Design of the activities map with the ABC cost model for the university departments

Abstract

The use of cost models in universities is a necessity demonstrated a few years ago, but still does not have the political and institutional support that would allow its implementation in Spanish universities. It is vitally important that the education institutions have a management model that provides the organization with useful information, plans the activities necessary to achieve the proposed objectives, defines the resources necessary to achieve them efficiently and includes indicators that are capable of measuring their achievement. The ABC cost model could be the most appropriate tool to manage public resources and provide the information needed to achieve the strategic objectives set out by the University, since it would allow to know at all times what is done and how it is done, since the implementation of the it implies the definition of the main activities developed in the University, how they are being carried out and the cost of their realization. Information would be available on the effectiveness and efficiency of the activities. Therefore, this work has as main objective the design of an Activity Map under the methodology ABC costs, applied to one of the most important units of academic institutions: university departments. The result has been the design of the activities linked to both research and teaching and management in these units as a step prior to the development of the rest of the ABC cost model in the University.