Strategic management: analysis of practices in private universities/Gestao estrategica: um exame de praticas em universidades privadas

Strategic management is a relatively new approach in the management of Brazilian higher education institutions. This study presents an analysis of strategic practices in two private universities and contributes to the debate over the application of strategy to the field of higher education. This comparative study analyzes the realities of two private universities on the authors use questionnaires and interviews of administrators to capture strategic practices in use. Results of data analysis indicate that strategic practices in both institutions combine deliberate strategies derived from formal plans with emergent strategies from daily practices. Administrators' perceptions of strategies reinforced the existence of planned strategies inserted into formal plans presented by the central administration. At the same time administrators acknowledged the existence of emergent strategies as a result individual and group initiatives based on interactions, insights, feelings, vision, and reaction to challenges they faced during the daily activities. These strategies emerged in both institutions from micro-strategies carried out by academic administrators and professors. The conclusions reveal the existence of influential subjective factors like creativity, tacit knowledge, sensitivity and experience of administrators embedded in the adopted practices. KEY WORDS: strategic management; practices; private universities. A estrategia, como abordagem gerencial, tem se constituido em experiencia relativamente recente em organizacoes universitarias brasileiras. Este artigo tem o objetivo de analisar a pratica estrategica em universidades privadas e contribuir com o debate sobre esse topico que desafia a administracao dessas organizacoes. Trata-se de um estudo comparativo de casos onde e analisada a realidade de duas universidades comunitarias brasileiras. Por meio de questionario e entrevistas, identificaram-se praticas adotadas na gestao estrategica das instituicoes de educacao superior--IES. A analise dos dados revelou que a pratica estrategica mescla estrategias deliberadas e, principalmente, estrategias emergentes. As estrategias decorrem tanto de planos formais institucionais quanto de iniciativas individuais e grupais, que resultam de interacoes, de insights, do feeling, da visao e reacao de gestores e docentes diante dos desafios que se apresentam no dia a dia. As estrategias emergem por meio de microestrategias praticadas por gestores academicos e por professores,