The purpose of this paper is to present the theoretical foundations and lessons learned in the development and implementation of an institutional engagement framework for monitoring and managing the Crown's ownership interests in the New Zealand tertiary education sector.
The core analytics and tasks comprise financial stress testing, the Baldrige assessment approach and capability benchmarking, integrated into an overall risk management system using many of the elements of Robert Simons' “Levers of Control”.
The approach has been useful in identifying institutions most at risk and requiring higher levels of direct engagement, including statutory management intervention by the Crown.
It is considered there are ample performance measurement tools available and that ultimately success is through system design and management of the performance management process itself, with the capability of those undertaking the activity being as equally important as those whose capability is being assessed.
This paper shares insights on framework design and deployment with fellow practitioners.
