AACSB Accreditation Standards Research Articles

IS THE AACSB REQUIRING MEMBER SCHOOLS TO TEACH BAD ECONOMICS?

Current AACSB accreditation Standards require member institutions to incorporate the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) into their curriculum. The problem with this requirement is that the SDG constitute mostly erroneous economics. Professors who must incorporate SDG into their courses are therefore forced to teach bad economics as a condition of continued accreditation. Professors can nullify this indoctrination requirement while meeting the AACSB requirement by pointing out and discussing some of the problems with the UN’s SDG agenda. The present article identifies and discusses some of these problems. It concludes that the AACSB needs to stop cramming its ideological preferences down the throats of business school professors and students and leave professors to teach, not indoctrinate. If the AACSB continues to go down the road of indoctrination over education, perhaps member schools need to reevaluate their AACSB membership and seek other alternatives, some of which are discussed in this article. Note to educators: You can meet this AACSB requirement by requiring your students to read this article and either discuss it in class or write a summary of its contents (noncredit or for extra credit).

AACSB accreditation standards: what they mean for business librarians past, present, and future

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International), which accredits over 840 business schools globally, released a new business school accreditation standards document in 2020. In this paper, we briefly give a retrospective of library references in the AACSB standards over time and an overview of the development of the new standards. We then analyze sections of the new standards where business librarians can play an important role and outline how business librarians can use them in their collaboration with business faculty by mapping library information literacy to the programmatic goals of business schools.

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The 4L’s: A Portfolio Approach to Offering International Experiences for Students

Over the past few decades, the inclusion of an international perspective has gained importance in business schools’ curricula. The AACSB accreditation standards emphasize the importance of globalization. Most business schools now offer international study opportunities to their students. Typically, these usually include a number of semester-long programs and a few faculty-led, short-term programs. However, the offerings are often limited in variety, not specifically focused on business program needs and offered on a “one size fits all” basis. This paper suggests way to expand international offerings utilizing an analysis framework consisting of the 4 L’s - Length, Location, Language and Logistics.

A bibliometric analysis of accounting information systems journals and their emerging technologies contributions

This study contributes to academic knowledge about methodologies used, accounting areas studied, and emerging technologies examined in scholarship in accounting information systems (AIS) journals. It presents a comprehensive bibliometric and comparative analysis of the 681 accounting articles that were published from 2004, the beginning of serious recognition of emerging technologies research in accounting as well as mandated measuring of research productivity under AACSB accreditation standards, through 2016 in the following six accounting information systems journals: Journal of Information Systems (JIS), International Journal of Accounting Information Systems (IJAIS), Journal of Emerging Technologies in Accounting (JETA), International Journal of Digital Accounting Research (IJDAR), Accounting Information Systems Educator Journal (AISEJ) and Intelligent Systems in Accounting, Finance and Management (ISAFM).The results suggest these journals do not have a singular focus but range in the breadth of the articles they publish. All accounting articles in ISAFM address emerging technologies, followed by JETA (73.8%), IJDAR (54.6%), IJAIS (40.0%), and JIS (30.5%). The majority (62.3%) of emerging technologies articles apply research methodologies that are Other in the Brigham Young University classification scheme. The most frequently applied Other methodology is design science research (21.0%), followed by archival methods (18.7%). Auditing (41.6%), and financial (28.5%) are the most commonly researched accounting areas. AIS (11.1%) is in the third rank. Although called AIS journals, each of the six reflects contemporary accounting and future opportunities for practice more broadly, whether they are published by major international academic publishers (IJAIS and ISAFM), section journals of the American Accounting Association (JIS and JETA) or are open source journals (IJDAR and AISEJ). This study's results are expected to be of interest to scholars, educators, practitioners, and graduate students in relevant accounting, AIS, and emerging technologies fields.

B-Schools Are Failing Sustainability: Overcoming Threshold Concepts When Teaching Sustainability

The AACSB (2016) accreditation standards and PRME (2007) Principles recognize that future business school graduates will have a large impact on how corporations address the sustainability challenge...

THE 2013 AACSB BUSINESS ACCREDITATION STANDARDS AND ITS THREE THEMATIC AREAS OF INNOVATION, IMPACT, AND ENGAGEMENT � NEW INCENTIVES TO OBTAIN AND MAINTAIN ACCREDITATION

ABSTRACT At the International Conference and Annual Meeting (ICAM) in Chicago in April 2013, AACSB announced the new accreditation standards for business schools that replace the 2003 standards. The 2013 and 2003 AACSB accreditation standards consist of 15 and 21 standards, respectively. All of the 2003 standards are incorporated into the 2013 standards; in addition, there are three specific areas of emphasis in the new standards - namely: innovation, impact, and engagement. In this paper we review and compare the 2013 and 2003 standards and specifically deliberate and give examples of ways that institutions can pursue innovation, make impact, and create an engaging environment. We further suggest that these thematic areas provide additional incentives to obtain and maintain accreditation. Keywords 2013 and 2003 AACSB Business Accreditation Standards, Innovation, Impact, and Engagement.

