Science Research Management ›› 2019, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (4): 256-263.

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A research on process optimization of S&T planning projects management based on ESIA

Yang Haiyan 1,2, Li Lei 1,2, Han Fei 1,2   

  1. 1. Center of Science and Technology Evaluation, Institute of Scientific and
    Technical Information of Shaanxi, Xi’an 710054, Shaanxi, China;
    2. Shaanxi Science and Technology Evaluation Center, Xi’an 710054, Shaanxi, China
  • Received:2018-01-04 Revised:2018-05-18 Online:2019-04-20 Published:2019-04-23

Abstract: Science and technology planning projects are the basic form of scientific research and technology development activities organized by the government. It is an effective means to make up for the lack of market for scientific research, rationally allocate scientific and technological resources, and promote scientific and technological progress, economic and social development. The core task of science and technology planning projects management is to ensure the smooth implementation of the projects, achieve the goals and tasks, and finally achieve the goals of the science and technology development plan. With the development of society and science and technology progress, the current management mode of science and technology planning project has shown many inadaptability to the new situation and new requirements, problems such as low management efficiency and frequent management loopholes are constantly exposed, profoundly affecting national and regional scientific and technological development, it is urgent to reform the current management mode and method of science and technology planning projects.Aiming at series problems existing in the management of Shaanxi science and technology planning projects, such as management phase deficiency of the top-level design and the achievement transformation and promotion; management department positioning error, inadequate macro management, too much attention to micro management; low management efficiency and repetitive, non-standard management phenomenon; lag of e-government, the one-stop service model has not been implemented; etc. in order to reform traditional management mechanisms and management methods, under the background of Shaanxi province science and technology business integrated management system construction.A solution is proposed, which is to optimize the management process of science and technology planning project based on ESIA method, the goal is to achieve scientific management and the best management efficiency. In this study, under the three major changes, namely, the redivision of responsibilities of management subjects, the redefinition of management phase and the construction of big data, the roles, links and contents of existing processes are comprehensively optimized by means of cancellation, simplification, integration and automation.Cancellation means to reduce or cancel direct micro-management of science and technology departments and concentrate on strengthening macro-management, give full play to the role of experts and professional organizations in the projects management, introduce third-party professional organizations into the management, and the micro-level management will be changed from direct management of science and technology departments to management of third-party professional organizations. Simplification means to adopt parallel process and other means, for example, to issue solicitation and project approval notices through the Internet, managers at all levels with authority and project applicants can receive information synchronously, instead of being conveyed layer by layer. At the same time, the joint work mode is adopted to eliminate repeated inspections, reduce management costs, and reduce unnecessary interference to the project side. Integration means to integrate top-level design and achievement transformation and promotion into the management process, in other words, the whole process of science and technology planning project management should include four stages: top-level design, project collection, project implementation and achievement transformation, and each stage is composed of a number of links. Automation means to introduce the form of "Internet + e-government", comprehensively promote the construction of big data to ensure that the management system can give full play to its role by building large databases of projects, achievements, assets, funds, technology transactions, policies, administrative management, etc, process-based project management is truly realized.In this paper, ESIA method was used for process optimization. this method is determined to be adopted according to the actual demand of the system construction after comparing various process optimization methods,include benchmarking method, DMAIC model, ESIA method, ECRS method, SDCA cycle, PDCA cycle and so on. ESIA is a process optimization method based on improved content, it improves the existing process by cancelling, simplifying, integrating and automating four steps, reducing non-value-added or invalid activities in the process, adjusting core value-added activities, and realizing process automation, comparing and demonstrating the original process and the optimized process through the form of the swim-lane diagram. Swim-lane diagram is to organize the activities in the process according to the responsibilities, and in the diagram the vertical axis is department function while the horizontal axis is post link so that this gives a clear indication which department is conducting which actions, and give a convenient description of various business processes, and describe vertically the logical relationships between the activities of the system, and understand the business logic.Science and technology planning project management process optimization is the management department of Shaanxi province to respond to the new era of science and technology management reform requirements, and it is a concrete project to reform the traditional management mechanism and mode. This renovation, by introducing management stages and links such as top-level design and achievement transformation and promotion, realizes the whole process hierarchical management of science and technology planning project from macro level to micro level, which belongs to different management subjects; through the construction of big data, replacing manual work with informatization, the scale of organization has been greatly reduced, the degree of workflow automation has made a qualitative leap; through the change of management concept, part of the business process is changed from series to parallel, so that the collaboration ability is improved and the process processing speed is greatly accelerated; through the adjustment of the responsibility and division of labor of the responsible subject, the responsibilities of the management subject are more clear, and the repetitive and inefficient work content is greatly reduced. As a result, the management is more scientific and standardized.Process optimization is an operational mode to improve the efficiency of public management. Process optimization is to reshape the management process through process orientation which is not equivalent to a simple business integration, but a cycle of reflection, change and re-reflection, re-change of management subject, management function, management mode and management process based on the process. In the process optimization design, the management responsibility subject and its responsibility division should be clearly defined, and the macro and micro management should be separated. At the same time, integrity should be fully considered, not only to determine the starting point and end point, but also to grasp the middle node.

Key words: S&T planning project, project management, process optimization, process management, ESIA