A gestão do conhecimento na atividade de inteligência para a formulação de planos estratégicos: um estudo de caso na Polícia Militar de Minas Gerais

Abstract

In public security forces, a well-structured strategic planning is essential to align resources, priorities, and actions with societal needs. This research aimed to investigate how Knowledge Management (KM) processes, within the context of intelligence activities, can influence the formulation of the strategic plan of the Military Police of Minas Gerais (PMMG). The central hypothesis is that KM can significantly contribute to intelligence activities by providing relevant support for the development of strategic plans. The research problem is justified by the absence of explicit records establishing the correlation between KM and intelligence in the PMMG, in order to guide the technical advisory role of these professionals in building organizational strategies. This is an applied, exploratory study with a quantitative-qualitative approach that combined document analysis, application of a semi-structured questionnaire, and a case study on the formulation of the corporation’s strategic plan. To preserve the academic nature of the study and respect institutional security regulations, no classified documents or operational intelligence techniques were examined. The research was limited to scientific analyses concerning the advisory role of intelligence in the formulation of PMMG’s strategic plans. Furthermore, only active-duty military police officers participated; to ensure anonymity, information on hierarchical level, section, or unit of assignment was not collected. These restrictions ensured confidentiality and focused on respondents’ perceptions. The analysis revealed a high degree of agreement among participants regarding the relevance of KM in intelligence activities, especially in the development of strategic knowledge (94.2%), identification of threats and formulation of effective strategies (94.4%), standardization of procedures (93.2%), and innovation in strategic planning (92.4%). Thus, the results reaffirm KM as a supportive tool for intelligence, contributing to the institutional capacity for analysis and process standardization. Although progress was observed, challenges remain, such as the absence of formal policies, technological limitations, and cultural resistance to information sharing. The study also opens avenues for future research to deepen the interface between KM and intelligence in public security, focusing on evidence-based organizational strategy formulation. It suggests conducting comparative studies among corporations, longitudinal investigations on the effects of KM policies, and the development of models integrating informational flows with technological decision-support systems. Another promising field involves analyzing symbolic and cultural factors that influence knowledge sharing in military institutions. Encouraging interdisciplinary research involving Information Science, Public Administration, Police Sciences, and organizational Sociology is also recommended. Thus, this study may support better KM practices and strengthen the strategic use of intelligence, with replicable impact in other police organizations.