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Purpose: This paper aims to present the lessons learned during the design and implementation of a quality assurance system (QAS) in an academic unit and considers the regulatory changes to institutional accreditation in Chilean higher education, the international standard ISO 21001:2018, and the stakeholders' requirements. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses an abductive approach to identify and evaluate the key factors to implementing a QAS in higher education institutions (HEI). Qualitative and quantitative data were collected through questionnaires, semistructured interviews, focus groups with stakeholders, a literature review and official institutional documents. Documents and interviews were subjected to content analysis using a process of inductive coding to identify and define topics or categories. A descriptive statistical analysis of categorical variables calculated the marginal frequency of each response. All information aided in designing the QAS for the school and its implementation plan. Findings: This study highlights major challenges universities could face while implementing QAS, illuminating key principles and reflecting relevant practices. The lessons learned in this process show the importance of balancing accountability and continuous improvement while promoting a more receptive organizational culture, aligning the national and international standards in the early design stage, understanding the roles and responsibilities of the staff, having the support of a quality office and performing a gap analysis. Originality/value: This work provides other HEI in need of designing and implementing a QAS with a conceptual and solid framework to integrate internal, external and international regulations of quality assurance criteria and standards. This paper could become a valuable reference for university managers, practitioners and quality professionals facing similar challenges.

Purpose: This study aims to identify the strategic leadership and change management used to obtain the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditations as well as the research development on AACSB in the past decade. Design/methodology/approach: This study used a systematic literature review following Petticrew and Roberts' study. The articles were limited to empirical studies published from 2013 to 2022, taken from the Dimensions AI database. Findings: The findings suggested that two leadership styles were used to obtain AACSB accreditation: dominance-oriented transformational and financial leadership, alongside three traits of academic leaders: commitment, engagement and encouragement. Additionally, three change management models/processes were found in the articles: teaching evaluation framework, temporary isomorphism and authenticity. Finally, they discovered that the object of the studies on AACSB accreditation had been narrowed down from the organizational level to smaller objects consisting of schools' identity, teaching, learning and business schools' key players. Research limitations/implications: As this study only used Dimensions AI, potential articles related to the topic outside the database could not be obtained. Thus, it limits the scope of the findings of this paper. Practical implications: This study informs academic leaders in business schools about the role of strategic leadership and change management in obtaining AACSB accreditation. Originality/value: Through a systematic scoping review, this study presented a decade of research development on AACSB in addition to the strategic leadership and change management needed to obtain it.