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"Undergrad Business Program Learning Goals: Differentiation, Common Aspirations, or Cursory Cloning?"

Establishing learning goals is the first step in the assurance of learning process. Proper assessment cannot take place if appropriate learning goals are not first developed. We identified the types of undergraduate learning goals that AACSB-accredited U.S. business programs use for assurance of learning. Given that the AACSB accreditation standards call for business schools to develop differentiated learning goals, we determined the extent to which the learning goals of our sample of business programs were differentiated versus homogeneous. We also determined if any learning-goal homogeneity was a result of properly unified aspirations among the schools or cursory cloning of the AACSB Standards. Even though the results with respect to differentiation versus homogeneity were equivocal, our results provide compelling evidence that learning goals were established through the cursory cloning of the AACSB standards. Learning goals were much more closely aligned with content areas listed in the AACSB standards than with managerial competencies that have been derived through empirical research. Implications for assurance of learning and assessment are discussed.

Expectations Of Incoming MBA Students Implications For Curriculum Development And Program Promotion

This work presents the results of five years of survey data designed to assess the attitudes and opinions of newly matriculating MBAs with respect to expectations and choice of program. In response to market demands and competition for MBA students, a dynamic business environment, and changes in AACSB accreditation standards, it is becoming more important than ever to know about the expectations of MBA students. It is equally important to understand the issues and program attributes that motivated their choice of graduate business program.

The Renege Case

Schools of Business, Accounting Programs, the AACSB accreditation standards, the accounting profession and society demand that we require ethical behavior and actions from our students, faculty and administration. Therefore, accounting departments desire to integrate into their programs a serious attempt to help students develop the skills and judgment with which to analyze situations and make ethical decisions.

Case Studies in Real Estate Education: The New AACSB Accreditation Standards and a Proposed Case Study in Real Estate Management

Case studies have long been employed as an instructional tool in business education, including real estate. This study examines the merits of, and issues associated with, case studies in real estat...

Using the Information Orientation Maturity Model to Increase the Effectiveness of the Core MBA IS Course

Introduction When Harvard Business Review published Nicolas Carr's article, Doesn't Matter, (2003) a debate was launched in which many gallons of ink and reams of paper were consumed. Our purpose here is not to rehash the debate, but to reference its passion in introducing the purpose of this paper. Despite extensive evidence suggesting the valuable contribution that can make to enterprise performance (Marchand, Kettinger, & Rollins, 2002; Weill & Ross, 2004) the relative value of and the status of professionals in modern business remains contested (Kaarst-Brown, 2005) and the ineffective business communication with IT remains a the top inhibitor of effective and business alignment (Luftman, Kempaiah, & Nash, 2006, p. 81). Although are an integral part of every modern organization, IS faculty often struggle to show MBA students the value of the core IS course in the MBA curriculum. This is also evidenced by the fact that some business schools do not have an IS course in the core MBA curriculum. Also, although it was changed in an early revision, the first draft of the new AACSB accreditation standards did not include information systems or information technology as a core knowledge area for students (Hilton, 2003). In addition to the probable existence of systemic issues within the business culture discussed by Kaarst-Brown (2005), we suggest that students and, perhaps, some appreciable portion of business school faculty perceive that is not much 'there' with respect to what is taught in the typical MBA core course. However, there has been an abundance of research examining management practices and contributions that has resulted in the development of a set of fairly consistent management prescriptions (Broadbent & Weill, 1997; Feeny & Willcocks, 1998; Rockart, 2004; Rockart, Earl, & Ross, 1996; Ross, Beath, & Goodhue, 1996; Weill, 2004; Weill & Ross, 2004; Wheeler, Marakas, & Brickely, 2002) published in top management journals and generally reflected in major management textbooks (Applegate, Austin, & McFarlan, 2003; Laudon & Laudon, 2003; Luftman, 2004; McNurlin & Sprague, 2004; Turban, McClean, & Wetherbe, 2004). While these articles and textbooks contain explicit and quite useful management knowledge based on theoretical and empirical research, their content is most likely to be of use to experienced professionals possessing a wealth of practical experience. For inexperienced professionals and students, these publications may raise more questions than they answer. A commonly heard question is something to the effect that If they know all this stuff, how come there are still so many problems [with management]? The problem, as we see it, is that the textbooks very capably provide know-what but find it difficult to impossible to adequately convey know-how. Students lacking a sound experiential framework have a difficult time comprehending the challenges presented in implementing these prescriptions in practice. The pedagogical challenge then, becomes one of providing students with an experiential learning opportunity where they can evaluate their new knowledge in a real world environment. MBA courses often use case analyses to provide students opportunities to apply conceptual material. However, written business cases are necessarily simplifications of reality, and therefore lack the richness of live business situations. Projects that require students to engage in some activity with a live organization are another way to provide students the opportunity to apply newly-learned concepts. However, live projects present significant risks, in that the students may struggle to successfully recognize and apply concepts if not provided a robust organizing structure to guide their actions. This paper describes the initial use of the Information Orientation (IO) Maturity Model as the basis of a MBA course-based project intended to assist students to experientially investigate the relationship between business performance and several and management concepts. …

