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35PEDAGOGICAL SCIENCES
STRATEGIC PLANNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: MISSION, VISION, MAIN VALUES AND SWOT ANALYSIS OF AZERBAIJAN HEIS
Abstract: Strategic planning is the process of evaluating the available resources and potentials to achieve the future development of higher education institutions. This process enables universities to take steps to new changes, management, structure to become dynamic and competitiveness to emerge. Strategic management involves analyzing the internal and external environment in higher education institutions, identifying strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and defining strategies in this context. Strategic planning enables the improvement of teaching, research and quality management in a higher education institution. The purpose of the study was to examine the process of conducting a strategic plan, its formulation, mission, vision, main values and SWOT analysis in universities. In the study, the components of strategic planning, mission, vision, main values and SWOT information were explained using content analysis based on qualitative research method. As a result of the analysis, it is clear that strategic plans in many universities either do not exist or are not open to the public. According to their specific characteristics, the mission, vision, and values of the universities with a strategic plan were formed, but two universities conducted a SWOT analysis.
Key words: universities, pedagogical personnel training, strategic management, strategic planning, vision, mission, values.
Introduction
Strategic planning is the process of evaluating the available resources and potentials to obtain the future development of higher education institutions. This process enables universities to step to new changes, management, structure to become dynamic and competitiveness to emerge. in higher education institutions strategic management involves analyzing the internal and external environment identifying strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and defining strategies in this context. It also enables the improvement of teaching, research and quality management in a higher education institution. The main aim of the research paper was to test the process of conducting a strategic plan, its formulation, mission, vision, main values and SWOT analysis in universities. The components of strategic planning, mission, vision, main values and SWOT information were explained using content analysis based on qualitative research method in this study. As a result of the analysis, it is clear that strategic plans in many universities either do not exist or are not open to the public. According to their specific characteristics, the mission, vision, and values of the universities with a strategic plan were formed, but two universities conducted a SWOT analysis.
The concept of strategy, intended for the general planning and execution of large-scale military operations, began to be used in the management of the activities of organizations and enterprises since 1960 (Allson, Michael and Kaye, Jude 2015:187). The education sector's desire to take more into consideration the external environment and respond to the demands of stakeholders have made it more necessary to adapt planning to today's conditions. The inadequacy of the classical management and planning approach led to a transition to a more flexible, more productive and dynamic planning approach to management. Recently, strategic planning has been applied in educational institutions and has become an important road map for universities to best achieve their future goals and objectives. On the other hand, the strategy helped managers to assess themselves and reach their
ALIYEVA LEYLA KHUDADAT GIZI
Doctor of Philosophy in Pedagogy Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University, Azerbaijan Department of educational management https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2413-4631
goals. Strategic planning is a modern management method that allows management to be more resistant in order to change and adapt to innovations (Bryson, John and George, Bert 2020: 9).
Strategic planning is considered as a part of strategic management. Strategic planning regards as one of the most important functions of strategic management in achieving its targets. Strategic management: includes processes such as defining, planning and implementing strategies. Although, strategic planning shows the course of action connected to the targets and strategies that management is able to achieve in the future. Strategic planning is carried out by studying the internal and external environment of the university, analyzing the current situation, defining the mission, vision, strategic goals and objectives, putting forward the main values and strategies to be achieved and evaluating whether they have been achieved or not.
The obtained data were analyzed by the frequency method based on quantitative research. Strategic management and strategic planning, the essence of strategic planning in universities were explained and analyzed in a comparatively in this research paper.
The essence of strategic planning
The importance of strategic management has also increased since 1980, in order to minimize the possible crises and uncertainties that the organization may meet in the future, and to ensure that they can easily adapt to the changing environment and developing technology. (Ahapaththu, Hanasini 2016:125). Strategic management is considered as an important tool for the organization to achieve long-term success and to maintain its current success.
