Dynamic Relationships Management Journal, May 2013 15
HOW ACCREDITATION STIMULATES BUSINESS SCHOOL CHANGE:
EVIDENCE FROM THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES
Yelena Istileulova
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics, PhD student
Kardeljeva pl. 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
yelena.istileulova@gmail.com
Darja Peljhan
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Economics
Kardeljeva pl. 17, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
darja.peljhan@ef.uni-lj.si
Abstract
There is scarce or almost non-existing research on changes that take place in business schools in the Commonwealth
of Independent States (CIS). Changes in CIS business schools (B-schools) are influenced by different external factors
(e.g. socioeconomic system, market forces, financial crisis, demographic problems, changes in policies of higher
education; influence of the Bologna process). On the other hand, B-schools in the CIS need to make internal changes
to gain the external accreditation. We look into the nature of change processes taking place in CIS B-schools, observing
them through the prism of ongoing external accreditation processes. The purpose of the study is to examine the effect
of the accreditation process on CIS B-school changes. We used a comparative analysis based on the study of 22 B-
schools from four countries (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan). We discovered that these changes refer to
introducing more strict entrance requirements, strengthening financial resources, and improving efforts to reach the
accreditation standards. Moreover, schools have to review their mission, decrease their student-to-faculty ratio,
introduce measurement metrics for learning goals, and internationalise their programs. The advanced B-schools in
Russia and Kazakhstan usually start with an international programme accreditation, and then move to an institutional
one. The trend has begun spreading to schools from non-Bologna countries like Belarus, but it is still a long-time
agenda item for Kyrgyzstan.
Keywords: AACSB, AMBA, Accreditation, Business Schools, Change, EFMD, Quality
1. INTRODUCTION
Over the past 30 years, business schools (B-
schools) have been among the fastest-growing
segments in higher education (Antunes & Thomas,
2007; Friga et al., 2003). In the early 21st century, the
higher education sector has become a “competi tive
enterprise”: in many countries universities com pete
for status and ranking, and generally for funding from
governmental or private sources, where students
must compete for scarce places in univer sities (Alt -
bach et al., 2009). B-schools are facing rising pressure
to increase the value-added in their services. To meet
this challenge in an era of tighten ing resources, B-
schools will need to undergo funda mental changes
in the way they operate and contin uously seek ways
to create future value (Bailey et al., 1999).
With the proliferation of institutions offering
higher education it is fundamental that B-schools
Dynamic Relationships Management Journal, May 2013
Yelena Istileulova, Darja Peljhan: How accreditation stimulates business school change: evidence from 
16
employ the right strategies and resources that will
allow them to achieve their goals, while remaining
competitive in the evolving global market for
business education. Quality will become an ever-
growing concern for B-schools, in particular with
regard to measures for determining and improving
the quality of programmes and schools. Zammuto
(2008) argues that the growth of for-profit universi -
ties and the global spread of accreditation are two
long-term changes that will reshape the environ ment
of traditional B-schools. The top B-schools of the
future will not only implement changes to remain
competitive, but will seek accreditation and quality
improvement programmes to prove to the market
that they are committed to excellence and innova -
tion (Cornuel, 2007). International accred it ations are
often associated with “the seal of quality” as being
facilitators of sustaining service quality. Baden-Fuller
and Ang (2001) note that status and reputation are
close allies, where reputation is the expectation of a
high level of quality as perceived by an audience. This
gives a strong association be tween the processes of
accreditation – namely rep utation building activities
– and the expectation of quality. According to the
OECD (Quality and Recog nition in Higher Education,
2004, p. 29), “external quality assurance and accredi -
tation arrangements now have become full features
of modern regulation systems in higher education.
Besides the national state, inter-institutional net -
works and associations, professional bodies, and
specialised agencies have also been active in estab -
lishing external quality assurance and accreditation
systems,” where some experts see the system of
“multiple accreditation” as a desirable outcome. Its
application in countries is limited so far, but elements
of it are expanding rapidly and leading to certain
changes.
