Objective and results‐based management of universities: Constructing reality or illusions?

Abstract

This paper examines the conceptual qualities of the framework of ‘objective and results‐based management’ implemented by Danish governmental institutions for the effective performance management of Danish university institutions. Drawing on pragmatic constructivism, we make a conceptual inquiry into whether this framework contains conceptual qualities that may form the basis for effective performance management of universities. The analysis reveals that the conceptual structure of the model features numerous poorly outlined concepts and mismatches, which gives rise to a language game of pseudo‐realism that is liable to produce illusory control practices. We show that poorly developed performance measurement concepts create an environment wherein top managers are not made accountable for results, thus generating a culture of delusions and arbitrary power. We also find a circumvention of the principal–agent model. The assumption of Danish governmental institutions seems to be that management has access to more information about alternative courses of action and their consequences than university scholars. The study adds to the methodological apparatus to conceptualise, understand, and analyse the effectiveness of organisational practices of performance measurement in public sector activities.

Evaluating performance management of COVID-19 reality in three European countries: a pragmatic constructivist study

“…developing a practice paradigm (Nørreklit et al , 2010), investigating the automation of management accounting (Korhonen et al , 2020), designing an accounting educational programme (Jacobsen et al , 2019) and studying corporate social reporting (Lueg et al , 2016). It has also been used frequently within the area of performance measurement (Mitchell et al , 2013; Jakobsen et al , 2019; Mauro et al , 2019; Guven-Uslu and Seal, 2019; Kure et al , 2020; Nørreklit and Trenca, 2019), and this study adds to that research. Some further relevant accounting studies on COVID-19, not based on PC, have recently been published.…”

“…However, through its application of PC, it also extends this prior research by comparing performance across countries and providing an explanation of why different levels of success were achieved. Thus, it is a study which contributes to the analysis of public sector management in a NPM context within different national settings (Kure et al , 2020).…”

DJES nr. 1 - Samlet Tidsskrift

“…Ifølge Kure, Nørreklit & Røge (2020) fungerer praestationsmålinger bedst i den private sektor, hvor der er veldefinerede processer, og hvor resultater kan måles i monetaere enheder. Kure et al (2020) fremhaever udfordringerne ved at overføre den private model for resultatkontrakter til den offentlige sektor, 1 Kontakt: Thomas Skinnerup Philipsen, tsph.acc@cbs.dk, Ph.d.-studerende ved Institut for Regnskab, Copenhagen Business School som er kendetegnet ved uklare mål, svaert kvantificerbare resultatstandarder og høj kompleksitet i overensstemmelse mellem den operationelle aktivitet og organisationens formål (Speklé, Verbeeten, & Widener, 2022). Denne store maengde af udfordringer i brugen af praestationsmålinger og resultatkontrakter betyder, at emnet er blevet kaldt den "ultimative udfordring" inden for offentlig styring (Arnaboldi, Lapsley, & Steccolini, 2015).…”

“…Ifølge Kure et al (2020) er det vigtigt at analysere selve resultatkontrakterne og deres konceptuelle styrke og ikke kun brugen af dem. Hermed undersøges aktørernes evne til at skabe en meningsfuld, veldefineret og faelles forståelse af virkeligheden i og omkring kontrakten, hvilket betinger en reel opfyldelse af målsaetningerne.…”

“…Man kan ikke forvente, at målsaetningen "bedre undervisning" kan oversaettes til interne målsaetninger og handlinger på en meningsfuld måde, før der er en delt forståelse blandt kontraktens parter om, hvordan abstrakte ideer omsaettes til konkrete målsaetninger, og hvordan disse opnås. Konceptuel kvalitet har tre dimensioner: 1) konceptet skal tilskrives en faelles abstrakt mening, 2) der skal vaere enighed blandt aktører om eksempler som referencepunkter, og 3) konceptet skal suppleres af flere, kvalitative eller kvantitative, kriterier, som er med til at konkretisere den abstrakte idé (Kure et al, 2020).…”