Il paper prende in considerazione la balanced scorecard come strumento che può essere utilizzato, dal punto di vista strategico, per soddisfare i fabbisogni informativi del rettore e degli altri organi accademici di governo e che possa risultare altrettanto utile per le differenti tipologie di stakeholder. Dopo aver ripercorso brevemente fi nalità e contenuti della BSC, si passa a verificare se, data la multidimensionalità delle performance d’ateneo, tale strumento possa costituire un idoneo sistema di reporting per il rettore e gli altri organi decisionali, anche sulla base delle esperienze internazionali che si sono in tal senso già concretamente realizzate. Grazie allo sviluppo di tale iter logico della ricerca si giunge a proporre, con tutti i limiti di ogni generalizzazione, un primo modello di BSC che possa essere utilizzato, seppure con i necessari adattamenti alle esigenze dei singoli atenei, come strumento di guida nell’attività di governo di una università del nostro Paese.
Universities act in order to create and communicate knowledge, mainly via research and teaching. They require a reporting system which supports these aims and tracks performance. This paper explores the balanced scorecard (BSC) to ensure reporting practices by universities. Particularly, the research considers the BSC as a strategic tool that can be used by the university administration and other stakeholders to capture the multidimensional aspects of universities’ performances. The paper employs as a research approach a literature review of the BSC. This study is framed as follows: section 2 briefl y reviews the literature on the BSC and its aims. Section 3 analyses how the BSC can be used by the university administration to report on universities, given their multidimen-sional performances. Section 4 reviews how the BSC has been used in a number of universities internationally. Section 5 and 6 develop a model to suit the Italian context, based on the evidence of the universities analysed. Section 7 concludes the study by identifying gaps in Italian universi-ties’ contemporary reporting practices and highlights possible future benefi ts of the use of the BSC reporting model in Italian universities. The developed model contributes to the debate on internal and external reporting within Italian universities.
Universities act in order to create and communicate knowledge, mainly via research and teaching. They require a reporting system which supports these aims and tracks performance. This paper explores the balanced scorecard (BSC) to ensure reporting practices by universities. Particularly, the research considers the BSC as a strategic tool that can be used by the university administration and other stakeholders to capture the multidimensional aspects of universities’ performances. The paper employs as a research approach a literature review of the BSC. This study is framed as follows: section 2 briefl y reviews the literature on the BSC and its aims. Section 3 analyses how the BSC can be used by the university administration to report on universities, given their multidimen-sional performances. Section 4 reviews how the BSC has been used in a number of universities internationally. Section 5 and 6 develop a model to suit the Italian context, based on the evidence of the universities analysed. Section 7 concludes the study by identifying gaps in Italian universi-ties’ contemporary reporting practices and highlights possible future benefi ts of the use of the BSC reporting model in Italian universities. The developed model contributes to the debate on internal and external reporting within Italian universities.
