Achieving Public Value in Universities Through Knowledge Management: The Need of Rationalization regarding Investee Companies

International literature deeply investigates the contribution of Knowledge Management in the process of cost rationalization in public universities to achieve public value through performance management strategies. What emerges is a literature gap in relation to specific analysis concerning the impact of the “rationalization” of the companies owned by public universities and the sustainability of the investments made in universities, especially during a “pandemic period”. This work, through a qualitative analysis of the planning documents provided by Italian universities on the subject regarding "rationalization of investee companies", aims to highlight the contribution of knowledge management on internal planning on the rationalization processes put in place by universities with a focus on the “Accountability during emergencies”. The analysis we conducted will show how the rationalization objective is nowadays far from being considered efficient due to a lack in "Knowledge management" approach despite a “Strictly bureaucratic” system that does not guarantee the achievement of public value and at least, contribute to the destruction of it.