Strategic management is the process of preparing and implementing plans covering the organization's goals and objectives. The strategic management process is continuous and develops as the goals and objectives of the organization change. The organization uses strategic management to adapt to external changes and trends. Strategic management consists of the analyses, decisions and actions taken by an organization to create and maintain competitive advantages. This process makes the organization more adaptable to changes.
Strategic management is directed to maximizing the profit of the organization and improving the quality of services. The organization's activity is strategically characterized as follows (Bryson and George, 2020:7):
- It helps to adapt the strategic approach;
- Considers political, legal, administrative, ethical and environmental requirements and focuses on goals;
- Facilitates the understanding of the dynamics of the managed system, including the interaction between the created subsystems;
- While developing a management strategy, state institutions are openly or secretly involved in the process;
- Focuses on strengths and weaknesses, opportunities, threats, competitive and cooperative advantages;
- It allows us to think about the potential future and act accordingly.
Strategic management ensures the initiation of activities for the future development of the organization to be proactive rather than reactive. The benefits of strategic management for the organization are as follows: (Athapaththu, 2016:127)
- Increases employee productivity, awareness of threats from the external environment and competitive strategies;
- Helps to overcome resistance to change and explore more opportunities;
- Improves the organization's ability to solve problems by improving interactions between managers at different levels of the hierarchy;
- Creates order and discipline in the organization;
- The organization's activities are coordinated and a framework is prepared for its control;
- Increases communication and interaction between managers and employees;
- Develops strategic thinking ability of all members of the organization.
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Strategic planning is a special method between the organization's long-term goals, resources and the external environment, and establishes appropriate relationships in the process of activity. On the other hand, strategic planning is a document that summarizes why the organization exists, what it is trying to achieve, and how it will do it. (Allison and Kaye, 2015: 188).
Strategic planning shapes strategy and is defined as the set of concepts, processes and tools that shape what an organization is, what it does and why it does it. The long-term goal of strategic planning is to promote the continuity of an enterprise's strategic thinking and behavior. Firstly, strategic planning was applied in the private sector, but later it was also implemented in the activities of state institutions and non-governmental organizations. It began to be implemented in the public sector in the 1970s while the history of strategic planning applied in the private sector dates back to the 1950s (Allson, Michael and Kaye, Jude 2015:189).
Senior government officials in the United States made extensive use of strategic planning to solve problems at the administrative level and to deal with potential crises in 1970s. Strategic planning has become an indispensable element of management today (Allson, Michael and Kaye, Jude 2015:189).
However, strategic planning is a corporate management activity used to set priorities, focus on costs and resources, ensure that employees and stakeholders work towards a common goal, and direct the organization in response to changes in the external environment (Maleka, 2014:18). Strategic planning, which has a unique methodology, has a systematic structure and is a planned period in which certain processes are followed. The importance of strategic planning, which is a comprehensive process, can be listed as follows:
- Shares the organization's vision with internal and external audiences;
- It clarifies the mission of the organization by specifying it. Through strategic planning, the organization includes the option of how best to respond to the conditions in the environment in which it is located;
- Identifies the customers, consumers and stakeholders served by the organization;
- Reveals the strengths and weaknesses of the organization;
- Analyzes to find opportunities and threats for the organization;
- Involves stakeholders inside and outside the organization in the planning process;
- Creates a context for making choices about possible future directions.
Designed strategic plan properly should be in a framework that reflects the organization's values, is open to change and adapts to changes in the service environment (Murat and Bagdigen, 2008:75). This will deliver the organization to properly manage changes and use its resources effectively.
Strategic planning in a higher education institution
The inability of traditional management to respond to changing demands and to solve problems made universities ineffective. These criticisms of traditional management brought new searches systems. Attention and interests focused on strategic planning in these searches. Given that universities are affected by the constantly and dynamically changing and transforming internal and external environment, strategic planning seems to be an inevitable process in management. Technological, political and managerial developments on a global scale make strategic planning more and more important and effective periodically. This development necessitates the implementation of the phenomenon of strategic planning, which is considered as a fact of management (Songür, 2015:56). The university's interest in using its resources more efficiently and effectively makes strategic planning inevitable.
