A Survey on Practice and Challenges of Balanced Score Card in Higher Education Institutions: A Case study on Selected Public Universities in Ethiopia

The  purpose of this  study  is  to  assess  the  practice  and  challenges of BSC  encountered  by  public  higher education institutions   as  a strategic management  tool  in  implementing  their  strategic  plans. In this research, the researchers used  both  quantitative  and  qualitative  research  approaches  in  its  successful  accomplishment.  The  quantitative  frames  will  be  made  use  of  in  gathering  the  necessary  data  from  respondents  with  closed  ended  questionnaires  and  document analysis. A  total  of  380  questionnaires  were  distributed  to  the  four  public  universities:  Gondar  University,  Debre Markos  University,  Bahir dar  University  and  Wollo  University  with  an  equal distribution  of  95  respondents.  The  descriptive statistical  tools mostly  mean was used  to  analyze  the  data collected  from  the  closed ended  questionnaires and some document analysis was used. Based on the findings obtained from respondents, it was concluded that BSC is not implemented properly rather it is practiced partially by few employees of the universities in few colleges/schools/faculties/institutions. Respondents raised many challenges for the partial implementation of scorecard such as limited understanding of BSC, lack of training, lack of effective communication, lack of support from top management, etc. To alleviate this problem, the top management of the universities should create awareness, provide training, establish effective communication system, and support the employees for the implementation of the strategy of their university using BSC.