Performance Measurement with a Balanced Scorecard for Non-university Research Institutes

Matthias Kramer¹, Markus Pfeffer^2
(1. International Institute Zittau (IHI), Central Unit of TU Dresden, Department of General Business Management (BWL), esp. Controlling and Environmental Management, Markt 23, D-02763 Zittau, Germany;
2. International Institute Zittau (IHI), Central Unit of TU Dresden, Department of General Business Management, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM, Fraunhofer-Platz 1, D-67663 Kaiserslautern, Germany)

Abstract: The non-university research sector (NURS) is a part of the nonprofit sector and an eminently important component of the German research system (Höhn, 2011, p. 9; von Görtz et al., 2010, p. 9; Hohn, 2010, p. 457). A primary consequence resulting from the increased autonomy of research facilities as provided by the Academic Freedom Act (Wissenschaftsfreiheitsgesetz) is a growing demand for information (Hüttl, 2012, p. 16). Performance measurement instruments can be useful in providing feedback as to how well an organization is meeting its stated objectives (Greiling, 2009, p. 84). Thus, the theoretical aim of this paper is to determine which special organizational characteristics of research institutes have to be considered when transforming the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) concept. In terms of practical implementation, an ideal proposal for a BSC for the NURS is developed on the basis of theoretical analysis on the one hand and expert interviews on the other.

Key words: nonprofit organizations; performance measurement; balanced scorecard; non-university research institutions

JEL codes: L25, L30, M40