It is imperative that universities monitor their internal and external environments and predict what may occur in the future. In the management of universities, the process of strategic planning begins with the answer to the question of where it is within the analysis of the situation and the internal and external factors, opportunities and threats that can affect it are determined. The most used
method for analyzing the situation within strategic management is SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
Weaknesses and strengths that may affect the performance of universities should be identified and their implications discussed.
A higher education institution which use a SWOT analysis evaluates both internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats). Universities also use the SWOT analysis framework to evaluate certain aspects of services such as marketing and promotion, and use the information obtained to formulate their strategies and action plans (Pratchett et al., 2016:211).
After analyzing the current state of the university in strategic planning, in the second stage, an answer to the question of where it wants to reach is sought. The vision predicts the future expectations of the university and at what level it will be. A vision is an idealistic projection of what a business can be and what it can be successful at. The general characteristics of a good vision developed by the university can be listed as follows:
- must be understandable;
- it should be easy to remember;
- must be positive;
- must be motivated;
- must be inspiring;
- must be attractive;
- should not be difficult;
- should be future-oriented.
A mission is as important as a vision for an educational institution. The mission emphasizes the achievement of a unique goal (its capabilities relative to its strong competitors) and its values to ensure the university's competitive advantage at the same time. Mission "Why do we exist?" looking for an answer to this question. It helps organize the priority hierarchy of the university, which has to face short and long-term processes (Bowen, 2018: 3). The mission describes what the university will do, for whom it will be done, and how the vision will be achieved. Also, mission is the only statement most people will read that describes the university. To articulate a mission, a university must first answer the following questions:
- What will the university do to realize the vision?
- What is the reason for the existence of the university?
- What kind of services will the university provide?
- Who will benefit from these services?
The key to a successful mission statement is the university's ability to focus its priorities, decision-making, and resources on key components that provide competitive advantage. Many factors are used when developing a mission. These include: (Bowen, 2018:5)
- the vision of the founder;
- vision statement;
- research (internal stakeholders, external stakeholders);
- analysis of the main competencies related to the competitive environment;
- environmental factors (industry, technology, etc.);
- leadership and management style;
- basic ethical values.
The core principles behind the mission are the form, concept and behaviors of the university, and as part of the subculture, the values and beliefs that influence the behavior of teaching and support staff. Main values reflect a company's culture and philosophy and influence employee success, work processes and performance.
Main values are a set of principles defined by the university that reflect its culture and priorities. According to Blanchard and Stoner (Tessena et al., 2019:151), values are principles that guide the
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future behavior and thinking of an organization. An entity has a set of written or unwritten values. Even if universities do not express their values openly, they still use them to guide their activities (Tessena et al., 2019:151). At the end of the strategic planning process, it is important to reveal the strategic goals and objectives to be implemented within the vision and mission of the university. Strategic goals and objectives should be defined clearly, understandable and reasonable level. In this way the objectives to be achieved must be realistic by clearly defining the mission, vision, main values and quality elements. Performance indicators showing the extent to which these goals and objectives have been achieved should also be clearly included in the plan.
Strategic planning in higher education institutions
Higher education institutions are of great importance for the development of a dynamic transnational economy. These institutions form the basis for economic, social and cultural development and promotion for the world. Additionally, the contribution of universities to scientific and technological developments is very important. In general, higher education institutions represent the most significant symbol of the intellectual, economic, cultural and social life of society. Blanchard and Stoner positively evaluated the role of strategic planning in higher education. They argue that effective promotion provides a process for dealing with value conflicts and provides great richness and direction to higher education. Planning is a tool for university development. The university is strengthened and ultimately succeeds with strategic planning. A strategic plan ensures that the university has sufficient resources to achieve its goals. Strategies are the development way of the university's progress and formation, taking into account the external environment. A number of advantages are provided for the university in the strategic plan. The most important of them are:
- the university determines the route it should take to reach the ideal it is aiming for;
- provides a framework for gaining competitive advantage;
- Facilitates the participation and cooperation of stakeholders in the university to achieve the defined goals;
- increases the vision of the university's stakeholders. It prompts them to think creatively about the strategic direction of the university;
- fosters a sense of importance to the university by ensuring that the vision is understood among stakeholders;
- aims to adapt the university to its environment;
- allows the university to set priorities.
