A strategy-based approach towards optimising research output

Abstract

The South African higher education fraternity has experienced an outflow of senior research capacity during the past decade, resulting in a large influx of younger and less-published academics. More emphasis is therefore placed on the role of the central institution in ensuring research output. The Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at a South African university was not excluded from this phenomenon, and this led to the development and implementation of a research support strategy by management in 2002. The purpose of this article is to rationalise the strategic decisions taken since 2002 by the faculty towards increasing and sustaining research output. The faculty's research output has improved since the implementation of the strategy in 2002. The decisions taken since 2002 by the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences of the University of the Free State towards increasing and sustaining research activities and output among academics are formulated into two strategies. The implementation of these strategies will be discussed against the backdrop of the National Plan for Higher Education. The article will also address the Research Turn Strategy that has been implemented by the university.