Change processes in higher education are
under the influence of different external factors
(Friga et al., 2003; Vasiliev, 1994), e.g. the
socioeconomic system, market forces, the impact of
financial crisis, demographic problems, changes in
policies of higher education, and impact of these
policies on higher education institutions – with
some influence of the Bologna process. External
challenges like globalisation, regional integration,
and the ever-increasing mobility of students and
scholars have made the need for internationally
recognised standards among and between nations
more urgent. That is why external quality assurance
in higher education has risen to the top of the policy
agenda in many countries. The external quality
assurance processes in B-schools are connected to
the processes of international accreditation.
Our paper focuses on B-school internal changes
due to the impact of external accreditation. As most
studies on service quality in business education have
been conducted mainly in Western countries and
cultures, our objective is to focus on non-Western
countries. Specifically, empirical studies pertain ing to
service quality in business education in the Common -
wealth of Independent States (CIS) region remain
rare despite rapid growth in business education in
recent times, and especially since the development
of accreditation agencies has been a growing pheno -
menon even in Europe (Cret, 2011). Therefore, our
purpose is to find out B-school priori ties and changes
in the process of international accreditation for B-
schools in the CIS region, as there is almost non-
existent research for this region. Our objective is to
present and discuss internal changes that CIS busi -
ness schools undergo because of the intended imple -
mentation of external accredi tation. From a metho -
dological perspective, this is a comparative study
(Lor, 2011). We compare the change processes in
four CIS countries (Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and
Kyrgyzstan). These four countries are referred to as
cases or “comparators” (Hantrais, 2009).
In the following sections, we first present our
main research question and its theoretical under -
pinnings. Next, we describe the methodological
approach. In Section 4 we explain and discuss the
results. Conclusions are presented in the final section.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH
QUESTION
Quality is one of the competitive priorities that
has migrated from the literature of manufacturing
strategy to the service arena. Interest in service
quality has increased substantially in recent years.
There are different models and processes on which
quality systems can be based (Hodgkinson & Kelly,
2007): Total Quality Management (TQM), the Euro -
pean Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM),
the Commonwealth of independent states
Dynamic Relationships Management Journal, May 2013 17
Balanced scorecard, the Kaizen process, school-wide
quality steering groups, two paradigms of organisa -
tional self-assessment, and subject reviewer training.
The arrival of TQM in higher education began tenu -
ously in the 1980s with increasing interest in the
early 1990s. This growing interest in TQM was
motivated by institutions’ need to cope with tremen -
dous pressure from their customers to update and
improve the quality of their services (Ewell, 1993;
Voss et al., 2007; Zemsky et al., 1993). In general,
quality is an objective measurement in manufactur -
ing and a subjective one in the service sector. Service
businesses are heterogeneous, quality is intangible,
and production and consumption of the product
(service) are inseparable. Therefore, in the service
sector, ‘quality’ refers to meeting and/or exceeding
customer expectations (Pariseau & McDaniel, 1997).
Winter (1991) notes that while traditional
businesses use the principles of TQM, “not much is
heard from the higher educational sector.” Dillard
and Tinker (1996) show how TQM – continuous
improvement technologies are being promoted
within the business schools and consider possible
implications to provide them as a basis for AACSB
standards, but identify inherent social tensions.
Sohail and Shaikh (2004) review the development
of the quality system and examine the concept of
service quality in business education in non-
Western countries, where these practices remain
rare despite the rapid growth in the higher edu -
cation sector. Their study shows that students from
the Middle-East region enrolled prior to the AACSB
accreditation process, and assess the quality prac -
tices as better than expected as compared to those
enrolled after the AACSB accreditation. Another
study of Sulaiman et al. (2013) shows that even
when the perception of TQM is positive, it could be
implemented where a culture of collective con -
sciousness or teamwork is accepted within edu -
cational institutions.
Quality is becoming an ever-growing concern
for B-schools, with regard to measures for deter -
mining and improving the quality of programmes
and schools (Cornuel, 2007; Gidley et al., 2010).
Accreditation is perceived as a tool in facilitating
service quality in higher education. Accreditation
process serves many purposes for B-schools,
including quality assurance for themselves and their
stakeholders, marketing advantages, and the ability
to benchmark and network with their peers. There
are many cases of institutions seeking accreditation
outside their national context for a number of
reasons (Marginson & Van der Wende, 2006): a lack
of accreditation opportunities at home; using inter -
national accreditation to enhance relative national
position; using international accreditation to evade
the requirements or prohibitions of nation al accred -
itation; enhancing global recognition via accredita -
tion by a reputable foreign accreditation body.
