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Introduction
In the last two decades, there has been a rapid increase in the number of business schools seeking accreditation (Elliott and Goh, 2013). Business schools consider accreditation as an important factor of future success (Cornuel, 2007) as it helps in international recognition and provides assurance to the prospective students that an independent agency has passed the schools’ activities after assessment, based on its quality standards (Wilson and Thomas, 2012). The focus of accreditation standards is on consistency and coherence of programs (Cornuel and Kletz, 2011), evaluation of the processes, and improvement of its quality (Urgel, 2007).
Accreditation agency plays an intermediary or facilitator role between business schools and their stakeholders (Cooper et al., 2014). Typically, the accreditation process comprises a sequence of steps, including a self-assessment against the accrediting agency’s standards and a site visit followed by a report, which may include recommendations (Pomey et al., 2010). Accreditation report and related recommendations require a response and, may require changes to the existing processes (Pomey et al., 2010). Process documentation is an important aspect of many accreditations (Julian and Ofori-Dankwa, 2006) as the accreditation agency looks for evidence of formal processes, measurable outcomes, and process improvement initiatives based on the concept of continuous improvement (Cooper et al., 2014). Self-assessment helps identify problem areas and important issues. It is through the process of self-assessment, evaluation, dialogue and recommendation of the accreditation agency, the changes and improvements take place in the delivery system’s processes of business school (Trapnell, 2007).
All accreditation agencies have some basic principles for application procedure. In case of Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), its set of standards forms the basis for accreditation which is likely to vary through time as new versions are released. For business management programs around the world, AACSB is the most recognized global quality assurance program among others (Goby and Nickerson, 2014) and it is becoming increasingly important for business schools who aspire to become global (Bieker, 2014). The authors have chosen AACSB, as it has become increasingly important for business schools involved in management education to achieve and sustain AACSB accreditation (Trapnell, 2007; Romero, 2008).
A business school planning for AACSB accreditation should have a clear understanding of the accreditation standards....