In Iran, Higher education policymakers, want universities to be accountable for their funding and spend it on activities and actions that bring the most social achievement. Therefore, in recent years, public higher education in Iran has shifted from budgeting based
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In Iran, Higher education policymakers, want universities to be accountable for their funding and spend it on activities and actions that bring the most social achievement. Therefore, in recent years, public higher education in Iran has shifted from budgeting based on input indicators to performance-based funding. This model, which has become widespread in the world in the last decade, has requirements and presuppositions and may face obstacles in its implementation; So the main issue of this study is to identify and explain performance-based requirements and obstacles at the Iranian state University to principal-agent theory. A qualitative approach based on grounded theory was used. Participants were selected based on the network method (snowball) from two networks of senior policymakers and operators. Among the internal policymakers, semi-structured individuals have been conducted with10 managers of universities, the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (ATF). Also among the effective external policymakers, Depth interviews were conducted with 9 cases from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance and the Management and Planning Organization, financial managers and faculty members specializing in budgeting. the constant presence of the researcher in the field of activity continued until the theoretical saturation. Data from interviews were analyzed with qualitative content analysis and coding method of Strauss and Corbin (2006) and validity of researchers findings compared by the expert. The results showed that to implement the performance-based approach, the government and the university must provide requirements at three levels: macro levels (government), micro level (university), and inter-organizational level(government-university interaction) and remove obstacles. The most important requirements at the government level were the expansion of the authority and freedom of universities and the involvement of senior managers and elites of public universities in the design and implementation phase of this model. The most important obstacle for the government was the intervention of political parties and interest groups. At the university level, the most important requirements included the formulation of strategic planning and prioritizing and welcoming the university to reform its organizational, educational, research, and service processes. The most important obstacle in the university was the resistance of the directors and members of the faculty and the unpreparedness of the university to implement the plan. At the inter-organizational level, the government and the university must, through effective participation and interaction, provide requirements such as the agreement between the government and the university on performance indicators and monitoring and evaluation of the performance indicators. Also at this level, the most important obstacle was the unbalanced and distrustful relationship between the university and the government.
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