TITLE:
Organizational Guidelines for Embrapa Advanced Quantitative Methods and Scientific Computing Area
AUTHORS:
Marcia Izabel Fugisawa Souza, Tércia Zavaglia Torres, Moacir Pedroso Júnior, José Ruy Porto de Carvalho, Sônia Ternes, Kleber Xavier Sampaio de Souza, Geraldo da Silva e Souza
KEYWORDS:
Organizational Innovation, Data Science, Quantitative Methods, Scientific Computing, Organizational Guidelines, RD&I Management, Research and Development Institutions
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.8 No.4,
July
29,
2020
ABSTRACT: This study aimed to define organizational guidelines on advanced
quantitative methods and scientific computing (QMSC) for the Brazilian
Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), a public institution under the
Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA). The study
was based on a strategic and systemic perspective to support the strengthening of
governance of the area of research, development and innovation (RD&I) at
Embrapa. This exploratory qualitative study was conducted in two phases. In the
first phase, a benchmarking study of organizational model restructuring,
especially in areas of QMSC, was carried out in Brazilian and international
RD&I institutions. The second phase included an analytical and critical
study on the general panorama of QMSC research. Both phases supported the
generation of the final result of this
study, which was the formulation of a proposal for organizational guidelines
for the QMSC area at Embrapa. The study presented the following main results:
1) there is no similarity between the institutions surveyed in the benchmarking
and Embrapa, either in terms of the scope of institutional performance, or in
relation to the interests focused on organizational innovation in the QMSC area;
2) quantitative methods and scientific computing as areas of expertise and
knowledge are widely spread in Brazil, especially at Embrapa, however we did
not find equivalence and/or similarity with organizational structure of
international institutions. The study highlights the need to expand the scope
of the QMSC area at Embrapa, due to the emergence of new fields of activity and
new lines of research, for example Data Science. The study recommends Embrapa
to prioritize Data Science as a strategic line of research to achieve its
results, through research data use and reuse engineering, in order to generate
new information and knowledge for decision-making and/or public policy
formulation and management.