A score card approach to management education accreditation

Accreditation of business programs and institutions is a powerful industry in the United States and Europe. The industry has massive followers and holds sway over the fate of many an institution. World wide data are not easily accessible but some figures are indicative of the scale and scope of the industry. It is estimated that there are over 4,000 MBA programs in the US, offered by 454 institutions (AACSB, 2014). A multiple of that exists worldwide. Each and every of those institutions needs accreditation or a confirmation of the conformity of the institutional framework, the conversion process and the ultimate outcome with specific standards. The problem, however, is that the standards and those who measure them, have run out of steam, an issue that attracted many including some US politicians(WSJ, July 8, 2015). The following article explores today’s accreditation practice flaws and the potential for a substitute. The article starts with a brief critique of current practice. This is followed by an analysis of the three conceptual foundations of a substitute: systems thinking, metrics and the balanced score card. This alternative blends those conceptual foundations and suggests a novel accreditation instrument: the Program Accreditation Score card or PAS. The article further explores the tenants of this novel instrument and explores its applied dimensions. The article relies on several works on the issue of the accreditation of management education efforts. It refers to existing approaches practiced by key accreditation market leaders and explores some contextual literature. The article could lead to the introduction of a structural change in the conceptual framework and the operational tools of the management education accreditation industry.