Modern business schools exist in a complex world of rankings, ratings, and credentials. Some argue that in increasingly competitive global higher education markets, signaling status and quality has actually become more important than having them (Gioia & Corley, 2002; Trank & Rynes, 2003). For many contemporary business schools, international accreditations have become key means and first steps in pursuing legitimacy and global status. In this essay, we elaborate in detail on a business school's international accreditation process, including its motivations and outcomes. We conclude that while accreditation processes are, at best, fruitful quality improvement exercises, the inherent motivations stemming from the urge for organizational legitimacy, status, and reputation should not be overlooked by either the accrediting agencies or business schools themselves. Ironically, while accreditation agencies (AACSB and EQUIS are those focused on here) rarely explicitly encourage competition, their exclusivity seems to generate it between schools that aspire to belong to "the club." For schools that gain access to the process, this means that on the flip side of the happy and collaborative jump in quality there is a much more serious demarcation and revealing redefinition of the accredited entity's future supporters, collaborators, partners, and competitors. 203 Copyright of the Academy of Management, all rights reserved. Contents may not be copied, emailed, posted to a listserv, or otherwise transmitted without the copyright holder's express written permission. Users may print, download, or email articles for individual use only.
Modern business schools exist in a complex world of rankings, ratings, and credentials. Some argue that in increasingly competitive global higher education markets, signaling status and quality has actually become more important than having them (Gioia & Corley, 2002;Trank & Rynes, 2003). For many contemporary business schools, international accreditations have become key means and first steps in pursuing legitimacy and global status. In this essay, we elaborate in detail on a business school's international accreditation process, including its motivations and outcomes. We conclude that while accreditation processes are, at best, fruitful quality improvement exercises, the inherent motivations stemming from the urge for organizational legitimacy, status, and reputation should not be overlooked by either the accrediting agencies or business schools themselves. Ironically, while accreditation agencies (AACSB and EQUIS are those focused on here) rarely explicitly encourage competition, their exclusivity seems to generate it between schools that aspire to belong to "the club." For schools that gain access to the process, this means that on the flip side of the happy and collaborative jump in quality there is a much more serious demarcation and revealing redefinition of the accredited entity's future supporters, collaborators, partners, and competitors.
Purpose Business schools turn to prestigious international accrediting bodies (AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA) in their quest for legitimacy, improved status and reputation. What pains and gains are involved when pursuing these credentials? What are the facilitative and friction forces, supporting or inhibiting development in the different levels of the organization? The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative single case study provides an extant literature review on business accreditations and their effect on business school development. Through examining the business school organization from four angles, “levels of change,” the accreditation process related events in a Nordic business school during 2009–2017 are analyzed. Findings Regardless of the typical path-dependency of academic organizations, an accreditation process significantly affects the business school development in all four levels of the organization – dominant logic, culture, structures and systems – through changing the everyday activities. Individual actors become more aware of the underlying values, beliefs and assumptions behind their own behavior as well as that of the overall organization. Deeply rooted understanding of “academic freedom” is challenged. New relationships and working culture are created across sub-units and individuals. Introducing faculty qualifications criteria may lead to department mergers. Accreditation data systems bring transparency into academic work, increasing the consciousness and result orientation among individuals. Originality/value This study contributes to the limited theoretical understanding of the development a professional organization through accreditation, adds to the understanding of practical consequences on the level of an individual organization, as well as offers managerial suggestions for business school leaders.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.