Guler, Guillén & Macpherson (2002) illustrate
two reasons why B-school accreditation has spread
so fast considering institutional and social network
theories. First, institutions in country B learn from
institutions in country A how to make their products
more attractive. This means that in becoming
accredited, B-schools distance themselves in terms
of reputation and provide a short-term competitive
advantage until others achieve accreditation. Sec -
ond, institutions seek certification when they see
the potential for increasing competitive advantage
domestically or when they believe that lack of
certification would reduce their ability to sell into
the global market. This implies that the value of B-
schools accreditation is in attracting international
students to accredited schools, making unaccred -
ited schools less competitive.
Following the break-up of the USSR in Decem -
ber 1991 the entire Soviet education system had to
be restructured. Temporary school curricula and
programmes were adopted in 1993, followed by the
revised law on education (1996) and legislation
dealing with attestation and accreditation. For the
past 20 years, these two documents have formed
the basis for the entire Russian education system
(Ziganshina, 2013). In December 2012 Russian
President Putin signed a new law entitled “On
Education,” which is to enter into force from
September 1, 2013. The new basic document in the
field of education is to replace two outdated laws
“On Education” and “On Higher and Postgraduate
Vocational Education,” which were adopted in 1992
and 1996, respectively (Putin signs new law On
Education in Russia, 2012). The new law introduced
the notion of “the public accreditation” for edu -
cational institutions and professional programmes.
The recent trend is that Government has also
Dynamic Relationships Management Journal, May 2013
Yelena Istileulova, Darja Peljhan: How accreditation stimulates business school change: evidence from 
18
reviewed a draft of the federal law “On the accred -
itation of the national accreditation system” devel -
oped in accordance with the concept of forming a
unified national system of accreditation in the Rus -
sian Federation, where representatives of business
and experts’ society actively participated.
The 21st century opened the arena for national
and international accreditation schemes. In Table 1
we present a comparison among different types of
international accreditations. As seen in Table 1,
accreditors are not equivalent; otherwise, multiple
accreditations would not be necessary. Besides
different missions, each accreditor has its area of
focus, and its own standards. Therefore, some of the
schools with multiple accreditations feel that the
different emphases of their accreditation processes
are complementary (e.g., EQUIS’ emphasis on inter -
nationalisation strategy versus AACSB’s assurance of
learning processes), and thus worth the price of
having more accreditations. The important thing is
that the accreditation process requires strict
adherence to quality planning – a necessity in the
increasingly crowded educational landscape (Friga
et al., 2003).
Accreditation bodies adapt major revisions to
their standards (AACSB: 1991, 2003, and 2003 stan -
dards had been revised in 2010, 2011, 2012) or
introduce the new standards. In March 2013, the
AACSB proposed new standards justifying it as
follows (Eligibility Procedures and Accreditation
Standards for Business Accreditation, 2013, p. 2): “In
this context of constant change, standards and
processes for accreditation must be designed not
only to validate quality management education and
impactful research, but also to provide leadership,
encouragement, and support for change in business
schools.” The EFMD announced that it targets to
strengthen the EQUIS through significantly revised
and expanded standards for Financial, Risk Manage -
ment, and Performance reporting (in addition to its
revised standards in January 2013).
AACSB International EFMD AMBA
Year of
foundation
It was set up in 1916 as the American Association of Collegiate
Schools of Business, expanded internationally in 1995
EQUIS, the European
Quality Improvement
System, was created in
1997, launched in 1999
EPAS was launched
in 2005
AMBA founded in 1967,
launched accreditation
in 1997 for MBA
Member ship
2013: More than 650 member institutions hold AACSB
Accreditation. Overall, nearly 50 countries and territories are
represented by AACSB-accredited schools
2013: Over 800 member organisations from
academia, business, public service, and consultancy in
81 countries, at the heart of the EFMD are over 550
B-school members 
2013: AMBA accredited
programmes offered by 201 B-
schools in over 70 countries
What each
body
assesses
AACSB assesses the “accreditation unit” which is the institution
which may be defined as a sub-unit within the institution as a
whole, for example a B-school or a department of B-studies. 