In our opinion, the issues to be considered when preparing the strategic plan of the higher education institution are as follows:
- to increase the performance towards the fulfillment of the defined mission and implementation of strategic goals;
- improve activities to increase the university's academic reputation;
- to acquire new resources;
- to clarify the future direction of the university;
- meet the requirements of accreditation criteria and state standards;
- solving important problems facing the university and obtaining opportunities;
- should be interested in cooperation of the university with the public.
Universities represent a different sector than other administrative mechanisms in terms of the services they develop and offer. The existence of more than one university operating in the same service area brings competition and differentiation. These differences increase the importance of competitive strategy, an approach used in the struggle to be different from others, to gain an advantage or to achieve. The competitive strategy put forward by the university increases the importance of developing a strategic plan.
The analysis of the current situation sets the aim of planning to increase and also improve the resources and potential of the university for the future.
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It is no coincidence that the main strategic goal of the development concept "Azerbaijan 2020: a vision of the future" approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated December 29, 2012 is sustainable economic growth and high social welfare in Azerbaijan, efficient public administration and is to achieve a stage of development characterized by the rule of law, the full provision of all rights and freedoms of people, and the active status of civil society in the country's public life. The improvement of management in education, the management model that ensures the involvement of all interested parties is preferred. Increasing the independence of all types of educational institutions, public (parents, pupils, students, local community, etc.) management of educational institutions in a state-public manner, application of other modern management technologies, etc. Reform-oriented measures in such directions, determining the functions and powers of the state bodies that carry out regulation and management in the education system in accordance with advanced international practice, and creating appropriate mechanisms for effective coordination of their activities have been priority areas. In "Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for social and economic development" approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated February 2, 2021, expansion of opportunities for people to receive high-quality education to the requirements of the 21st century, adaptation of personnel training to the requirements of the labor market, development of the vocational training system within the framework of the measures, training specialists according to international certificates, ensuring the competitiveness of higher education institutions at the international level in terms of quality in order to create human capital with high professional skills due to strong education are among the priority areas.
The third strategic direction in the "State Strategy for the Development of Education in the Republic of Azerbaijan" approved by the Order dated October 24, 2013 is the creation of responsible, transparent and efficient management mechanisms for the results in education, modernization of regulation and management in the education system based on advanced international experience, results-oriented in educational institutions and a transparent management model, including goals such as creating new information and reporting systems for education quality assurance and management.
Analysis of strategic plans of universities
In this part of the study, the research method, quantitative data in strategic plans, missions, visions, values, strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats will be discussed.
Methodology
The content analysis method was used to compare the mission, vision, values and SWOT analyzes mentioned in the existing strategic plans of the universities in this study. Content analysis is a research method that finds systematic, objective and quantitative equivalents of written texts in terms of content. In other words, content analysis is a technique in which content is systematically categorized or summarized into smaller units in terms of a specific goal or problem. Similar words and concepts in the given text are grouped together to form clusters (Sert et al., 2012:353). In this framework, strategic plans, mission, vision, values and SWOT analysis were grouped and investigated.
Status of Strategic Plans
The theme of the study was to collect information about the existence and public accessibility of strategic plans of universities conducting pedagogical staff training. It should be noted that 12 universities were selected from among 22 pedagogical staff training universities, and information about their strategic plans was studied on the basis of accessibility on their web pages (according to the research dated December 18, 2022).
