The Value of ISO Certification for an Academic Institution

Over the past two decades, the number of institutions offering Masters of Business degrees has expanded to meet market demand. As more public and private academic institutions offer business degrees the challenge to distinguish quality programs from “degree mills” increases. One method to ensure a college, university or business school is providing a credible and quality degree program is to become certified by an intendent professional accreditation agency. Several such bodies exist; however, which one is the appropriate and widely recognized accreditation body that benefits both the institution and student? This article discusses the options available to academic institutions and concludes that certification from the International Standards Organization (ISO) is the optimal choice due to its global reputation for quality standards and that one of the most prominent business program accrediting bodies (AACSB) selected ISO to certify its quality management system. Over the past two decades, the number of institutions offering Masters of Business degrees in a variety of modalities has expanded to meet market demand. In the United States from 2011-2012, “191,571 people graduated from U.S. schools with advanced degrees in business, some 25.4% of all the master's degrees conferred. That compares with 178,062 master's degrees in education, or 23.6%, of all the advanced degrees” (Byrne, 2014, para. 3). World-wide it is difficult to precisely calculate the number of institutions offering Masters in Business degrees; however, as the development of the global economy continues, the number of online MBA programs continue to develop and as developing countries' educational institutions emerge/mature, the growth of Masters Programs will further enlarge to satisfy a seemingly insatiable demand. The sheer enlargement of the number of MBA program offerings has created what Kim and Mauborgne (2015) would describe as a red ocean. In a red ocean market space, a proliferation of competitors exists and the nature of the red ocean business strategy is to beat the competition (or at least gain a fraction of the existing marketplace) on price and exploit existing demand. Given the market demand and opportunities for colleges/universities to service the enlarging MBA need, how can an academic institution successfully distinguish itself to prospective students and how can students discern which MBA program offers the best quality and value proposition?