Developing a conceptual framework of dashboard for realizing strategic plans for public universities in the country; a case study for Iranian's 10 top universities

The present study was conducted with the aim of developing a conceptual framework for a dashboard to realize strategic plans, in order to create transparency, the most important information topics of strategic plans. This research is classified as developmental-applied research, descriptive-analytical, and descriptive-survey research. First, based on theoretical foundations, the various components of university strategic plans were identified. Subsequently, through documentary studies, the strategic documents of 10 top-ranked national public universities were analyzed. In the field study section, 177 people were selected using snowball sampling approach. For collecting qualitative data, a researcher-made questionnaire with 10 items for demographic characteristics and 36 items on a five-point Likert scale was used. After confirming the face validity of the questionnaire, Its reliability was confirmed to be above 96% using Cronbach's alpha coefficient for each item separately. The Descriptive findings from documentary studies showed; among the twelve process components, only one university was ranked first in terms of transparency, while the others were placed in subsequent ranks, having failed to disclose two, three, or five components. Similarly, regarding the disclosure of the eleven structural components, one university, by transparently reporting all components, was ranked first, with the others following in subsequent ranks. The interpretive findings also indicated the necessity of utilizing and leveraging upstream documents in the fields of science, research, and technology, with particular emphasis on three specific documents out of 24 upstream documents. Furthermore, the highest importance for transparency among the twelve process components was attributed to the mission, vision, and major goals. Among the eleven components of strategic planning knowledge, the highest importance was assigned to the expectations of external and internal stakeholders, social responsibility, and specific innovations. Among the eleven structural components, responsibility towards stakeholders, the statement of opportunities and challenges, and specific innovations obtained the highest ranks in terms of importance for transparency. The results of the analysis of variance for different groups did not show a significant difference in any of the tests. In fact, the validity of the conceptual framework was reinforced, since it is equally applicable to all target groups.