Ratify, reject or revise: balanced scorecard and universities

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in universities. Initially directed toward profit‐oriented businesses, the BSC has since been adopted by many non‐profit organisations with seemingly diverse objectives. A number of primarily publicly‐funded universities and institutions, which are part of these universities, also embarked upon this strategic management approach. They soon discovered that the classical BSC approach and, for that matter, a modified approach suited for non‐profit organisations had to be further modified to suit their unique circumstances. As universities struggle to adapt the BSC approach to fit their needs, questions have been raised whether BSC is an appropriate strategic management tool for universities.

Through a critical review of the discourse surrounding this issue and BSC of 30 universities around the globe, this article examines the use of BSC in universities.

It was found that concerns regarding suitability of this approach for universities are not only serious but most universities, by nature or circumstances, are ill positioned to mobilise substantial resources, lay the necessary groundwork and develop systems in order to benefit from this initiative. It was found that universities, which did adopt BSC, have diverse expectations, understanding and implementation strategies. Lack of understanding, an unclear success rate, slower new adoptions and subsequent abandonment of this approach by some of the universities suggest that the BSC approach may have failed to meet expectations.

To date little has been written on the use and suitability of the balanced scorecard in universities.