Table 1. Quantitative data on strategic plans of universities
No Universities Plan period
1 1 Baku State University (BSU) 2014-2020 2014-2020
2 2 Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University (ADPU) 2018-2021 2018-2021
3 3 Azerbaijan University of Languages (ASU) 2021-2026 2021-2026
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4 4 Baku Slavic University (BSU) - -
5 5 Baku Girls University (BQU) - -
6 6 Ganja State University (GDU) 2022-2026 2022-2026
7 7 Sumgayit State University (SDU) 2020-2024 2020-2024
8 8 Lankaran State University (LDU) 2022-2030 2022-2030
9 9 Khazar University (XU) 2022-2024 2022-2024
10 10 Odlar Yurdu University (OU) 2020-2025 2020-2025
11 11 Nakhchivan University (NU) - -
12 12 Nakhchivan Teachers' Institute (NMI) - -
The strategic plans of BSU, BGU, NU, NTI are not available because they are not posted on the websites of the universities are shown in Table 1. The mission, vision and strategic goals of other universities have been mentioned. When the current strategic plans of the respective universities were examined, it was found that the strategic plans of BSU, ASPU have expired. In fact, it can be concluded that most universities have a formal strategic plan. There were no reports on reaching the goals in the expired strategic plans. In general, the goals that universities state in their strategic plans are often not measurable. Performance indicators are very important in terms of presenting how well the universities have achieved their goals. It is difficult to determine the highest and lowest performance indicators from this point of view.
Mission in strategic plan
Each university defines its own purpose, philosophy and values. The mission answers the question of why the university exists and explains its needs.
Table 2. Clustering of university mission contents
No Mission Universitetlar Frequence
1 Multi-profile continuous education system according to world standards BSU
2 To acquire fundamental knowledge in the field of scientific research BSU, ASU, ASPU, OYU, SSU 5
3 High potential, critical thinking and analytical intelligence, ability to conduct various researches independently BSU, SSU, ASPU, OYU 4
4 To be competitive in the international and national labor market BSU, OYU 2
5 To be brought up in the spirit of patriotism BSU, ASU 2
6 To achieve high-quality teaching and research by professor-teacher staff; SSU 1
7 Improve the quality of education; SSU 1
8 Expanding international relations, achieving the implementation of international double diploma programs; SSU 1
9 To ensure the formation of graduates as highly qualified personnel; SSU, ASPU, OYU 3
10 To strengthen the position of the university and raise its status in the field of educational activities at national and international levels; SSU 1
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11 Creating an effective system of supporting, financial provision and stimulation of research at the dissertation level; SSU 1
12 Creating conditions for realization of students' scientific potential, preparation of the most talented graduates for scientific-pedagogical activities, and moral and material encouragement of talented students; SSU 1
13 Education, training, research, etc. to contribute to the improvement of the technological, socio-economic and cultural level of the society through other scientific measures; ASPU 1
The content of the universities' missions consists of 13 points (Table 2). "Education of qualified personnel who have acquired fundamental knowledge in the field of scientific research", "High potential, critical thinking and analytical intelligence, able to conduct various researches independently" and "Ensuring the formation of graduates as highly qualified personnel" were the most used missions in the strategic plans of universities.
