De Jesus, M. R. A. (2019). Roadmap to sustainable soil laboratory services (Unpublished master's thesis). Public Management Development Program, Development Academy of the Philippines.

Public Management Development Program Middle Managers' Class (Capstone) Batch 17 Thesis (MMC)--Development Academy of the Philippines

This project intended to create a strategic plan customized for the specific mandate of the Regional Soils Laboratory to optimize the services it provides. The strategic plan also aimed to provide a core structure that served as a guide for the effective and efficient management of the laboratory. There are 174 laboratories under the Department of Agriculture with no sustainable development policy, no coordination mechanism and are testing the same matrix. To prevent this, the Regional Soils Laboratory developed a comprehensive strategic plan using information from inventories, stakeholder analysis, gap analysis, problem tree analysis and third-party assessments, that aided in the establishment of objectives and strategies that are in line with the mission and vision of the Department of Agriculture and the priorities of the Regional Soils Laboratory's stakeholders. The creation of the strategic plan was guided by the Drivers Model by Wilkinson (2011) to come up with the appropriate mission, vision and strategy. The Basic Model of Strategic Management by Hunger and Wheelen (2010) was applied in the implementation of the plan, using the Stages of Strategic Management model by David (2006) to analyze the data. Evaluation of the data acquired through the project revealed a concrete status of the laboratory in terms of all available resources and its impact on the services that can be immediately provided. Comparison with an ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited laboratory provided a benchmark for the understanding of Regional Soils Laboratory staff with regards to the required standard of competence. The analysis of information gathered through stakeholders' consultation showed that the interest of stakeholders conforms with the mandate of the Regional Soils Laboratory, leading tot the identification of required testing services. The obtained information combined with SWOT, gap and problem tree analysis were used for the formulation of strategic objectives that served as the foundation for the conceptualization of the strategic plan for a laboratory geared towards ISO/IEC 17025. Preliminary documentary requirements needed to set-up the laboratory was prepared and served as the catalyst for the full implementation of the strategic plan. It now serves as a guide for the management to properly setup and develop the Regional Soils Laboratory, using the direction, goals, objectives and strategies to become a globally accepted soil testing laboratory.