A balanced scorecard model for performance excellence in Saudi Arabia's higher education sector

Abstract

This paper's main objective is to introduce a balanced scorecard (BSC) model which fits Saudi Arabia's higher education institutions. We used questionnaires to obtain the opinions of respondents of public and private Saudi universities on the suggested key performance indicators (KPIs) derived from using the dimensions of the BSC of Kaplan and Norton (1992) with adaptations. The frequencies of recommended KPIs provided the basis for discussion. The findings revealed that most KPIs, recommended by respondents, were related to the customer and internal business process perspectives, whilst they did not recommend most indicators related to the learning and growth and financial and economic perspectives. Furthermore, most indicators had significant differences according to the type and age of the universities. This paper extends previous studies on measuring performance excellence in the higher education sector by considering a set of KPIs which fit educational systems in emerging economics. The findings would help the management of Saudi universities as well as policy makers in the Saudi Ministry of Higher Education to: 1) define the possibility of adopting a BSC model to drive performance; 2) identify the need to a benchmarking of KPIs which fit both public and private universities.