EQUIS assesses
institutions as a whole:
research,
e-learning, executive
education, community
outreach.
EPAS evaluates the
quality of any
management programme
that has an international
perspective and is of a
high quality. 
For all MBA, DBA, MBM
programmes: full, part-time,
executive, distance.
Focus on programme mission,
strategy, curriculum, faculty &
students’ qualifications.
Standards
AACSB has many quantitative standards – has a more
prescriptive approach, and they are used to evaluate a B-
school’s mission, faculty qualifications/ contributions,
operations, programs, other. 
EQUIS has more
qualitative standards: it
expects schools to justify
an excellence in their
own way.
It has “floating”
standards for quality 
EPAS is narrower in focus:
to reinforce contribution
to enhance of B-
education to its stated
mission.
AMBA programmes should be
of the highest standard and
reflect changing trends and
innovation in postgraduate
management education.
Table 1. Comparison of key international accreditations bodies
the Commonwealth of independent states
Dynamic Relationships Management Journal, May 2013 19
AACSB International EFMD AMBA
Key areas of
standards
(the new
proposed,
2013)
15 standards:
Strategic management and innovation:
1. Mission, Impact, innovation;
2. Intellectual contributions, Impact and Alignment with the
mission.
3. Financial strategies and allocation of resources
Participants:
4. Student admission, progression, and career development
5. Faculty sufficiency and deployment
6. Faculty management and support
7. Professional staff sufficiency and deployment
Learning and teaching:
8. Curricula management and assurance of learning 
9. Curriculum content
10. Student-faculty interactions
11. Degree programme educational level, structure,
equivalence 
12. Teaching effectiveness
Academic and professional engagement:
13. Student academic and professional engagement;
14. Executive education
15. Faculty qualifications and engagement
10 standards:
1. Context, Governance
and Strategy
2. Programmes
3. Students
4. Faculty
5. Research and
Development
6. Executive Education
7. Resources and
Administration
8. Internationalisation
9. Ethics, Responsibility,
and Sustainability
10. Corporate
Connections
Standards in 5 areas:
1. Institutional context:
national / the Bologna
reforms;
2. Programme design;
3. Programme delivery;
4. Programme outcomes;
5. Quality assurance
process
Programme Mission and
Strategy.
Purpose and outcomes (what
MBA is about).
Views of alumni, employers,
sponsors.
Faculty Qualification (75% -
PhD), Students’ Qualification:
work experience, good English
Curriculum content
Emphasis
Old: In the areas of mission, programmes / assurance of
learning, faculty, and students
New: Accreditation standards focus on the quality of education
and supporting functions.
Emphasis on strategic management of resources focused on
the development and delivery of high-quality academic
programs.
Focus on programmes,
students; degree of
internationalisation.
Focus on the
international reach of
school and on a school’s
connections with the
business community
Academic rigour,
internationalisation,
quality assurance systems
Emphasis is on
achievements in the
areas of academic rigour,
practical relevance and
internationalisation.
Curriculum (nature, design),
knowledge, delivery, and
mode, duration.
A focus on program mission
and strategy, curriculum
content, faculty, and student
qualifications.
List of
accredited
schools in
the related
region
(Russia) 
Institutional
AACSB International:
Russia (0)
Institutional
1 school in Russia, St.
