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Oulu Business School AACSB Process 2010-2014 The Joy and Pain of Getting Accredited Dr. Petri Sahlström, Dean & Professor (Accounting)

OBS Context: Nordic Countries / Finland • •

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Nordic Education Systems – traditionally strong state support and guidance Finnish Universities: Government and the Ministry of Education determine the frame of operation through legislation and funding, e.g. : • Free tuition for B.Sc., M.Sc., D.Sc. students, BUT: Market based tuition for MBA! • B.Sc., M.Sc., D.Sc. Programs: Education volumes and funding controlled by state • Very selective student recruitment (e.g. in OBS, 10-15% of the applicants accepted for B.Sc.) AACSB not yet strongly represented in Nordic Countries: • Nowadays Oulu and Aalto (FI), CBS and Århus (DEN), BI (NO) In Finland,Technology disciplines have dominated Higher Education, Business studies underrepresented until 2000’s: • Power structures have not favored business schools (Business Schools typically not the strongest players in multidisciplinary research universities) • National HE accreditation systems established in the 1990´s, dominate the accreditation scene, criteria are reasonably general in nature • The global nature of the “Business of Business Schools” not very well understood, which creates many kinds of problems also in understanding, what is Business School Accreditation, and AACSB in the first place!

OBS Initial AACSB Process Timeline • 2010 Member of AACSB International • 2010 Martti Ahtisaari Institute acquires 800 000€ funding from stakeholders, to support accreditation efforts • 2011 AACSB Eligibility • 2011 AACSB Mentor appointed • 2012 SAP (Standards Alignment Plan) submitted & accepted • 2012-2013 PRT Chair and members appointed • 2013 SER (Self Evaluation Report) submitted & accepted • 2013 September: PRT (Peer Review Team) visit • 2013 November: OBS earns AACSB International Accreditation • 2014 Official Recognition Ceremony (ICAM 2014)

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2010: Martti Ahtisaari Institute acquires 800 000€ from stakeholders, to support accreditation efforts • Strong commitment from important stakeholders: – Chamber of Commerce – City of Oulu – The Council of Oulu Region • Psychological effect on OBS faculty and staff: – Strengthend commitment (the stakeholders want this, too) – Sense of responsibility and accountability (give back in return) • Enable motivated faculty&staff members to commit to AACSB activities: – Overall management & administration of the process – Recruiting and involving core members to join”OBS Accreditation Team” – Appointing central faculty&staff members, to take on development tasks in the crucial areas of development (e.g. AoL, Faculty Qualifications, Mission and strategy alignment, data collection and analysis, stakeholder relations & advisory board functions) • At the same time, OBS gained membership of AACSB International – A motivating sign to all parties, that we are serious about this.

2011 Summer: AACSB Eligibility • Internal power struggle within our University in 2008-2010, preceding the Eligibility application: – The ”ownership” and positioning of the Executive MBA programme under heavy scrutiny by all involved parties – Result: EMBA Program transferred to OBS from the University Continuing Education Center – The EMBA Program became a normal part of OBS portfolio • The great importance of legitimacy of the Business School in a large, multidisciplinary, highly ranked research University! • OBS Eligibility application accepted by AACSB in July 2011

2011 Autumn: AACSB Mentor for OBS appointed • MISSION Refinement – Fundamental questions discussed with faculty, staff, students and stakeholders, during winter 2011-2012: – Who are we really intending to serve – first and foremost? – Regional or Global Business School? – Legal responsibility in Finland to cater for the highest level business education in the whole Northern half of Finland! • How can we be both Local and Global?

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OBS Mission, Vision, Values MISSION • We generate business competencies in cooperation with the scientific community, business partners and the larger society. We strive to develop expertise, and foster the development of leadership qualities in our students. Through our actions and global mindset, we participate in the development of the economy, especially in Northern Finland. VISION • As part of the University of Oulu, we aspire to be an international, multidisciplinary, research based business school. VALUES • In all our activities we follow the fundamental values of expertise, responsibility to self and others, and a pioneering spirit.

2012 Summer: Standards Alignment Plan (nowadays iSER) submitted & accepted • Late spring of 2012: small panic within the AACSB core team: – Are we good enough? – Are we consistent enough? – Do we have enough evidence? – Are we ready – or should we take the Time-Out (postpone submitting the SAP (iSER)? • Important decision in May 2012: – Hell Yeah, we are ready to Rock – Pushing it to the limit, and delivering the SAP on time • And it paid off: – OBS SAP accepted by AACSB without questions or concerns! – Enormous boost of confidence among the core team – End of any major opposition within the OBS – Two-edged sword, however, because now everyone expected OBS to gain accreditation soon!

2012-2013 Winter: PRT Chair and members appointed • An excellent team of experts appointed by AACSB: – Relief from OBS initial concerns towards the PRT, whether the members are aware of the ”Nordic peculiarities” of our Higher Education System (e.g. tuition-free study programs, extremely selective student recruitment and selection systems, the legal framework of operations) • Summer 2013: Test time for OBS! Tough pre-visit feedback from PRT Chair, to provide more evidence that OBS AoL and Faculty Qualifications are really at high enough level: – Re-calculation of Faculty Intellectual Contributions – Re-consideration of the ”level of the bar” (providing evidence that our AQ faculty pass the ”3 journal test”) – Strategy for the renewal of the FQ to comply with 2013 standards (note: OBS accredited according to 2003 standards) – Further evidence that we really have closed the AoL loop!

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2013 September: PRT (Peer Review Team) visit • Tough start for the visit: – The PRT pushed hard and demanded more proof of OBS Faculty Qualification and AoL systems – Dean, Head of Accreditation and Accreditation Coordinator designing - within one afternoon - the preliminary strategy and outline for introducing the OBS 2013 standards compliant FQ framework – Dean of Education and AoL Design Team providing more evidence on closing the loop in AoL, and presenting more practical examples for the PRT • The ability to deliver in a tough situation was a rewarding experience for the OBS faculty and staff, especially for the Core Team! • Happy ending for the visit, with good anticipation about a positive outcome • Great News from AACSB in November 2013: OBS gains AACSB Accreditation!

2010

AACSB people

• They are helping you in various issues • Our school is now much better than it was before the process • Journey continues: continuous improvement objectives, CIR…

Joy Time: Official Recognition, ICAM 2014

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Questions & Answers

ThankYou & Happy Summer

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