director wants to compare the department's cost per student with similar districts. This practice is called:

Answer: Benchmarking

Benchmarking compares performance metrics against peers or best practices.

When building a long-range fleet replacement plan, which factor is LEAST relevant?

Answer: The color preference of the school board president

Replacement plans rest on objective factors such as age, mileage, cost, and future capacity needs.

Which approach requires every budget line to be justified from scratch each cycle?

Answer: Zero-based budgeting

Zero-based budgeting starts at zero and requires justification for every expenditure.

Implementation of a new GPS tracking system is falling behind schedule. The BEST first action is to:

Answer: Identify the cause of the delay and revise the action plan

Finding the root cause and adjusting the plan keeps the implementation on track.

Which is an example of a strategic (rather than operational) decision?

Answer: Deciding whether to contract out transportation services district-wide

Contracting decisions are long-term, organization-wide choices, which makes them strategic.

A vision statement for a pupil transportation department differs from a mission statement because it:

Answer: Describes the desired future state

A vision describes where the organization aspires to be, while the mission describes its current purpose.