Development of a management support tool for strictosensu graduate programs: A contingency approach to project management.

AutorCamara, Ricardo Antonio
  1. Introduction

    The acceleration of the development and use of information has initiated a significant transition process, with major implications for societies throughout the world, affecting education and other aspects of life (UNESCO, 1996). The qualification of knowledge as one of the structural axes of productive activity has made education an indispensable condition for countries to integrate favorably in the global competitiveness process (Cabral Neto, 2012).

    Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) function in this scenario as organizations oriented toward the creation, transmission and dissemination of knowledge, playing a prominent role in the processes that shape contemporary society (Bernheim & Chaui, 2003). In Brazil, stricto sensu graduate programs (SS-GP) are noteworthy in this respect, including both academic and professional master and doctorate degree courses (Almeida, 2010; CAPES/MEC, 2010, 2017; Moritz, Pereira, Moritz, & Maccari, 2013; Sidone, 2013).

    1.1 Context of the problem

    Since the publication of the last edition of the Law on Guidelines and Bases of Education (LDB) in 1996, Brazilian SS-GP have received a strong boost. There was a notable increase in access to higher education and in the number of graduates, resulting in a demand for further education. Many courses were created, mostly in private institutions. At the same time, the strategic value of SS-GP increased. The role of education became more valuable to the society and these programs were considered as an expression of HEI's quality (Mainardes, Miranda, & Correia, 2011; Maccari & Teixeira, 2014).

    In this competitive environment, the appropriate use of information can reduce uncertainty and increase the chances of success in both managerial and strategic decisions (Guimaraes & Evora, 2004; Valentim, 2007). For HEIs, efficient management supported by up-to-date, reliable and available information has become necessary, to meet the quality requirements of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Level Personnel (CAPES), responsible for evaluating the programs, and also to face the competition, maintaining a competitive advantage as a condition for continuity (Maccari & Teixeira, 2014; Meyer Jr, 2008; Soares, 2014).

    In Brazil, the references for obtaining information on SS-GP are the government agencies, which have made two major repositories available on the internet: the CAPES portal and the Lattes Platform (LP), published by the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) (Guedes, 2001; Moritz et al., 2013). However, a considerable amount of information is stored in heterogeneous databases. The lack of unified access hinders research using documents and indicators of Brazilian scientific activity (Pacheco & Kern, 2001; Silva, Maccari, & Quoniam, 2015).

    In parallel, it is known that some tools automatically extract knowledge from the LP. The computational resources of the Scriptsucupira tool, for example, have produced knowledge capable of supporting the management of SS-GP. However, nowadays it is not possible to generate input lists for automatic processing, filtering information by criteria covering the entire universe of Brazilian SS-GP (Nigro, Ferraz, Quoniam, Alves, & Messias, 2016; Silva et al., 2015).

    This scenario suggests the possibility of filling this gap by creating an automated tool, henceforth called ListaSucupira, capable of generating input lists for Scriptsucupira, making data collection more efficient, and providing information to support managers, subsidizing educational projects focused on the HEI management. Analyzing the execution of this enterprise, Silva et al. (2015) verified that there is little knowledge regarding how to integrate CAPES and LP data, as well as about the characteristics of such a tool.

    Cleland and Ireland (2007) believe that project management is the mechanism that best uses available resources to develop products that represent an organizational change, such as the ListaSucupira tool. In this sense, Christopoulos (2004) highlights the failure of initiatives in the field of technology, due to the strategy of not considering project management as a critical success factor.

    Within the scope of literature and practice, several traditional approaches have established standardized models for managing projects. More recent studies, however, add value to the use of techniques, tools and skills that are appropriate to each specific project, considering that adopting a contingency management approach, adapted to the environment where it is applied, could increase the chances of project's success in organizations (Hanisch & Wald, 2012; Shenhar & Dvir, 2010; Wysocki, 2013).

