Project goal
The University sought to develop a new development strategy for 2026–2031 while operating in a highly decentralised academic environment. Strong faculty autonomy, dispersed decision-making, and limited performance-management infrastructure required an approach that balanced strategic clarity with dialogue, ownership, and practical execution.
Assumptions
- Design a new university-wide strategy grounded in the Balanced Scorecard methodology.
- Define clear strategic objectives across four BSC perspectives: Financial; Customers & Stakeholders; Internal Processes; Learning & Growth.
- Establish a measurable execution framework using lead and lag KPIs.
- Engage eight autonomous faculties while fully respecting academic independence.
Actions taken
- Symmetria Partners applied a dialogue-driven Balanced Scorecard approach, tailored to the realities of a public university:
- Conducted comprehensive staff surveys among academic and administrative employees.
- Facilitated strategic workshops with university leadership and cross-functional working groups.
- Developed a Balanced Scorecard strategy map based on explicit cause-and-effect logic.
- Defined key strategic objectives supported by a coherent set of performance indicators.
- Designed a pragmatic reporting model using Excel-based tools and manual data collection.
- Cascaded the strategy to faculty and key functional levels to ensure ownership and accountability.
Effect
- A coherent, transparent strategy formally approved by university leadership and ready for implementation.
- Clearly articulated priorities supported by concrete success metrics across all strategic areas.
- Seven priority objectives for 2026, aligned with the university’s three strategic pillars.
- A defined execution rhythm: monthly implementation meetings, quarterly reviews, and annual evaluations.
- A faculty engagement model that strengthens ownership while preserving academic autonomy.
- A robust foundation for systematic strategy monitoring throughout the 2026–2031 horizon.
Duration
Strategy definition phase – 6 months
This case demonstrates how the Balanced Scorecard can be successfully adapted to complex, non-corporate environments, enabling strategic alignment, transparency, and execution—without heavy systems or top-down mandates.
If your organization faces the challenge of designing a strategy in a complex, decentralized structure—and needs clear direction, metrics, and a pragmatic implementation model—we help translate strategic goals into a practical system of action based on dialogue, accountability, and ease of implementation.
