A Study of Thai Research University Management Model Applied by Balanced Scorecard

Abstract

          This study aimed to examine and described the current condition and issues of the Thai research university as well as to propose the model for the management of the Thai research university under the context of management measurement standards, the Balanced Scorecard. The researcher chose to employ a grounded theory approach to analyze the data collected from in-depth interviews with nine participants representing Thai research university, through purposive sampling. The participants consisted of Vice President and Assistant Vice President from Chiang Mai University, Chulalongkorn University, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Kasetsart University, Mahidol University, Prince of Songkla University, Suranaree University of Technology and Thammasat University. Findings of the study identified the current management philosophies, practices and issues of the selectedeight Thai research universities including the awareness and intention to proactively pursue the development of Thai research university into world-class standard. Even though, there were many obstacles from existing environments of Thai research university, including budget allocation, laws and regulations, senior leaders’ paradigms, mismanagement from related official organizations, and internal processes such as commercialization, the Thai research universities still prevailed and focused on their core competencies, researches and innovations with the developments of the Center of Excellence. The first priority of Thai research university was to provide academic and community services for the communities at large and to strive to fill the research and innovation gaps, locally, regionally and globally while aligning with the national agenda, Thailand 4.0. Then, the second priority was world-rankings improvement.          The study also disclosed the current management philosophies and practices which categorized into the four perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard, namely, Financial Perspective, Customer Perspective, Process Perspective and Learning and Growth Perspective. These perspectives were linked to revenue opportunities expansion, stakeholders’ collaboration, research, scholarship and innovation process, and human and organization capital, respectively.