Evaluation of strategic planning as a university management tool

Abstract

Introduction: The Faculty of Nursing at the University of the Republic has ventured into the adoption of Strategic Planning as a university management tool, within a university that promotes this methodology as one of its general policies. Objective: To evaluate the process of Strategic Planning in the Faculty of Nursing, through the different stakeholder groups involved, using the responsive-constructivist method. Method: Fourth-generation evaluation was employed. This method provided the opportunity for individuals affected by a particular policy or program to be the main actors in the evaluation and also to generate improvement proposals. Additionally, the research had a qualitative evaluative approach, in which the actors sought to understand and improve their reality. Thus, Strategic Planning in the Faculty of Nursing was considered the general policy that influenced its different stakeholder groups. Results: The issues that emerged in the evaluation process were grouped into four thematic areas: Relative Participation, Ineffective Communication, Training for Active Participation, and Career Advancement. Conclusions: In this sense, it was possible to evaluate the process of Strategic Planning as a management tool, identify the demands, concerns, and problems of the stakeholder groups, and propose an action plan to consolidate achievements and offer consensus-based solutions to the identified concerns and problems.