BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leeds has become the first university in Europe to win a prestigious international award for using a process devised by academics from Harvard Business School.
The University has secured a place in Palladium’s Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame for Executing Strategy, which recognises organisations that have used the scorecard to achieve breakthrough results.
The Balanced Scorecard is one of the world’s leading strategy execution tools and is used by national and international public and private sector organisations to help focus their work on strategic aims, improve communications and monitor performance.
Only a handful of organisations are inducted annually into the Hall of Fame. The University joins an elite group of past winners such as Hilton, technology firm Motorola and automobile manufacturer Chrysler Group. Leeds is only the second university in the world to enter the Hall of Fame after the University of San Diego, California, in 2003.
The award will be presented to University of Leeds Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Arthur by Professor Robert Kaplan of Harvard Business School and Dr David Norton of Palladium at a ceremony in London today (18 June).
Since his appointment in 2004, Professor Arthur has galvanised the University with the vision of a place in the world’s top 50 universities by 2015. The institution’s objectives are represented by a one-page strategy map which was devised after extensive staff consultation in 2004 and informs day-to-day activities. It focuses on integrating world-class research, scholarship and education and making a major impact on global society.
The University has been singled out for praise by Palladium for demonstrating leadership, developing strategy using the map, effectively communicating strategy and ensuring it is adopted and integrated into activities across campus.
This focus is delivering impressive results. Since the strategy map was launched in 2004, Leeds has jumped 50 places in world university rankings and was 80th in the THES-QS world league table in November 2007.
Research income rose 19% to £90.7m in 2006-07, an increase which was the largest of any research intensive university in England. In the same period, student applications rose 11.3% to more than 54,000 against a national increase of 6.3%.
The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) recently gave the University a full vote of confidence - the highest category available - in its audit of academic standards and the quality of learning available to students. The QAA singled out use of the strategy map as a tool for enhancing the student learning experience, amongst other commendations.
The University is undertaking one of higher education’s biggest property investment programmes, with £350m being spent on new buildings and refurbishment over the next eight years.
Professor Michael Arthur, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds, said: "We are delighted to receive this award, which is external recognition of our success. Our strategy map is used daily by staff and students across the campus and its language permeates the University. With everyone working towards shared objectives, the University has been transformed in the last four years.”
The University of Leeds strategy is winning plaudits across the higher education sector and has been presented to organisations including the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), the American Council on Education and the Leadership Foundation.
More information about the University's strategy can be found at: www.leeds.ac.uk/strategy
Notes to editors
1. The University of Leeds is one of the largest higher education institutions in the UK with more than 30,000 students from 130 countries. With a turnover approaching £450m, Leeds is one of the top ten research universities in the UK, and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. It was placed 80th in the 2007 Times Higher Education world universities league table. The University's vision is to secure a place among the world's top 50 by 2015.
2. The Balanced Scorecard methodology was created by Professor Robert S. Kaplan and Dr David Norton from Harvard Business School. The Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame is run by Kaplan and Norton's consultancy firm Palladium. New members are announced annually. More information is at: www.thepalladiumgroup.com/Pages/Welcome.aspx
3. Organisations inducted into the Hall of Fame in June 2008 alongside the University of Leeds are Bord Gais, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, Financial Group Life, the French Ministry of Defence and Uralslib Financial Corporation.
