Eureka! Institutional Repository

The term of strategy appeared and evolved into the business world. The initial aim of the organizations was to get a competitive advantage in a rapidly changing environment, through the harmonization of their strengths and the available sources. The main importance of setting a strategy is to define not only the goal which the organization wants to achieve, but also how it will reach it, actually setting its long term goals and planning every single step until the final outcome, in other words, the implementation of its entrepreneurial vision. In our days, the dynamic social-cultural environment makes the role of strategy of primary importance, in the field of education. The procedure of setting the educational goals, tracing the roots of the disfunctions that the educational system faces and on the other hand seeking for opportunities, as long as the development of a strategic plan, should be flexible and continiously modified. This is what makes the implementation of a strategy a need and it is possible that Greek schools can take advantage of it, no matter how centralized the Greek educational system is. During the last years nine years, Greece is under an extended period of financial recession which has caused various changes in the Greek society. For instance, salaries are reduced, people feel uncertainty about the future and there is a huge cut in the social benefits. Due to the financial crisis, schools cope with an adequate state funding and therefore it is necessary to plan and implement effective strategies so as to minimize the negative consequenses of the recession but also to continue serving the educational needs of the students, realizing their institutional goal. In the grounds of this research, the comparative analysis of seven (7) dimensions of goals setting showed that financial crisis in Greece constitutes a significant factor in the goals and strategies which are set by both the primary and the secondary schools of Greece. It is true that Greek schools redefine their goals as they follow the occuring social, political and financial situation of the country.