Abstract
To cater to a grand vision and multiple missions, universities have an assortment of impressive objectives. The key problem with these is that they are often presented as a laundry list rather than a portfolio. As the University of New South Wales statement notes, everything is equally important and everybody is responsible for every objective. To be implemented, strategic objectives need accountability and support by the key performance indicators (KPIs) of front-line service providers. Here we find that there is often no direct line-of-sight between some of the main institutional objectives and the KPIs of the academics. In fact, in some key instances the KPIs of the academics are completely divorced from the strategic objectives of the institution. We call this ‘hoping for A while rewarding B’.
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- 1.
One of our academic homes for a number of years at UTS, the Dr Chau Chak building designed by architect Frank Gehry is a good example of this.
- 2.
University administrators might argue that these research papers enhance the reputation of the university. Yes, but not nearly as much as that of the individual. You can test this claim by asking people to name some of their favourite research papers and who were the authors, such as the Steven Kerr paper mentioned earlier. Then ask the person what journal the paper appeared in. Few will remember. Then ask them which university these people were attached to at the time they published the paper. Most people will have no idea. For example, we have no idea, nor do we care where Steven Kerr was employed. Do you?
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This was the goal articulated by Professor Brian Schmidt in his keynote address to the Times Higher Education Academic Summit in Singapore in 2018. Available at http://www.anu.edu.au/news/all-news/Vice-Chancellor-speech-to-the-World-Academic-Summit
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Devinney, T., Dowling, G. (2020). What Are the Strategies of Australia’s Universities? Objectives. In: The Strategies of Australia’s Universities. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3397-6_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3397-6_8
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Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-15-3396-9
Online ISBN: 978-981-15-3397-6
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