An Integrated Decision Support System Framework for Strategic Planning in Higher Education Institutions

摘要

Strategic planning models and information provision for decision-making in complex strategic situations are frequent subjects for scientific research. This research deals with the problem of supporting strategic planning decision-making in public higher education (HE) institutions by designing a Decision Support System (DSS) to be used by HE decision makers in implementing their strategic planning process, considering that the DSS would be anchored in on all databases of the institution's information systems. This paper adopts a model for the strategic planning process, advocates the incorporation of technologies of participation (ToP) and introduces a collaborative framework for the planning activities at the different institutional levels to develop the institution's strategic plan using a bottom-up approach. Based on the strategic planning process model, a DSS framework is proposed and decision support methods are suggested for the different modules of the DSS. The DSS provides intelligent support (on the individual, group and organizational levels) to strategic planning decisions in all stages of the process. By utilizing this DSS, it is possible to create better conditions for implementing the objectives of the future-oriented activity of the institution.