The Pathology of the Program-Based Budgeting Process Case Study: an Organizational University

Abstract Public and private organizations and institutions are in need of a pathology of the budgeting process to manage their activities properly. The present study is intended to identify the disadvantages and drawbacks of the program-based budgeting process in an organizational university. This applied research follows an analytical-descriptive survey method, using Delphi method for data collection. It is a cross-sectional research in terms of data collection. Having reviewed the research literature and based on the opinions of the research team, the researchers employed Deming's four-stage model as the basis of pathology, and the Delphi technique for the assessment of the damage. The statistical population of the study consisted of three groups: (1) Experts and scholars in the field of programming and budget at the university; (2) university top managers (administrative and logistic deputies) who are directly involved in the process of programming and budget of the university, and (3) faculty members, researchers and managers of faculties and research institutes, and independent science and technology centers of the university.     Damages were analyzed by SPSS and PLS software. In data analysis, construct AVE and Fornell Larcker was used to evaluate the validity of the components, and factor load was used to evaluate the reliability of the indicators and reagent-combination was used to evaluate the reliability of the components. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to confirm the normality of the research variables. The results revealed that all indicators obtained a significance coefficient higher than 1.96, and a factor load greater than 0.3. Moreover, all components obtained a reagent reliability and combined reliability of more than 0.7, and the calculated average of more than 0.3. Consequently, 67 vulnerabilities related to the budgeting process were identified at three levels: the university administration, specialized departments, and faculties and independent centers. In the final step, the identified problems were prioritized by the Friedman test.