Vision in a strategic plan
A vision is often taken as an image of the future. It is a picture of excellence, a desire to manage a person, team or organization in the best possible way into the future. A vision can be seen as a mental picture of a future state. This understanding develops the dominant factors and influences that create an environment different from the past and the present. Table 3. Clustering of vision contents of universities_
No Vision Universities Frekans
1 Maintain leadership in the region; BDU 1
2 Achieving improvement of the current model of fundamental education and maintaining it; BDU 1
3 Create an innovative higher education institution model; BDU 1
4 To be among the top 100 universities in the world. BDU, ADU 2
5 To be competitive in the country and internationally; ADU 1
6 To implement researcher-teacher training that meets international standards in the direction of the basics of vocational education, specialties and innovations. ADPU, SDU 2
7 Further improvement of education, scientific research, international relations, internal quality assurance and realization of goals arising from the strategic development plan. OU 1
Table 3 shows that the views of the universities are grouped under 7 headings. The vision is unique to each university. For this reason, the visions in the strategic plans of the universities are more scattered than the missions. Universities prefer their view to be ranked among the top 100 universities in the world. The views formed in this framework should be expressed in clear, understandable and short sentences in the strategic plan. The universities expressed the vision "to implement researcher-teacher training that meets international standards in the direction of the basics of vocational education, specialties and innovations". In fact, the fact that it is the most used view statement by universities shows that this issue is important in terms of priority. Some universities have set the vision as a motto.
Main values in strategic plans
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Values should be aligned with mission and vision. Values based on solid foundations increase collective trust in the university and easily align it with the missions it defines. The language used in establishing main values should be simple. Values should be created together with the university collective and employees without dictating to the manager (Williams, 2012:27).
Table 4. Clustering of universities in terms of main values
No Main Values Universities Frequence
1 Integration ASU 1
2 Global knowledge ASU 1
3 Modernity ASU; OYU 2
4 Creativity ASU; OYU 2
5 Flexibility ASU 1
6 Multiculturalism ASU 1
7 Diversity OYU 1
8 Cooperation OYU; ASPU 2
9 Efficiency OYU 1
10 Be open to innovation SSU; ASPU 2
11 Support for teachers and students SSU 1
12 Academic freedom SSU 1
13 Academic ethics SSU 1
14 Eligibility SSU 1
15 Transparency SSU; ASPU 2
16 Perfection SSU; ASPU 2
17 Quality SSU 1
18 Participation SSU 1
19 Respect for differences SSU 1
20 Thinking of the public interest SSU 1
21 Environmental sensitivity. SSU 1
22 Accountability ASPU 1
23 Respect: ASPU 1
The main values of universities are classified into 23 groups. Unfortunately, the main values of BSU are not mentioned in their strategic plans. These are the values that are more emphasized in the strategic plans of universities; the values of modernity, creativity, openness to innovations, transparency, excellence was preferred.
It should be noted that the consistency between mission, vision and main values in the strategic plans of universities is low and differs in specificity.
Strengths of strategic plans
SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool that helps to evaluate the feasibility of the university's activities and services. This tool is used to systematically analyze the strengths and weaknesses on which the success of any enterprise depends, as well as opportunities and potential threats for its development.
Unfortunately, many universities did not conduct a SWOT analysis when developing their strategic plans. Observations showed that two of the universities conducting pedagogical staff training, ASU and SSU, conducted a SWOT analysis. The strengths of the analyzed universities were divided into 38 different sub-dimensions and a content analysis was carried out. Strengths differ according to the characteristics of universities. "Having an army of successful graduates" and "cooperating with international organizations" and "accreditation of pilot education programs" were
mentioned as strengths. However, as a strong point, these universities also included ritual activities, which creates a problem in the correct definition of the strategy.
Weaknesses of strategic plans
Weaknesses constitute the deficiencies that the university must overcome. At the same time, the inability to adapt to the external environment and changes can also be attributed to the category of weaknesses. In identifying weak points, answers to the following questions are sought:
- What are the weaknesses of the university?
- What aspects of the university need improvement?
- What are the advantages of competing universities?
- What are the shortcomings of the university when viewed from the outside?
According to the profile of SSU and ASU among the universities, they analyzed their weaknesses. Among the weaknesses that were noticed were "non-regular implementation of the labor market study system", "lack of dual degree programs", "weak implementation of the mechanism for monitoring teacher activity". Both universities have their own weaknesses.
