As institutions recognize the limits of the typical incremental approach to budgeting, they are looking at new budget models designed to incentivize revenue growth, control costs, set performance targets, and invest in strategic priorities.
Beneath the confusing nomenclature of responsibility-centered management, activity-based budgeting, zero-based budgeting, and others is a set of 29 “budget model elements” specifying how revenues and costs are allocated.
Each element outlined in our infographic creates incentives for certain activities and disincentives for other activities to better align unit-level decisions and resources with broader institutional objectives.