Management control systems and research management in universities

TLDR

The paper examines how UK university business and management schools develop internal management control systems to manage research in response to external regulatory pressures, and proposes an agenda for future research on the dysfunctional impacts of performance measurement. The study adopts a middle‑range theoretical approach, applying conceptual frameworks to analyze the UK REF and prior Research Assessment Exercises and the lived experiences of academics, building on literature that highlights perverse outcomes of performance measurement. The study finds that academics’ internally developed control systems amplify REF pressures, are accepted by some yet shift away from traditional academic values, and can create symbolic violence by making participants complicit in their own subjugation.

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the management control systems developed by universities and groups within them, to manage research within UK University Business and Management Schools. Specifically, the paper analyses how universities develop their internal management control systems in response to an externally imposed regulatory system. It also provides an agenda for future research. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses a middle range approach to consider the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF) and the previous Research Assessment Exercises. It uses the language provided by a number of conceptual frames to analyse insights from the lived experience, and builds on previous literature that has recognised the perverse outcomes of such performance measurement systems. Findings – The study finds that the internal management control systems developed by academics themselves amplify the controls imposed by the REF. These internal control systems are accepted by some academics although they encourage a movement away from previously held academic values. Originality/value – This study contributes to debates about the dysfunctional impacts of the use of performance measures to manage research. Its originality lies in explaining that the management control systems developed to resist the imposition of external performance measurement systems may lead to symbolic violence where participants become involved with their own subjugation.