The impact of AACSB accreditation on the autonomy and costs of limited resource institutions whose missions are primarily teaching

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of AACSB accreditation on the autonomy and costs of limited resource institutions whose missions are primarily teaching.

Design/methodology/approach

To evaluate the research questions, a content analysis of all publications in the EBSCO Business Source Premier Database for the period January 1, 1990 through December 15, 2012 was conducted.

Findings

The findings indicate that in the process of becoming AACSB accredited, faculty members of the subject institutions shift their focus more toward research and less toward teaching activities, and that the institutions become less autonomous and more like their benchmark AACSB institutions. In addition, the costs of AACSB accreditation are likely to be significant for the subject institutions.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of the study point to the need for additional theoretical and empirical research related to the research questions. First, there is a need to formulate a conceptual framework for clearly identifying and measuring the implicit and explicit costs, including all of the opportunity costs, associated with accreditation. In addition, there is a compelling need to develop a conceptual framework and measurement system that will allow business schools to better assess their quality and productivity. For limited resource institutions whose missions are primarily teaching this system should comport with the schools’ teaching missions.

Practical implications

The findings suggest that the subject institutions seeking AACSB accreditation should carefully consider a number of questions before pursing accreditation. First, is the institution's mission congruent with AACSB standards or will its mission have to be changed? If AACSB accreditation is deemed to be appropriate, how will the associated changes in resource needs and resource allocation serve to further the institution's mission? And, what are the incremental costs of accreditation, and does the institution have the resource base to sustain accreditation?

Originality/value

The study is the first to conduct a detailed content analysis to evaluate some of the costs and benefits of AACSB accreditation for limited resource institutions whose missions are primarily teaching.

Citation

Bieker, R. (2014), "The impact of AACSB accreditation on the autonomy and costs of limited resource institutions whose missions are primarily teaching", Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, Vol. 6 No. 2, pp. 358-374. https://doi.org/10.1108/JARHE-06-2013-0024