Accreditation in business education

Business school accreditation has been long established in North America. Its development in the UK and Europe is of much more recent origin and has been fuelled primarily by concerns to protect the MBA brand. It is only recently that a European process of whole school accreditation (EQUIS) has emerged, and the process is now continuing with the “second wave” of schools. This paper traces the development of accreditation processes in the USA, the UK, across the European Union and Central and Eastern Europe. It also explores the implications of accreditation and recognition systems for providers and consumers of business qualifications, whether employers or prospective students. The relationship between these systems and national and institutional approaches to academic quality standards is explored. Finally, we analyse the future of the range of accrediting systems in the UK and the wider European Union.