EFFICIENCY
IN EQUIPMENT IMPORT PROCESSES: UNIVASF'S CASE
Leone Coelho
Bagagi
Escola de
Administração da Universidade Federal da Bahia., Brazil
E-mail: leone.bagagi@gmail.com
Vera Lúcia
Peixoto S. Mendes
Universidade
Federal da Bahia, Brazil
E-mail: verapeixoto09@gmail.com
Submission: 8/6/2019
Revision: 9/18/2019
Accept: 10/22/2019
ABSTRACT
This study
aims to describe and analyze the administrative flow of equipment import process at
UNIVASF considering the principle of administrative efficiency. A
qualitative single case study research was carried out, with a survey and
analysis of actions, administrative acts developed into equipment import
processes, from 2004 to 2014, to foster, and support scientific, technological
and innovation research at UNIVASF. The results show that the principle of
efficiency, a promise of the new managerialism, does not resonate with the
evidences pointed out in this research, due to the higher time spent to perform
the phases, especially the fiscal one, due to obstacles in the administrative
and legal systems.
Keywords: Efficiency, Equipment Import. Scientific,
Technological Research and Innovation.
1.
INTRODUCTION
The
Brazilian state has stimulated and fostered the generation and diffusion of new
technologies, aiming to reverse the current scenario of Brazilian technological
gap and to project the nation in the scenario of international competitiveness
(REZENDE; CORRÊA; DANIEL, 2013). The inhibited participation of private
initiative in this process of national scientific development, combined with
the legal requirements in the execution of resources, the transparency of acts
and the accountability of results obtained, are structuring factors that transform
research actions into an arduous bureaucratic process.
Even with constitutional didactic, administrative and
financial autonomy conferred to universities; these institutions are subject to
such intricacies that contribute very little to scientific and technological
progress. On the contrary, there is the case of importing equipment
process to foster scientific research in universities that has become a
bureaucratic odyssey. There is a restriction on budgets for research
funding, especially basic research, which in Brazil are public funding
institutions as the largest funding agent. This is why efficient resource
management is a challenge that spurs research in Brazil.
At the heart of this
problem are the new federal universities with peculiar characteristics in
relation to the older ones: internalization and regionalization of the
fulfillment of their institutional mission. UNIVASF is characterized by its
performance covering the interior of three federated entities: Bahia,
Pernambuco and Piauí. Thus, this phenomenon is seen as a peculiar
situation and capable of being the object of scientific analysis aiming to
explain this limitation in view of the advances of the new public management,
in order to make the process of public procurement efficient in the scope of
importation. Thus, it presents itself as a research problem: how is the process
of importing equipment at UNIVASF characterized, considering the principle of
administrative efficiency?
2.
PUBLIC POLICY TO
ENCOURAGE SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN PUBLIC CONTRACTING
The legal framework of
this public policy was Article 218 of the Brazilian Federal Constitution, which
established the guidelines and entrusted the State with the competence to
encourage scientific and technological development, by fostering training,
financing, support and reducing bureaucracy of public management.
In the context of
public procurement, Law nº 8,666/93 (BRAZIL, 1993) precludes some of these
actions through the purchase of goods by means of equipment importing process
exclusively for scientific and technological research, financed by funding
agencies such as CAPES, FINEP and CNPq, as well as
the hiring of a Scientific and Technological Institution (ICT) or by a funding
agency, aiming at technology transfer and for the licensing of the right of use
or exploitation of protected creation, according to the provisions contained in
the article. 24, items XXI and XXV (JUSTEN FILHO, 2009; FURTADO, 2013; DI
PIETRO, 2014).
However, even with the
establishment of public policies to encourage national scientific research, the
process of importing equipment faces exorbitant deadlines to fulfill later
stages of procedural instruction and subject to procedural processing in
various national public bodies and authorities, namely: import authorization,
payment in foreign currency and customs clearance (LIMA, 2014).
The most current
legislation in this regard was the approval and sanctioning of the bill called
the legal framework of science, technology and innovation, converted into Law nº 13,243 (BRAZIL, 2016), which establishes measures to
encourage scientific, technological research and innovation. in the country
and, once again, promotes changes in the public procurement
system. The laws and ordinary laws issues, the controls exercised by
the legislature, besides the principle of transparency and the
accountability by the public agents are not able tools to efficiently meet
these demands (CARVALHO, 2013; ENSSLIN
et al., 2014).
In this sense, it can
be highlighted that public procurement, through the process of importing
equipment to encourage national research, faces obstacles in its normative and
bureaucratic framework, as social and political dynamism is a challenge for
administrative systems. and legal entities present in all spheres of public
administration.
