Changing roles of institutional research in strategic management

A college driven by a broad vision cannot effectively realize its desired future within a rigid, formal, and centralized decision process, because such processes prohibit the institution from competing effectively in a rapidly changing environment. This paper examines both the theoretical models and a case study of phased evolution of planning process—from short-term static process to vision-driven strategic management phase—and suggests a parallel progression in institutional research has shifted its focus from attention to data, to issue-driven analysis, to framework-guided synthesis. Institutional researchers are urged to reconceptualize their framework and meteorologies in order to more effectively support strategic management.