Low efficiency in the use of research and development resources in brazilian public research organizations: causal chains analysis

Abstract

Open Innovation paradigm brought additional challenges to the already complex Brazilian ST&I scenario of scarce resources and ineffective public policies. The Public Research Organizations (PROs) face obstacles regarding the limitation imposed by their public nature, complex laws and regulations, inadequate technological and organizational structure, and lack of strategy and priority. Besides that, to improve their results and catch up the competitiveness, Research & Development (R&D) projects must be transdisciplinary and collaborative, which usually require a high volume of budget, large teams, and organizational structure for Research Management and Administration (RMA). The low efficiency in the use of physical, financial and human resources are hampering PROs to overcome the financial crisis and backwardness of the national ST&I results. This study aimed to make a deep analysis of this macro problem in the R&D Manager perspective as a social actor, based in the Situational Strategic Planning method. The resultsevidenced the vastness of the problem and supported the comprehension of the social game in place and the work fronts where the actor could tackle the problem. The main conclusion is that PROs must take into account the capacity building in RMA to leverage results and influence positively the ST&I policy arena.