Thus, it is important
to highlight the advances of these policies to promote the development of
national scientific and technological research, but caution recommends characterizing
this movement as an initial one in order to dismantle the obstacles in the
administrative and legal systems. Therefore, the results of these policies are
still incipient, considering that such limitations persist and turn research
projects management into an odyssey.
3.
EFFICIENCY IN NEW
MANAGEMENT AND ITS INSTITUTIONALIZATION IN BRAZILIAN PUBLIC
MANAGEMENT
The term “efficiency”
stood out as the most common approach to the new management, according to the
references researched. This trend aims to implement actions to maximize
rational use of resources and achievement of results. This tendency was
stimulated from the dissonance between social facts and management's
performance in relation to norms, which results in a total lack of coherence
between public needs and the social end sought by the legislator (CARVALHO,
2013).
Thus, the main
objective of the new managerialism in the use of private organizations'
mechanisms and procedures to modernize public administration was to make the organization
more cost-effective, market-oriented, by building networks and partnerships
with for-profit and non-profit institutions. for the provision of public
services (MENDES, 2000). This new approach aims to improve quality and increase
access and satisfaction of service users, as well as maximize capital resources
through efficient management of processes, products, services and, most
importantly, financial results (LUKE; KEARINS; VERREYNNE, 2011; MONOBAYEVA; HOWARD, 2015).
In this sense, it can
be inferred that the organizational challenge is to promote strategic
management efficiently and effectively, always doing more with less (VERMA;
SINHA, 2002). Against this background, studies of management science
reveal that the movements of managerial public administration, the state
apparatus reform movement, and the new managerialism are grounded in the term
"effectiveness" and "efficiency," conceptualizing
effectiveness as the scope of expected objectives, and efficiency as the development
of actions with the least energy expenditure, that is, to develop and achieve
the democratic objectives of the state with the least expenditure of public
resources (BATISTA JÚNIOR, 2012).
Subsequently, by means
of a Constitution amendment, this principle was elevated to the highest
normative post in the country, the Federal Constitution of 1988, which
considers it as the guiding directive of Brazilian public
administration. (BATISTA JÚNIOR, 2012; FURTADO, 2013). The term
“efficiency” would be composed by the terms “effectiveness” and “efficiency” of
public administration, as well stated by Bandeira de Mello, is the duty of a
good administration (MELLO, 2006).
Thus, it can be highlighted that the national
normative system institutionalized efficiency as a guiding principle of public
administration and, with the prerogative of embracing its conceptual body,
aggregated effectiveness through the achievement of results, productivity,
economy, quality in the provision of services, agility, maintenance in the
continuity of public services and, especially, less bureaucracy of public
administration. These attributes are characterized by state action by
maximizing the results in the cost/benefit ratio when providing public services
to society.
4. RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
This is a qualitative, single-case study (YIN, 2010),
conducted at the Vale do São Francisco Federal University Foundation (UNIVASF),
a public law body created in 2002 to promote higher education, develop research
in several areas of knowledge and promote university extension, inserted in the
northeastern semiarid and with multicampus
performance. This selection is due to the fact that UNIVASF's strategic
position in the development of the northeastern semiarid (including the states
of Bahia, Pernambuco and Piauí) and its commitment to scientific and
technological progress, whose focus on research and innovation triggered the
need for a political-institutional, strategically reshaping the Dean of
Research, Graduate and Innovation in the three-dimensional promotion of these
actions.
The analysis was performed according to the study by
Almeida et al (2013) on the “Experience of importing research equipment in
ELSA-BRAZIL”. This research complies with Resolution nº 466/12 of the National
Health Council (BRAZIL, 2012) and was authorized by report of the Ethics and
Deontology in Studies and Research Committee n° 1,406,593.
5. RESULTS ANALYSIS
5.1.
Analysis of Import Processes at UNIVASF
In this phase, a survey was carried out within UNIVASF's
Procurement and Purchase Department of the Budget and Management Dean on all
open import processes available for consultation between 2004 and 2014. The
flow phases are described below in Table 1, according to the characteristics of
procedural instruction and administrative acts specific to the case of UNIVASF,
object of this study and, therefore, classified the activities in phases, as
presented in the research on equipment import experience for research at
ELSA-BRASIL (ALMEIDA et al., 2013), which are: administrative-operational
phase, exchange phase and fiscal phase.
Table 1: Phases and activities for equipment import.
|
Phase |
Activities |
|
Administrative-operational |
1.
