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Reports on and analyses the attitudes towards standards in higher education of a random sample of senior managers, senior administrators and senior academics in a range of different types of higher education institutions. In order to construct an analytical framework for the empirical research, there is a synthesis of the current debate on standards. The research data were collected in two phases; first, by means of 21 in‐depth interviews in seven higher education institutions and, second, through the questionnaire responses of a larger number of senior staff in a greater number of institutions. Generally, the research results indicate that senior academics are more concerned about falling standards than their senior manager and senior administrator colleagues. This concern over standards appears to be more pronounced in older universities.

A more rigid and specific quality management system in higher education institutions (HEIs) is developing under the auspices of the Quality Assurance Agency. The use of models of organisational culture suggest that organisation cultures vary greatly in the higher education sector. Within each HEI there is a mosaic of sub‐cultures making it very difficult to discern what is the dominant culture. The author’s initial analysis of an empirical study of seven HEIs points up the great variance of culture which emanates from differing mission statements, aims and objectives, size and nature of student intake, range of courses and emphasis on research. This article questions whether the developing quality management approach based on standards and benchmarks can gauge accurately and fairly the quality of provision in such a variety of HEIs.

This study aims to ascertain student perceptions of a quality experience in higher education. The empirical research made use of focus groups involving a range of higher education students. The main findings are that the quality of the lecturer and the student support systems are the most influential factors in the provision of quality education.

Focuses on achievement motivation in part‐time students. Although the research has focused on teachers, it is felt that findings have a general application. Increasingly, employers in all fields are expecting staff to undergo periods of part‐time training. Obviously, it is extremely advantageous to both employer and employee if a high achievement drive is maintained. Special coping strategies are needed. Considers many different issues involved, and highlights ways in which an achievement culture may be fostered.

Over recent years there has been a considerable growth in the provision of client‐based postgraduate and post‐experience management education. Client‐based programmes delivered on company premises raise serious concerns connected with the educational quality of student experience and wider issues of academic freedom within higher education. Discusses the values of higher education, the learning environment, teaching style, politicization of knowledge and research tensions.

This paper reviews recent research, literature and the views of a small sample of senior managers and academics in English higher education institutions on the challenges associated with embedding quality. When implemented by a university, quality enhancement models such as total quality management and the European Foundation for Quality Management need to be fitted in sympathetically with the organisation's culture and structures. If embedding is to occur, there needs to be a careful consideration of the opportunity costs of the various options that could bring about the necessary transformative change. The importance of transformative leadership and the creation of a conducive organisational culture are also explored, as are the major indicators of success. Senior managers and other change agents face major challenges but, by achieving the goal of embedding quality, students would receive greatly improved higher education and, as a consequence, their country's economy and society would also prosper.

Acknowledging the claims of stakeholders is part of the new lexicon of higher education management. Institutions, through mission statements, now explicitly recognise their obligation to meet the needs of a range of stakeholders such as students, employers, professional associations, the government, the academic community, and wider society. However, while it is easy to list stakeholders, and promise to safeguard their various interests at the institutional level, significant conflicts can arise in managing their competing claims. Previously, stakeholder mapping has focused attention at the institutional level although the practical responsibility for managing these relationships often occurs at the micro or programme level. Drawing on interviews with programme leaders and lecturers involved in single company management education programmes, this paper explores lecturer understandings of stakeholder interests and relates these findings to different conceptions of quality. It is argued that such programmes face particular challenges in managing multiple, and often conflicting, stakeholder interests and expectations.

Points out that competence‐based education has been endorsed by Government and employers alike as a means of raising standards of management practice in the UK, though the highly prescriptive nature of the competence curriculum poses dangers to organizations seeking to release the human potential of managers. Contends that the over‐control of the management curriculum through competences encourages conformity and fails to challenge the received wisdom of current practice.

Chronicles the shift from “collegial academy to corporate enterprise” in higher education institutions. Examines the major political, economic and educational reasons given for this shift and relates them to the gradual decline of the liberal educational tradition. Notes that with the present government’s growing belief in a market model of higher education, a new form of education is emerging which is more extrinsic and instrumental in outlook. States that, while acknowledging the contribution made by the “new model of education and training”, there are lecturers in higher education institutions ‐ including the author ‐ who are determined to preserve the liberal education tradition.

The paper seeks to deepen the understanding of university lecturers' perceptions of quality.

The paper employs a literature review to establish a robust analytical framework and the use of in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews with a random sample of 20 lecturers in a range of UK universities. The interview data was categorised using the constant comparative method.

The majority of the respondents perceived quality to be largely related to fitness for purpose and accountability rather than transformation. Many respondents made reference to quality assurance or terms associated with it. On the other hand, very few respondents referred to quality enhancement or associated terms.

The research would suggest that enhancement activities in universities need to be developed further and then highlighted as the respondents in this small sample perceived quality to be more about assurance than enhancement. The research would need to be extended to a far greater number of respondents, as at the moment the results are largely illuminative.

Academic development staff should review the impact of their quality initiatives and, if necessary, consider different ways in which they can enhance the quality of the teaching in their universities.

There has been an evaluation of the effect of particular Teaching Quality Enhancement Fund initiatives and the impact of subject reviews, but there has been relatively little consideration of lecturers' perceptions of quality.