STRATEGIC PLANNING
The importance of undertaking strategic planning has been well recognized as the Society demands more and more, mainly in the public domain, for higher performance on activities and problems resolution. The PPGCTA’s strategic planning activities started under the auspices of UFRPE with guidance of the Pró-reitoria de Pós-Graduação – PRPG (Graduate Studies Pro-Rectorate) and of the Pró-Reitoria de Planejamento – PROPLAN (Planning Pro-Rectorate).
The PPGCTA strategic planning (SP) was initiated and implemented by a committee which was designed specifically with this purpose. All the work was supervised by PROPLAM, which provided guidance and feedback for all the activities, creating a learning environment and a standardized procedure throughout UFRPE. The first activity was the construction of the ‘Organizational identity’ of the Graduate Program, which included its mission, vision and values (Table 1). Afterwards, the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) questionnaire provided by PROPLAN was completed to identify the characteristics of PPGCTA in relation to relevant aspects of the internal and external environment, and, consequently, identify its weakness and strengths (internal environment), opportunities and threats (external environment). In this way, the SP was initiated under well established procedures which warranted its successful execution and implementation in 2020.
Table 1. PPGCTA Organizational Identity
Mission : Train researchers and excellent professionals who can generate knowledge and innovation in food, and that contribute to improving the quality of life of the population and promote regional development.
Vission: To be a reference postgraduate program in use of raw materials of plant and animal origin from the Northeast region of Brazil, with regional insertion and until 2030.
Values: Innovation; Ethic; Excellence; Efficiency; Focus on Results; Cooperation; Disclosure; Diversity; Sustainability; Continuous improvement.
The implementation of strategic planning for the graduate studies programs was an initiative of Capes, with the purpose of better structuring the Brazilian graduate studies programs. Some Graduate Programs themselves, even at UFRPE, had started working on strategic planning. However, in 2019, CAPES required its implementation, once it conditioned a better quadrennial evaluation to its presentation (15% of the total grade).
In fact, SP contributes to the strategic management of the graduate programs as it directs actions in the decision-making processes and it also establishes short-, medium- and long-term goals. The Pró-Reitoria de Pós Graduação, UFRPE, previously PRPPG and now PRPG, triggered the process at the UFRPE, and, along with PROPLAN, providing all the feedback and support needed. It is important to add that there has been an effort to answer to another demand by CAPES, which is the creation of the Internal Auto evaluation Commissions (Comissões Próprias de Autoavaliação – CPA) to work together with SP. The effort of alignment of ST with CPA was consolidated. Its result is reflected in the method used in the elaboration of SP, which was based on results from auto evaluation published as CPA reports. These results were important and reliable diagnostics which contributed to SWOT establishment, which lead to discussion and construction of strategic objectives and plans of action. A document (Annex ) was created showing all the details of the process which took place at PPGCTA: the members of the commission who contributed to the elaboration of the final strategic planning document, and it also describes the Organizational identity, the environmental analyses – SWOT, the strategic objectives, and the action plans.
The Planning Commission started the activities by organizing meetings (synchronous and/or asynchronous), provoking the participation and discussion with PPGCTA professors. Contributions to the elaboration of the SP were obtained and the Organizational identity questionnaire was completed defining PPGCTA’s mission, vision, and values). To get everyone involved and to speed up the process, groups of professors were created, and the activities were divided among them. Afterwards, the groups presented their concluding remarks in a plenary, congregating all professors, students, and technicians to deliberate towards the final document for PPGCTA.
After deliberation of the final PPGCTA’s organizational identity, a diagnostic of the environmental and operational conditions of the organization was made. The strategic objectives were defined to reflect the real necessities and capabilities. According to the Guia Prático do Planejamento Estratégico (Strategic planning practical guidelines) from UFRPE (2020), a SWOT matrix was defined (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats). The SWOT analysis is one of the most widespread tools for administration management, especially in the organizational diagnosis. As mentioned previously, the word stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The diagnosis is based on analysis of internal and external environmental where the program is inserted. The first two aspects analyzed – Strengths and Weaknesses, are related to aspects which are inherent to the organization (resources, competences, abilities, and systems), and over which they have the power to control. On the other side, the external aspects are analyzed as opportunities and threats, as they reflect parameters which are not of the direct domain of the organization (e.g., political, economic, and social environments). The definition of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats allow visualization of the panorama of the organization at a specific time, allowing the understanding of what is relevant for the performance and for reaching the objectives and goals. However, as it reflects the reality at a specific moment in time, it is important to repeat and revise the analysis. This is so, because the moment is volatile and, in this way, the organizational performance will be impacted.