Technical specification of the equipment. |
|
2.
Contacts with supplier for securities trading,
guarantees and technical assistance. |
|
|
3.
Request and Receipt of Profoma Invoice (Proposal
and conditions of acquisition). |
|
|
4.
Opening of proceedings, issuance of
memoranda and other documents and authorization by the University Dean. |
|
|
5.
Documents gathering related to the project
(agreement, credit note, work plan, and others). |
|
|
6.
Statement of the Federal Prosecutor's Office at
UNIVASF. |
|
|
7.
Justification and proof of compatibility with
market prices. |
|
|
8.
Procurement and Bidding Department registers in the
Federal Government procurement disclosure system for publication in the
Federal Official Gazette. |
|
|
9.
PROGEST issues its commitment in accordance with the
dollar quotation and reinforcement in function of exchange rate
variation. |
|
|
Foreign exchange |
10.
PROGEST issues bank order to close the exchange rate |
|
11.
Letter requesting Bank of Brazil to close the
exchange rate, related to invoices, in the form of prepayment. |
|
|
12.
Issuance and signing of the
exchange contract between Bank of Brazil and UNIVASF. |
|
|
Tax control |
13.
UNIVASF issues letters to the State and Union
Treasury bodies requesting granting exemptions. |
|
13.
Company hired by UNIVASF provides the other acts of
clearance with the IRS, payment and clearance with Brazilian Airport
Infrastructure Company (INFRAERO) and National Health Surveillance Agency
(ANVISA), payments for international and local transportation services,
storage and freight services, and other fees for subsequent reimbursement. |
|
|
15.
Receipt, equipment check and receipt certificate. |
Source: Adapted from
Almeida et al (2013).
After analysis of the
import processes, nine import processes were identified between the 2004-2014
periods, it could be evidenced that the instruction is carried out by the
researcher professor of a large project involving several areas and specialties
or by the Coordinator of the Postgraduate studies. The equipment purchased
meets the group of research professors involved in the research and graduate
programs in multipurpose laboratories.
Ten cases opened under UNIVASF were identified, eight
of which registered the beginning of the procedural instruction in the year
2008 and two carried out for the assessment in 2013. It is noteworthy that
these procedures are linked to the Graduate Programs and financed by both
UNIVASF as well as by development agencies, according to the importation
processes studied, Financier of Studies and Projects (FINEP), and Coordination
for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES).
The results of the UNIVASF import process survey were
described and have the following characteristics: the import processes are
analyzed and processed by the team of the Procurement and Bidding Department
(DCL), linked to the Budget and Management Dean (PROGEST), formerly known as
Management and Budget Secretariat (SGO).
In the administrative-operational phase, the
procedural instruction phase is carried out by the requesting
professor/researcher, then PROGEST and DCL analyze it, require the attorney's
office manifestation, register it in the Federal Government's procurement
disclosure system for publication in the Federal Official Gazette and, lastly,
issue the payment commitment. In the foreign exchange phase, PROGEST and DCL
provide the issuance of the Official Letter and bank order to close the
exchange rate with Bank of Brazil, therefore, the issuance and signing of the
exchange contract and prepayment.
In the fiscal phase, it was evidenced that UNIVASF
does not have a specialized and sufficient team to provide customs clearance in
the import processes for the acquisition of goods. As a result, through process
nº 23402.001630/2008-30, the bidding process was carried out in the Electronic
Auction nº. 84/2008, aiming at hiring a specialized company to develop these
activities through reimbursement of expenses and payment of fees for providing
these services.
5.2.
Description of
the administrative flow of the equipment importing process from UNIVASF's
Budget and Management Dean (PROGEST)
This description characterizes the administrative flow of
the equipment import process with the Administrative-operational phase, which
highlights the following activities: technical specifications of the equipment;
contacts with supplier to negotiate prices, guarantees and technical
assistance; request and receipt of proforma invoice (proposal and purchase
conditions); opening of proceedings, issuance of memoranda and other documents
and authorization from the Dean; the project-related documents (agreement,
credit notes, work plan and others); manifestation of the Federal Prosecutor's
Office at UNIVASF; Procurement and Bidding Department records in the Federal
Government procurement disclosure system for publication in the Federal
Official Gazette; PROGEST issues its commitment in accordance with the dollar
quotation and possible reinforcement due to exchange variation.
The Exchange phase is related to the
following activities: PROGEST issues a bank order to close the exchange
rate; issues a letter requesting Bank of Brazil to close the exchange
rate in the form of prepayment; issuance and signature of the exchange
contract between Bank of Brazil and UNIVASF.
