REORGANIZATION IN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF RESEARCH: EMBRAPA AND FIOCRUZ

Abstract

During the last fifteen years, the public research institutions, at national as well as international level, have been facing diverse challenges: cutbacks in financial resources, the emergence of new fields of knowledge, changes in the policies that define the State's role, risks and opportunities which have come about due to a more open relationship with the external environment, among others. Various institutions have been seeking to interact with their external environment by adopting strategies that range from the privatization of their assets to changes in their legal formats, changes in their organizational structures and establishment of explicit policies regarding their relationships with other agents in innovative systems. In this present study, an analysis has been carried out concerning how two public research institutions, Embrapa and Fiocruz, have been making their organizational structures suit the changes underway in the external environment. From the authors' point of view, the great challenge that Fiocruz will face is related to making its potential - which is represented by the complementary aspect of its many functions - a real, concrete feature, through the set-up of a process for intra-institutional relationships. As for Embrapa, the challenge will be to develop an entrepreneurial strategy directed towards increasing its revenues and to fulfilling its institutional mission, while delimiting its areas of competency, promoting multi-institutional partnerships, and 'refining' its system of planning.