Petersburg University,
Graduate School of
Management (3 years)
Programme
1. Higher School
of Finance and
Management,
2. Russian Presidential
Academy of National
Economy and Public
Administration
3. Institute of Business
Studies (IBS-Moscow),
Academy of National
Economy
4. Lomonosov Moscow
State University
Business school
5. MIRBIS (Moscow
International Higher
Business School)
6. Graduate School
of Management,
St. Petersburg
University
Programme
EE (Eastern Europe) and
Russia: 18 schools. In Russia -
9 local B-schools - below (and
plus 3 -international):
1. GSIB (Graduate School of
International Business)
2. Institute of Business
Studies, Moscow, within
Russian Presidential
Academy of National
Economy and Public
Administration
3. International Institute of
Management LINK
4. International Management
Institute, St. Petersburg
(IMISP)
5. MIRBIS
6. Moscow School of Social
and Economic Sciences –
Kingston Russia MBA
7. Plekhanov Russian
University of Economics,
Plekhanov Business school
Integral
8. Sinerghia Institute of
Economics and Finance
9. St. Petersburg State
University Graduate School
of Management
Sources: Accreditation, 2013; Accredited Business Schools A-Z, 2013; Adolphus, 2013; EPAS Accredited Programmes,
2013; EQUIS Accredited Schools, 2013; Istileulova & Peljhan, 2012; The Global Guide to Accredited MBAs, 2013;
Trapnell, 2007; Urgel, 2007; Zammuto, 2008.
Dynamic Relationships Management Journal, May 2013
Yelena Istileulova, Darja Peljhan: How accreditation stimulates business school change: evidence from 
20
Over the last ten years, systems of higher
education in Russia and many other CIS countries
have undergone considerable change in the
following areas (The Russian Education System,
2013): (1) Goals - with an orientation towards the
needs of the market, society, and individuals; (2)
Structure - decentralisation (in contrast to Soviet
centralised planning); (3) Autonomy of higher
educational institutions - introduction of private
higher education; (4) Financing - diversification of
financial sources instead of a reliance solely on state
financing; (5) Content - increasing the humanitarian
components in the curriculum, diversifying pro -
grammes and courses; and (6) Internationalisation
of higher education is a reality, but still a great
challenge for Russian and other CIS universities.
According to the literature (Elliott, 2010; Heriot,
Austin & Franklin, 2009; Kondakci & Van den Broeck,
2009; Lejeune & Vas, 2009; Onzoño & Carmona, 2012;
Pomey et al., 2010; Romero, 2008; Zammuto, 2008;)
the main changes affected by the accredita tion process
are the following: review of the B-school’s mission and
strategy; enhanced reputation and leverage for
change; internationalisation of faculty members;
attraction of international students to schools in
destination countries; comparisons regarding learning
outcomes and other performance measures; increased
focus on research and quality; an introduction of the
systematic process in curricu lum management; im -
provement of the connections with business commu -
nity and stakeholders; an introduction of continuous
quality improvement programs; creation of leadership
for quality improve ment initiatives; the acquisition of
more resources; a better image and an increase in
community inter actions; gained reputation, legitimacy,
and improve ment of the survival prospects; and the
changed structure and processes of B-schools.
Based on the literature review, our key research
question is “What are the changes that are present
in CIS business schools due to accreditation proces -
ses?” This question is related to the changes that
occur in the environment of the higher education
institutions (HEIs) as well as the changes resulting
from international accreditation of B-schools in the
CIS. The purpose of our research question is to look
into the nature of internal changes processes that are
observed through the prism of undergoing, external
international accreditation processes.
3. METHODOLOGY
To answer the research question, we used a
comparative analysis with 22 higher education insti -
tutions from four CIS countries (Russia, Belarus,
Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan) that took place in 2011.
The results are based on a survey questionnaire and
interviews with deans and/or other members of B-
school management. From a methodological per -
spective, this is a comparative study (Lor, 2011). We
compare the change processes in four CIS countries.
The four countries are referred to as cases or “com -
parators” (Hantrais, 2009). We examine the experi -
ence of B-schools in the countries which are the
official members of the Bologna process (Russia from
2003 and Kazakhstan from 2010), and the countries
that have not yet joined Bologna (Belarus and Kyrgyz -
stan). As follows, we justify why we have chosen
these four countries. Business education did not exist
in the Soviet Union, and it became a new pheno -
menon in the CIS after the break-up of USSR. Russia
is our unit of analysis, as it is a leading CIS country in
business education and the processes of inter -
national accreditation within the last decade. Russia
represents the benchmark for other CIS countries,
with its established traditions in higher education
(with 6.5 million students in more than 1,000 HEIs
and an additional two million students in college),
and the common Russian language, culture, mental -
ity, and similar methods of business communi cation.