AACSB 2003 accreditation standards: impact on continuous quality improvement

The strategic goal of accreditation by AACSB International remains continuous quality improvement in the content, in all aspects of the delivery and in the administration of management education. This paper explores the impact of the new AACSB accreditation standards on this goal. These standards, approved in 2003, were intended to reflect a philosophical shift from "mission-centric" to "improvement-centric". Based on our analysis, we conclude that the new standards fall short of their strategic objective of supporting continuous improvement in management education because many are not process-based. In this paper, we propose an "integrated framework of business performance measurement" (IFBPM) approach to better align the 2003 standards with AACSB's goal of continuous quality improvement of management education. We provide a set of IFBPM guidelines for revising the standards so that they are truly process-based, thus supporting ongoing continuous quality improvement of management education.

Assessment of Learning: Test Design and Administration Factors That Affect Student Performance

New AACSB accreditation standards require schools to show that students have met the schools' learning goals. This paper discusses the use of stand-alone testing to measure student learning in accounting. We address the appropriateness of using percentile ranks based on national norms, instead of using the percentage of correct responses, to interpret student performance. We also examine the design of the questions, the extent to which topics are covered in required accounting courses, and the relative difficulty of recalling a question's content. Regression results show that the average percent correct is significantly negatively related to the complexity of a question's design and the difficulty of recalling a question's content. The average percent correct is marginally positively related to the extent of repetition in coursework. In addition, our analysis suggests that designing a valid assessment program requires faculty to consider how long they want knowledge to be retained.

Viewpoint: Doing Things the Hard Way—Problems with Mission-Linked AACSB Accreditation Standards and Suggestions for Improvement

Under the new AACSB standards, business schools may designate teaching as their primary mission, making teaching effectiveness, rather than research productivity, the major consideration in accreditation. It is considerably more difficult to assess teaching effectiveness than it is to assess research productivity, and the fundamental indicator of teaching effectiveness, career success of graduates, is virtually impossible to measure accurately. Business school faculties preparing for accreditation or re-accreditation thus are forced to emphasize superficial and unreliable indicators such as the number of course changes approved by curriculum committees. The AACSB should devise a set of reasonable accreditation standards, with numerical guidelines established for measurable variables, and issue Certificates of Distinction to a minority of business schools that maintain very high levels of faculty research productivity.

Viewpoint: Applying the Distinction Between Market-Oriented and Customer-Led Strategic Perspectives to Business School Strategy

The mission-linked AACSB accreditation standards suggest the importance of the strategic management process for business schools. The standards also emphasize customer-driven curriculum changes. This article presents an application of strategic management literature for consideration in the strategic management process of business schools. Specifically, the distinction between market-oriented and customer-led strategies is described, and the particular relevance and importance of this for business schools is explained.

Social Responsibility and AACSB Accreditation Standards: How ISO 14000 Can Integrate Environmental Issues into the Marketing Curriculum

“For corporations, the key issue is to understand the relationship of wealth to risk. Risks are a by-product of producing wealth. In the current post-industrial society … the risks are greater, more harmful, geographically more pervasive, longer term, and more difficult to measure” Shrivastava (1996, p. 8).“When the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster spread radioactive clouds across much of the northern reaches of Scandinavia, cesium-137 particles were absorbed by the lichens carpeting Lapland. The area's Saami people depend on reindeer meat for food, and the reindeer feed on lichens. After Chernobyl, more than 70,000 reindeer had to be killed and the meat discarded because it was too radioactive to eat” Miller (1996, p. 429).

A Survey of Business School Heads on Mission-Linked AACSB Accreditation Standards

The mission-linked AACSB accreditation standards and procedures adopted in 1991 have aroused considerable interest and stimulated much discussion within the business education profession. This study adds to the limited empirical information available on AACSB accreditation under the new standards. Business school deans and program heads were surveyed on attitudes toward the new standards, as well as conditions and circumstances that could have a bearing on AACSB accreditation. Results from the survey provide estimates of quantitative differences between accredited and non-accredited institutions in attitudes, institutional characteristics, teaching methodologies, research productivity, and so on. This information should be of interest to many of those concerned with AACSB accreditation.

The new AACSB accreditation standards: a prospect of tiering?

An investigation of the attitudes of deans of accredited and non‐accredited schools found that their attitudes differed with respect to Cheit’s (1985) two dimensions: “academic” and “professional”. This difference was related to the three tiers of accredited schools implied by the new AACSB accreditation standards. Discusses implications.