Title: Resource allocation challenges in South African universities: a management accounting perspective

Authors: Minga Negash

Addresses: Department of Accounting, Metropolitan State College of Denver, Campus Box 80, P.O. Box 173362, Denver, CO 80217-3362, USA; University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, 2050 Wits, Johannesburg, South Africa

Abstract: This paper makes a critical appraisal of the resource allocation process in a South African university that attempts to improve its rating in international benchmarks. Using the University of the Witwatersrand as a case study, the paper documents its challenges, and develops a balanced scorecard for one of its professional academic units. The paper contributes to the literature on higher education management, and indicates that decentralisation reduces the problem of attraction and retention of academic staff, and examines the tensions between teaching and research on one hand, and professional schools and senior management on the other hand.

Keywords: reputation risk; South Africa; financial decentralisation; balanced scorecard; higher education management; resource allocation; university rankings; staff attraction; staff retention; teaching; research; professional schools; senior management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCA.2011.039755

International Journal of Critical Accounting, 2011 Vol.3 No.2/3, pp.265 - 292

Published online: 21 Oct 2014 *

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