Introduction

Universities have undergone a process to become more managerial than governed by professionals or being part of a traditional hierarchy. Attempts to reform public institutions have been going on for several decades, starting with the wave of New Public Management (NPM) reforms in the 1980s and 1990s. Reforms of universities especially target the internal organization of universities and try changing them into an instrument in pursuit of efficiency, economic development, and, more broadly, public value creation. The formalization of universities into more “normal” public sector organizations alongside hospitals, schools, police force, etc. has occurred over a long period. To protect academic freedom and secure the legitimacy of Academia, the universities were highly self-governed under the Humboldt model. Performance measurement and management is perhaps the strongest trend that came out of the NPM reform agenda, and one which is likely to survive. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.