Opportunities in strategic plans
Existing or likely future processes in the university that have a positive impact are evaluated as opportunities. "What opportunities are there for the University? What developments can happen in the environment that may be different for the University?" in determining the opportunities. Looking for answers to your questions.
If we look at the possibilities mentioned by the universities in their strategic plans, they include "strengthening the stability of income and financial flows as a result of offering and implementing new services in the university has a specific system of values", "cooperation with foundations and companies that provide scholarships to students", "partnering in international projects is an opportunity for dual diplomas, students and teachers have included issues such as "making it possible to ensure mobility" among the possibilities. These can be considered positive factors for universities.
Unfortunately, the opportunities mentioned by the universities are not compatible with the demands of today's society and the labor market.
Threats in strategic plans
Threats show negative effects that exist on the current state or future of the university. According to Williams (2012:25), threats include factors that may cause an institution to fail or weaken. Threats have the potential to permanently damage the university, or at least halt its progress at the same time.
Let's look through some of the threats reflected in the clustering of universities in terms of threats based on SWOT Analysis. "It takes a long time to adapt educational programs to European standards", "the main part of the university's budget is formed from tuition fees", "the mentality of "studying for the sake of a degree" continues at a certain level in the public opinion", "rapid changes in the demands of the labor market", "Limitations posed by migration".
As can be seen from the mentioned threats, each higher education institution has its own specific threats.
Conclusion
The most recent strategic plans of the universities of Azerbaijan, where pedagogical staff training is conducted, and which are available to the society, were tested. Vision, mission, main values and SWOT data are mentioned in the strategic plans of four of these universities. Qualitative data related to the strategic plan were transformed into quantitative data using the content analysis method. The vision, mission, main values and SWOT data have been classified and made comparable in this regard. As a result of this classification, the universities paid more attention to the mission of "training qualified personnel who have acquired fundamental knowledge in the field of scientific research", "high potential, critical thinking and analytical intelligence, who are able to conduct various researches independently". Basically, universities have different missions and priorities.
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It was observed that the visions of the universities are more scattered than the missions they define. Visions reflect the perspective of universities. In addition, the vision aims to develop in the country and beyond.
When looking at the values of the universities, they paid the most attention to modernity, creativity, cooperation, openness to innovations, excellence, and transparency.
Note that there is an inverse relationship between the number of university values and behaviors. As the number of values increases, the influence of these values on the university staff decreases. In order to have a positive impact on personnel, the number of values defined in the strategic plan should not exceed 10.
The strategic plans of the respective universities, which are the subject of the study, were examined according to the SWOT analysis and have specific aspects of opportunities and threats.
The strategic plan includes becoming a member or partner of international associations, having a quality assurance policy, articles published in magazines with IMPACT factors, creating E-universities, student-teacher exchange, social service, funds and companies providing scholarships, increasing the demand for high-potential personnel, etc. mentioned as possibilities.
Finally, as a result of the study of threats in the strategic plan, it was found that the older generation does not respond to changes, the curriculum does not adapt to European standards, problems arise in the organization of student-oriented classes, late access to learning resources, student transfer, the majority of the university budget is tuition fees, increased competition in the labor market, etc. mentioned in the threats.
Universities that conduct pedagogical staff training are still either lax or indifferent in preparing their strategic plans, conducting SWOT and other types of analysis. This is a sign that the universities and trained personnel lag behind the demands of the society and the labor market. At the same time, it is an indicator of the low level of competitiveness among universities.
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17. https://adpu.edu.az/images/adpu files/universitet/haqqimizda/strateji-plan.pdf
18. http://bsu.edu.az/az/content/baki_dvlt_unversrtetnn_mssya_v_stratej_nkaf_plani
19. https://www.sdu.edu.az/az/strategic goals
20. https://adu.edu.az/az/adu-haq ginda/ASP/
21. https://e- ganun.az/framework/25029
22. https://president.az/az/articles/view/50474
23. https://president.az/az/articles/view/9779
