University Performance Management

For the last two decades the Danish Universities have felt the impact of the international trend towards implementation of New Public Management. The results are seen in the implementation of new hierarchical governance structures and contractual governance system including market based quantitative measurement systems for resource allocation and performance evaluation. Compared to other countries the changes in performance measurements and governance of the Danish universities are radical and the Minister of Science heralded them as "the greatest change in university management since the founding of Copenhagen University in 1479". The changes took place with surprisingly little resistance from university scholars. The articles in this anthology investigate the origins and rationales for the silent managerial revolution at Danish Universities and the radical implications for the identity of researchers, university management, and the universities themselves.