The Fiscal phase consists of: UNIVASF issuing letters
to the State and Union Treasury bodies requesting granting exemptions; the
company hired by UNIVASF provides the other acts of clearance with the IRS, as
well as payment and clearance with INFRAEROnfraero
and ANVISA, discharge of international and local transport services, in
addition, storage and freight services, among other things. fee for subsequent
disbursement; and, at the end, the receipt, equipment verification and certify
receipt of these items.
These phases describe the activities required for the
procurement of imported equipment, characterized according to processes carried
out at UNIVASF from 2004 to 2014. Ten processes were analyzed, one of which was
not concluded and, therefore, was disregarded and nine were the object of this
analysis. The processes were coordinated by professors / researchers called
Coordinator (A), (B) and (C). In this sense, the time required for the unravel
of each phase was analyzed, considering the beginning of the import process with
process assessment until the receipt of the equipment in UNIVASF's patrimony
sector.
In the administrative-operational phase, as
highlighted in Graph 1, it was identified that processes two and three had the
longest execution time, respectively, a period of 247 and 234 days. The
shortest time was observed in process eight, referring to five days. The
average period for compliance with this procedural phase at UNIVASF was 86
days. The exchange phase showed that its longest time was identified in case nine,
with a period of 336 days. The shortest time was recorded in case four, with
120 days. The average time of this phase was 180 days. The last phase or tax
recorded the longest time to start and complete the activities in process
three, with the respective deadline of 392 days. The shortest term was
identified in case nine, with a term of 86 days. The average period for the
execution of this phase was 190 days.
In this sense, it can be concluded that the import
processes in the administrative-operational phase, in relation to the other
phases, present the shortest time for its execution, even considering the
longest, shortest and the average time for the development of the activities.
Thus, in light of these findings, it can be concluded that even with an average
term of almost ninety days to process this first phase, which depends
exclusively on the institution's internal actions, the exchange and fiscal
phases concentrate the longest period for its conclusion. This means that there
is a relationship between these phases and the main limitations identified and
categorized, namely: barriers in the legal and administrative system and
resources. The Figure 1 illustrates the understanding of this analysis.
Figure 1: import time per
phase and researcher responsible for coordinating the import process.
Source:
field data.
6. FINAL
CONSIDERATIONS
The
description of the administrative flow of the equipment importation process
with UNIVASF's Budget and Management Dean (PROGEST), considering the principle
of administrative efficiency, highlights the activities required for public
procurement through the import of equipment. In this analysis we found that the
shortest period of execution of the activities is in the
administrative-operational phase, with the shortest period of five days, there
is an average time of 86 days and the largest of 247 days. The foreign exchange
phase recorded the shortest period of 120 days, the average time being 180 days
and the longest time 336 days. The last phase or tax registers the shortest
time - 86 days, the average time of 190 days and the longest time of 392 days.
The
administrative flow analysis of equipment import process has a maximum time of
392 days, being the longest fiscal phase and the shortest the administrative-operational
phase, reaching up to five days. These deadlines reveal the inefficiency in the
importing equipment process for conducting research. These findings highlight
that the exchange and fiscal phases have the longest duration in days for their
execution. The administrative-operational phase was the shortest, despite the
variations in the execution time of its activities.
From
the analysis of equipment importation processes in UNIVASF, we observed that
the efficiency principle, a promise of the new managerialism approach does not
find resonance in the results obtained in this work, being that they are in
agreement with the established assumptions. Thus, the results obtained in the
research by Almeida et al (2013) are confirmed when they show the varied
duration in the administrative-operational phase, but with the shortest
duration and the fiscal phase with the longest duration, both found in this
study in Figure 1, as well as the limitations related to the administrative and
legal systems and evidenced in research carried out by Almeida et al
(2013) and Lima (2014).
From
the theoretical perspective, this work seeks to contribute, from the
characterization and management of public resources to support and foster
scientific, technological and innovation research, to the expansion of the
object of this investigation and to analyze whether the principle of efficiency
are contributing to suppress barrier challenges
in the administrative and legal systems in the equipment importation process.
In
practical terms, the results obtained can contribute to subsidize the strategic
decisions in the management of these resources and in the import processes. We
acknowledge the limitations of this study, especially regarding the
non-treatment of the managerial aspect of the studied university, related to
the organizational culture and the option for a single case study. Such
limitations suggest the proposition of future studies applied in various
publicly funded research-supporting organizations, such as private
universities, scientific and technological institutions, and private S&T
companies.
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