Even though Russia got off to a chaotic start when a
wave of business activity swept the country at the
beginning of 1990s, business education became a
fast growing sector, with the tuition fees varying from
$60,000 at the largest B-schools and $5,000-$10,000
for less reputable courses in smaller schools
(Kilyakov, 2013).
We included the other three countries because
the Ministry of Education of Russian Federation
issued the Decree “On the equivalence of documents
on education of the Republic of Belarus, Republic of
Kazakhstan, and the Kyrgyz Republic” (1999). It means
that a diploma issued in these countries is recognised
by Russia, and students who want to enter
universities can do it on the same basis as local
citizens. In addition, the Customs Union of Belarus,
Kazakhstan, and Russia was launched from January
2010 as a first step towards forming a broader
the Commonwealth of independent states
Dynamic Relationships Management Journal, May 2013 21
European Union-type economic alliance of former
Soviet states. In 2011, Kyrgyzstan also announced that
they would join this Union by the end of 2013.
Moreover, Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan are also
gradually moving towards a Eurasian Economic Union
(EEU). Finally, as well as Russia in the CIS, Kazakhstan
represents the pattern for business education in
Central Asia for Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and
Turkmenistan – where Kyrgyzstan is the closest ally.
In Table 2, we present a comparative analysis
of four Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in four
CIS countries that were the units of our analysis.
HEIs that participated in this study are mainly the
leading B-schools and oldest ones on CIS markets,
many of them were founded at the end of
1980s/beginning of 1990s (Russia, Kazakhstan) prior
or just after the break-up of the former Soviet
Union. As seen in Table 2, six B-schools from Russia
Russia Belarus Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan
Number of HEIs
(academic year 2011-2012)
1,080 HEIs where:
634 – public
446 – private
and
2,925 colleges:
2,665 – public
260 – private
55 HEIs , where:
45 – public
10 – private
146 HEIs, where:
33 – state;
73 – private;
9 – national;
1 – international
16 – JSC (Joint stock
company);
13 – non-civic
academies.
54 HEIs, where:
33 – public
21 – private
Number of students at HEIs
(2011-2012)
6,490,000 in HEIs
2,083,000 in colleges
445,576 in HEIs;
387,172 (in public)
58,404 (in private)
610,000 in HEIs
320,000 (in public)
290,000 (in private)
239,208 in HEIs
209,400 (in public)
29,808 (in private)
Types of tertiary education institutions
Universities, Academies,
Institute, Private
Institutions
Classical University,
Profile University,
Institute, Higher College.
Institutes, Academy,
University, National
Research University,
National Higher
Education Institution,
Research University
University, Academy,
Specialised HEIs,
Institute.
Number of B-schools 150 15 9 7
Number of educational institutions:
offer business degrees 
586 28 70 27
AACSB membership (Jan, 2012) 6 0 3 0
EFMD membership (2012) 15 (where 12 B-schools) 1 2 (where 1 B-school) 0
Priorities in Higher education
Set out in the National
Doctrine of Education
equivalent to a ’White
Paper’ in Europe). New
law On Education (Dec.,
2012)
Available education, its
quality, the financial
efficiency of the
activities of HEIs
Priority is for research,
collaboration and
integration in education
worldwide and in line
with specific national
programmes
Priority is for research,
in line with regional and
national needs 
Bologna process
Yes, from 2003.
Bologna structure fully
implemented in all or
most fields of study
Non Bologna-signatory
country. The Bologna
process being
implemented by ad hoc
groups under the
supervision of the
Ministry of Education
Yes, from 2010.
Extensive but gradual
introduction of Bologna
structure/ongoing
adaptations or
enlargement
Non Bologna-signatory
country.
Bologna process being
implemented by ad hoc
groups under the
supervision of the
Ministry of Education
Sources: Guide on business schools, 2012; Higher Education in Kyrgyzstan, 2010; Hoare, 2011; Istileulova & Peljhan,
2012; List of Members, 2013; Overview of the Higher Education Systems in the Tempus Partner Countries, 2012; State
of Play of the Bologna Process in the Tempus Partner Countries, 2012; The Russian Education System, 2013.
