Dilemmas in University Management: The Case of Copenhagen Business School

The role of management in universities has become more complex over the last decades because of changes in legislation, economy, student intake, introduction of new performance indicators for research quality/relevance and output, etc. The Bologna process of making the policies of higher education more similar have had strong effects on Nordic universities. Scholars argue that Denmark is an ‘extreme case’ as the reforms of the higher educational system have gone further than in most of the other European countries. This chapter examines the ways in which these dilemmas have affected the management of Copenhagen Business School. The chapter discusses pros and cons of implementing key performance indicators to measure research quality. Throughout the chapter, the author alternates between drawing on her insights from her position as the Vice Dean of Research at Copenhagen Business School and the academic work of her national and international colleagues on university management.