Strategic Planning in the Public Sector: How Can Brazilian Public Universities Transform Their Management, Computerise Processes and Improve Monitoring?

The need for efficiency and quality in high-level educational institutions (HLEIs) has been increasing. When determining the future direction of these institutions, planning is playing an increasingly important role, as it involves rethinking the application of resources and developing processes to achieve the goals and mission of the organisation. Planning requires analysing the environment, establishing organisational guidelines and formulating a strategy and strategic control measures. Thus, it is no easy task. The objective of this study is to evaluate the management of institutional development plans (IDPs) in Brazilian public universities and, based on the results, propose software and a reference document (guidelines) to aid the elaboration, implementation and management of IDPs in these organisations. This applied social research used a qualitative approach. After analysis, it was revealed that public managers demand support in HLEIs. Based on this finding, we propose a reference document and software to support managers in the elaboration, implementation, management and monitoring of IDPs.