PGCTA presented in the environmental analysis (SWOT) – Internal environment
Strengths
Infra-structure
Internet, hardware, and software
Graduate Program PPG
Research topics
Courses available
Economic, social and cultural impacts
Regional insertion
Management/UFRPE
Auto evaluation process
External communication
Regiment
Secretarial (administrative) services
Products
Publications (aligned with Program objectives)
Professors
Quality of teaching methods
Interpersonal relationship
Students
Quality of students
Monitoring of alumni
Entrance selection
Interpersonal relationship
Weakness
Graduate Program
Research groups
CAPES evaluation
Products
Professors’ scientific publication
Students’ scientific publication
Professor
Number of professors
Students
Number od students
Internacionalization
International publications
International patternship
Professors’ exchange
Students’ exchange
Classes offered in another language
Neutral
Structure
Classes
Laboratories
Material, equipments and furniture
Research funds
Graduate Program
Innovation
Management/UFRPE
Strategic planning process
Internal communication
Professors
Professors’ qualification
Commitment, availability and participation
Quality of students’ advisory
Students
Commitment, availability and participation
Professional insertion of graduates
Environmental analysis (SWOT) – External environment
Opportunities
Technical
Technologies available
Competition with related graduate programs
External demand for scientific products and services
External demand for innovative products and services
Distance learning
Threats
Political environment
National political situation
Public politics for graduate studies
Social-economic environment
National economic situation
Pandemy context
Valorization of the federal universities by the society
Neutrals
Political environment
CAPES and MEC actions
Partnership with external organizations
Social-economic environment
Socio-economic situation of students
Scholarship and research funds availability (Funding agencies)
The PPGCTA’s strategic planning indicated the need to establish goals and indicators for the program. First, there is a technical need to improve the monitoring and revision processes. Second, but not less important, there is a need to increase management transparency, which has been requested frequently at the federal institutions level.
For each one of the strategic axes, it was recommended to establish strategic objectives. And, in the process of creating them, there was confrontation among the strategic axes of the SWOT list, analyzing the internal environmental axes (strengths and weakness) and considering the elements of opportunities and threats associated with the economic, political, technological, environmental, and social scenarios which can impact the organizational identity of PPGCTA. In a clearer way, to establish the goals, the following questions were presented:
Which existing forces do we need to keep or improve in PPGCTA, facing the opportunities and threats from the external environment? immediate and mediato?
Which weaknesses do we need to eliminate or mitigate facing the opportunities and threats taking into consideration the aspirations regarding PPGCTA’s evolution?
For each strategic objective defined, contemplating the real PPGCTA needs, executable action plans are required. The action plans were elaborated taking into consideration the model based on the 5W2H techniques, as detailed in the Strategic planning report (Annex).
The results from PPGCTA’s strategic planning were very interesting and provided a new perspective of the Program. At one side, the prevalent economic, social, and political situation points to a huge challenge for the research and the graduate studies in Brazil. However, several new insights and perspectives came about, for example, the new technologies, globalization processes, and the recent valorization of science resulting from the corona virus pandemics. In times of crisis, one must plan, to learn how to rationally confront the incoming problems. In addition, one must know how to proceed in a more structured way, when the situation reaches a new normality standard.
After the strategic planning, PPGCTA is now seen from a different perspective. The coordination of the program, and the Strategic planning commission have a valuable tool/document, which can be used to trigger discussions internally and also to provide subsides for interaction with the University, CAPES and funding agencies. In addition, it is known that the processes involved in strategic planning elaboration are more valuable compared to the results, because they allow deepened knowledge and interlocution of the program.
With PPGCTA’s strategic planning, there was a structured and diversified engagement among professors, students, and technicians. The experience of working with well-defined management techniques provided additional confidence. We believe that now we know more about PPGCTA and in a more realistic scenario. We have learned a lot and we recognize the importance of keeping the activities towards strategic planning periodically to warrant needed improvement for excellence achievement.