    The observation of the problem from this perspective suggests that project management concepts are the right tool for conducting the development of the ListaSucupira tool. Therefore, the choice of the approach--traditional or contingent--and the managerial model would be the fundamental issue when it comes to establishing the project's strategy, increasing the possibility of success.

    1.2 The research question

    Considering what has been said, this study seeks to answer the following question:

    RQ1. How can project management be used to develop a tool to support the management of SS-GP?

    1.3 Objective

    The general objective of this study is to develop a project to create an automated tool to support the management of SS-GP based on data integration from the CAPES website and from the Lattes Platform.

    The project's activities should follow a management approach and model specifically selected for use in the project to be developed.

    To achieve its objective, the project needs to accomplish the creation of an information support structure based on data from the CAPES and LP; the development of a logical integrated data model; the construction of a functional prototype of the tool; and the validation of the work, by evaluating the process used and the developed tool.

  2. Literature review

    The theoretical pillars considered relevant for this study comprise the management of SS-GP, the knowledge regarding academic production stored in government databases and the concepts of projects and project management.

    2.1 The management of stricto sensu graduate programs

    The Brazilian graduate system has been built over the last five decades. Although it has been developed in an unfavorable context, due to the late emergence of university institutions, the application of consistent government policies allowed it to grow without losing quality (Balbachevsky, 2005; Leite, 2002; Santos, 2003).

    In 1951, the CAPES was created to coordinate the improvement of the level of university professors and to avoid that the expansion of higher education caused a decline in the standards. It is now a foundation that evaluates the SS-GP, promotes the dissemination of scientific production, invests in high-level resources and promotes scientific cooperation. The CNPq, also founded in 1951, is an agency dedicated to training people and promoting research. It subsidizes scientific publications, supports researchers training and promotes international agreements and exchanges (CAPES/MEC, 2008; Moritz et al., 2013).

    A university can be considered as a special type of organization that requires its own forms of planning and management (Meyer Jr, 2008). Efforts to manage SS-GP include analyses of academic production and collaborative networks, research and development programs, policy development, course setting, curriculum development, program monitoring and evaluation (Silva, Reina, Ensslin, & Reina, 2012; Sidone, 2013; Rolim & Amaral, 2007).

    The fulfillment of the quality requirements in the CAPES evaluation is also fundamental in the management of SS-GP. The evaluation determines the entry and permanence of courses in the marketplace. In addition, access to research funding is linked to academic output assessments. The evaluation results provide feedback on the qualities and shortcomings of programs, and their managers seek to improve them and solve any problems that may arise, in order to maintain or improve their ranking position, which functions as a quality seal. The programs with the best evaluations are more treasured and sought after by students (Almeida, 2010; CAPES/MEC, 2014a, b; Maccari & Teixeira, 2014).

    2.2 Academic production stored in government databases

    The development of information technology (IT) in the public sector, the citizens demand for information and the legal need for transparency in management have resulted in increasing availability of data by governmental agencies, especially at the federal level. At the end of the last century, the use of these data to develop tools for knowledge generation, analysis and decision making was among the main IT movements (Junior & Quintella, 2005).

    2.2.1 Databases of the CAPES' portal. In the CAPES evaluation process, those responsible for the SS-GP provide data related to courses in the evaluation period through a computerized system developed for this purpose. In 2014, this system was integrated with the Sucupira Platform, a technologically more advanced tool that provides information, processes and procedures in real time (Akim, Mergulhao, & Borras, 2013; CAPES/MEC, 2014c).

    The system groups the data into 11 thematic reports used in the evaluation process and issue of indicator reports. In order to ensure transparency and disseminate knowledge regarding its evaluation process, the CAPES publishes the reports on its internet portal, making them available for online consultation and download (CAPES/MEC, 2014a, c).

    Other statistical data on SS-GP are available at the Geocapes application, which displays the content of nine databases according to their geographical location, in graph or spreadsheet form. The information related to Brazil is consolidated by state and detailed by municipality. Information from abroad is aggregated by country (CAPES/MEC, 2014d; MEC...

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