Identifying the obstacles of not realizing the strategic plan of the university and providing appropriate solutions (Case study of Tarbiat Modares University)

Document Type : research article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Educational Science, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

2 Professor, Department of Educational Science, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

3 Associate Professor, Department of Educational Science, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

Abstract

Aim: The current research aims to identify the obstacles to the university's strategic plan and provide appropriate solutions.
Methodology: This study is practical in terms of purpose and qualitative in terms of approach. The participants were the employees and managers of the strategic planning department of Tarbiat Modares University, from whom 10 people were selected in a targeted manner and using the theoretical saturation level. The data collection tool in this research was a semi-structured interview. The questions for this interview, which were prepared based on a review of the research literature, were reviewed by several professors and experts to confirm their validity and reliability. Fuzzy Delphi was used to validate the results, and a two-step coding method was used to analyze the data.
Results: The results of the analysis of the findings showed that the categories of "unfavorable financial conditions", "weakness of human resources", "weakness of technology and information", and "weakness of management" were identified as obstacles that hinder the realization of the strategic plan of Tarbiat Modares University The categories of "organizational learning", "capable financial management", "process management", "program pragmatism", and "development of organizational culture" were also identified as solutions.
Conclusions and Suggestions: Considering the importance of strategic planning in higher education, the officials of Tarbiat Modares University need to rethink the structure and content of their strategic plan and understand its complexity to face the upcoming challenges and obstacles. Also, based on the obstacles and solutions obtained from the present research, this university needs a new definition and organization in its role and missions in the field of strategic planning.
Innovation and Originality: Identifying the obstacles that lead to the non-fulfillment of the university’s strategic plan and providing effective solutions and facilitating factors for the realization of better strategic planning for the first time are among the innovations of the present study.

Keywords

Main Subjects


Abbasi Kasani, H & bagheri, P. (2017). A ComparativeStudy of Strategic Programs of Universities affiliated to the Ministry of Science and Medical sciences Universities in Terms of  viewpoints, Misions and values. DSME 4(1), 51-67. [in Persian]
Abedi jafari, H, Taslimi, M.S, Faghihi, A, Sheikh zade, M, (2011). Theme analysis and theme network: a simple and efficient way to explain patterns in qualitative data, Journal of Strategic management thought, 5 (2). [in Persian]
Barari,Somayeh. Matani, Mehrdad & Firoozmand, Roshanak (2017). Investigating the development of human resources on organizational culture, The world's national scientific research conference in management, accounting, law and social sciences, Number 2
Cheng, J., Chih-Ming, L., & Chih-Huei, T. (2009). An Application of Fuzzy Delphi and Fuzzy AHP on Evaluating Wafer Supplier in Semiconductor Industry, wseas transactions on information science and applications, 6 (3),756-767.
Darabi, M., Rahnama, A., Mohinifar Farahani, M.,Shah Mohammadi, F., & Yousefi, K. (2013). Examining the amount of work of the suggestions presented in the internal evaluation plan of the Shahid University Department of Educational Sciences and providing a more practical framework for formulating and presenting suggestions. Proceedings of the second national conference on evaluation and quality in educational systems, Tehran: 119-131[in Persian]
Dereli, C. (2013),The developing environment for strategy formation in smaller local authority. International Journal of Public Sector Management,. 20 (6), 24-45
Hosseini, Z., Izadi,S & Alizade Sani, M. (2019). Analysis of the internal and external environment of Mazandaran University education based on strategic planning. Journal of Educational Planning Studies.7 (14). 97-114
Hsu, P. F., & Chen, B. Y. (2011). Developing and implementing a selection model for bedding chain retail store franchisee using Delphi and fuzzy AHP. Quality & Quantity, 41(2), 275-290.
Hsu, Y., Cheng-Haw,L., & V.B. Kreng. (2010), The application of Fuzzy Delphi Method and Fuzzy AHP in lubricant regenerative technology selection, Expert Systems with Applications,. 37(5). 419-425.
Hussin, S., & Asimiran, S. (2010). University governance and developmental autonomy. In Proceeding of International Conference on Islam and Higher Education. 1-15
Jabbari, S., Moieni kia, M., Zahed Babelan, A., & Taghavi, H (2023). Designing and Validating of Transformational University Model: Antecedents, Processes and Consequences (Case Study: Farhangian University) , Journal of Educational Planning Studies.11(22). 23-39. [in Persian]
Kahveci,T. C, Uygun, O. Tekez, E. K. Sevincli, A. Kilicarshan, A.G & Dulger, E (2012), Evaluation of Public Strategic Planning models for Turkish Universities, 8th International Strategic Management Conferance
Kazemi, sh. (2021), Evaluation of the strategic plan of Urmia University, Journal of Higher Education, Higher Education Research and Planning Institute & National Education Assessment Organization, 14(54), 34-52
Kian far, F., Lemodchideli, Z., Savari, J., (2020), The role of organizational culture in  university quality management(Case of study: Islamic Azad University, Shushtar branch), Journal of New Research Approaches in Management and Accounting,4(48), 67-76 120. [in Persian]
Latifi, S., Raheli, H., Yadi, H., Saadi, H., (2017), Identifying and explaining the implementation stages of conservation agriculture development in Iran with a fuzzy Delphi approach, Biosystem Engineering of Iran, Article 11, 49 (1), 107-120. [in Persian]
Malekian, F, Arei, S, Islampanah, M (2011). Investigating the use of information and communication technology capabilities in improving the quality of university curriculum. Higher Education Letters, 4(16), 85-107. [in Persian]
Nadler, D. A., (2004), What's the boards role in strategy development? Strategy and Leadership. Engaging the board in corporate strategy", Strategy & Leadership, 32 (5), 25-33
Nemati, M., & Talebi, A (2017). collaborative foresight; An effective strategy in the policies of the university institution, the first conference on governance and public policy, Tehran (In Persian).
Nistani, M. R and Rameshgar, R (2013). The role of cultural activities of universities in the cultural development of society. Journal of Cultural Engineering, 8(76), 169-146. [in Persian]
Safari, S, Safari, E, Sarmadi, M.R & Farajollahii, M (2018) study of universities' strategic planning frameworks. Bimonthly Scientific, Journal of Research Strategies in Medical Sciences.90 (5). 106-211. [in Persian]
Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2009). Research methods for business students. Pearson education. Open Access Library Journal, 3(11).
Sohrabi, B, Aazami,A., & Yazdani, H, (2011), Pathology of the research done in the field of Islamic management with a metacombination approach, Journal of  Public administration perspective, 2 (6), 132-145. [in Persian]
Sterling, J., & Rader, D. (2012). Conference report–Dynamic discourse drives effective strategy implementation: Association for Strategic Planning's annual conference recap. Strategy & Leadership.
Tari Verdi, Y., & Qaderi, S., (2016). Investigating the impact of the financial expertise of the audit committee on the short-term attitude of managers. Empirical studies of financial accounting, 14(54), 141-165. [in Persian]
Tzeng, G.-H.,& Teng, J.-Y. (1993) Transportation investment project selection with fuzzy multiobjectives. Transp.Plann. Technol. 17(2), 91–112 .
Wu, C.H.,  Fang,. & W.CH. (2011), Combining the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process and the fuzzy Delphi method for developing critical competences of electronic commerce professional managers; Qual Quant, 45 (3), 751–768.
Yamani Dozi, M. (2019). Higher education development planning: A reductionist approach, a complex situation. Tehran: Samt Publications. [in Persian]