Purpose: This paper aims to identify any relation between the strategies defined in Chilean higher education institutions strategic planning and the compliance with both national accreditation criteria and the dimensions of an integrated internationalization approach, allowing to determine if standards and funding policies shape internationalization processes. Design/methodology/approach: Strategic plans of 29 universities were analyzed using a nonexperimental qualitative-quantitative methodology. The institutions were categorized according to the scores obtained through the revision of objectives, aims and goals of their strategic plans. Key elements of integrated internationalization were used to identify the assimilation of such dimensions and the actions executed. Data were collected through documentary revision and scrutinized through content analysis using two dichotomous instruments. Results were examined using principal component and cluster analysis. Findings: Chilean universities' internationalization processes aim to fulfill national accreditation criteria but do not follow a comprehensive internationalization model, as shown by a 53.2% of compliance with the number of elements relating to internationalization accreditation criteria and a 27% of adherence with an integrated internationalization approach. Institutions are slowly evolving, blending isolated internationalization strategic elements and focusing on external guidelines. Research limitations/implications: This study was performed through documentary analysis. The derived conclusions could further be complemented through interviews or the inclusion of institutional self-assessment reports for institutional accreditation purposes. Originality/value: This paper demonstrates why Chilean universities need to take a qualitative step toward implementing an integrated internationalization approach, to make an even more tangible contribution to their internal and external communities.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the efficiency of secondary education schools in Chile. Since the early 1980s, several educational reforms have been passed with the main objective of improving the quality, equity and efficiency of the Chilean education system. This has initiated a debate about the efficient use of public educational resources. In response, this study provides insights into identifying the most efficient types of schools based on a set of different inputs and outputs. Design/methodology/approach: This quantitative research study used data envelopment analysis (DEA), which estimates a single index of efficiency to identify schools performing at superior levels compared to other schools with similar characteristics. Two sets of models are created for evaluating efficiency. The first set of analyses provides a longitudinal efficiency comparison based on student performance on two national standardized tests as outputs, and the second model incorporates socioeconomic characteristics of students attending different schools as inputs in the efficiency estimation. Findings: Based on the longitudinal models, it was found that private schools are more efficient and more consistent in maintaining their efficiency over time than other types of schools. In addition, when accounting for socioeconomic factors, publicly subsidized schools were more efficient than public schools. Practical implications: The Chilean parliament is currently discussing new educational reforms that focus on more efficient use of educational resources to improve educational quality and equity. The results provided in this study generate useful evidence for policymakers and other stakeholders regarding school efficiency and the appropriate allocation of public resources to support diverse students served by different types of secondary educational institutions. Social implications: Education is a key factor affecting social mobility and socioeconomic improvement of societies. Schools are called upon to improve their performance to promote these social goals. Accordingly, more novel forms of research on efficiency are necessary to assess how well schools are transforming their inputs into performance outputs. Originality/value: This study provides a longitudinal analysis of educational efficiency using DEA with a national data set of Chilean schools to evaluate how consistent the schools are in maintaining their levels of efficiency over time. In addition, one DEA model accounts for a social "vulnerability" index at the student level to better understand how efficiently secondary schools use their resources. The insights gained provide data-driven answers to support more informed educational decision-making and policy processes in Chile.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to conduct a quantitative analysis of the university accreditation processes in Chilean universities. The aim is to determine the effects of the different variables, especially the type of institutions (state- and privately owned, with and without state financial support) on the results obtained. Design/Methodology/Approach: Univariate and multivariate statistical analysis of official data. Findings: Results indicate consistency in the accreditation processes in Chilean universities, as those variables directly associated with the processes accounted for approximately 70 per cent of the variation in the length of accreditation periods (between 0 and seven years), these variables being the ones that defined the type of universities. High dispersion was found in six state-owned universities that behaved as if they were private universities and in two private universities that behaved as if they were state universities. However, a high percentage of the universities included in the analysis maintained their affiliation to their corresponding legal group, when their performance in accreditation processes was analyzed. Originality/Value: The results of the university accreditation processes in Chile have been the focus of a intense debate due to the legal and economic conflicts between the different types of universities. This study constitutes the first scientific analysis of the results of these processes, especially in terms of the performance of the different types of universities, thus enabling a better interpretation of the results. This information is useful not only in the terms of the legal reforms that are being carried out in Chile, but they also help the understanding of the processes of accreditation of higher education in other Latin American countries.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze and discuss the results that the accreditation system implemented in Chile has brought to higher education institutions and undergraduate and graduate programs, taking into account both its positive and negative implications. Design/methodology/approach: The examination of the Chilean accreditation regime relies on descriptive statistics based on official data from several sources. Findings: It appears that the Chilean accreditation regime has helped to establish permanent procedures for quality assurance in higher education institutions which has resulted in improving its internal processes, but still the system faces a series of challenges that have to be addressed in order to improve the higher education system as a whole. Originality/value: The Chilean accreditation experience is placed within the discussion and context of accreditation systems around the world, and lessons which can be relevant to other countries are drawn. (Contains 15 tables and 3 notes.)

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between quality assurance, the traditional a priori approach, and a more recently developed empirical classification of universities, as a means of assessing whether the different classification systems fulfill their original purpose. The study analyzes Chilean university classifications because they have been used in setting up higher education public policies. Design/methodology/approach: The existing classifications of Chilean universities were identified in the literature. Researchers determined categories, criteria and/or indicators used, as well as their main purposes as described by the authors of the classifications. All the criteria and indicators identified were directly related to the quality of academic activities and to the results of the university accreditation processes. The institutional accreditation outcomes and variables were studied using univariate and multivariate statistical analysis. Findings: The a priori approach proved to be consistent with the results of institutional quality assurance, despite of the variability in individual performances. The empirical systems, however, do not show any contribution to the improvement of public policies in higher education. The results clearly show that classifications based on performance do not necessarily ensure improvements in institutional quality. Originality/value: To the authors' knowledge, this analysis is the first study of the relationship between university classification and quality assurance. The growing number of proposals for different empirical classifications in Chilean universities is evidence of institutional diversity only. However, the classification designs did not respond to purposes such as public policies improvements and other expected results from these instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]