Table 2. Comparative analysis of CIS Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)
Dynamic Relationships Management Journal, May 2013
Yelena Istileulova, Darja Peljhan: How accreditation stimulates business school change: evidence from 
22
and three B-schools from Kazakhstan are members
of the AACSB. By the estimated number of HEIs in
four selected countries with business education
programmes by AACSB we can indicate that the
leading positions belong to Russia. In Tables 3 and
4 we provide the list of schools participating in our
research. The ownership of the selected Russian B-
schools is mainly public, whereas the leading Kazakh
B-schools have a private ownership, especially those
that apply for external accreditation. Public B-schools
in Kazakhstan do not apply for any international
accreditation.
RUSSIA
B-schools
External accreditation Ownership
KAZAKHSTAN
B-schools
External accreditation Ownership
1. HSE planning (AMBA) Public 1. BCB, KIMEP Other (AFBA)
Mixed (foreign
private and
public)
2. MIRBIS EPAS, AMBA Private 2. UIB Planning Private
3. Plekhanov Integral AMBA Public 3. IAB
CEEMAN, planning
AMBA
Private
4. IMEB 
in process (AMBA and by RABE,
Russian Association of Business
Education)
Public 4. IBS KazEU 
Planning (ACBSP, then
EPAS)
Private
5. ISB FU in process (AMBA) Public 5. KBTU Dep PHE
Planning (but not yet
defined)
Private
6. IBS EPAS, AMBA Public 6. Kainar not defined Private
7. HSFM EPAS Public 7. Turan, MBA/DBA not defined Private
8. HSEM UFU in process (EPAS) Public 8. Academy RFCA not planning Public 
KYRGYZSTAN
B-Schools
External Accreditation Ownership
BELARUS
B-Schools
External Accreditation Ownership
1. Bishkek Academy of Finance
and Economics (BAFE)
“Other type”; National+
CAMAN (Central-Asian
Foundation for Management
Development)
Private
1.IPM
“Other” type of
regional accreditation
(CEEMAN)
Private
2. Higher School of Magistrate,
International University of
Kyrgyzstan (Высшая школа
магистратуры)
“Other type”; National
attestation every 5 years with
the Ministry of HE -
госинспекция по
лицензированию,
аккредитации (аттестации)
Private
3. Kyrgyz-European Faculty of
Economics & Management,
KNU
considering AMBA (not in the
process)
Public
4. KSTU named after Razzakov
(Институт управления и
бизнеса) Institute of
Management and Business
“Other type”;
National
Public
2. School of Business
and Management of
Technology, BSU
In process (CEEMAN,
AMBA)
Public
Note: “Other type” of accreditation refers to the accreditation that is not coming from the EFMD, AACSB, and AMBA.
For instance, the regional accreditation coming from CEEMAN (Slovenia) is quite “popular” in these indicated CIS
countries and considered by them as an international accreditation.
Table 4. Business schools from Belarus and Kyrgyzstan (non-Bologna) participating in the study
Table 3. Business schools from Russia and Kazakhstan participating in the study
the Commonwealth of independent states
Dynamic Relationships Management Journal, May 2013 23
4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Russian B-schools apply for the most recog -
nised international programme accreditations like
AMBA and EPAS (see Table 3). Kazakh leading B-
schools apply for the “other” external international
regional accreditations. The private B-schools from
Kazakhstan apply either for CEEMAN, Central and
East European Management Development Associa -
tion (e.g. IAB, which gained it in 2010), or the ACBSP
(IBS; see Table 3). The private B-schools with the
foreign participation in Kazakhstan like BCB KIMEP,
the leading B-school in Central Asia – applied for the
AFBE, the Asian Forum for Business Education, that
assist B-schools with their recommendations to
apply further for EQUIS/EPAS. B-schools from Bela -
rus also consider CEEMAN accreditation as the one
that they can apply for (see Table 4). B-schools in
Kyrgyzstan are less experienced in external accredi -
tation. They try to make their first steps applying for
the regional accreditation like CAMAN (Central
Asian Foundation for Management Development),
that was founded based on the example of CEEMAN
and its experience (see Table 4).
However, according to the opinions of repre -
sentatives of two leading B-schools from Kyrgyzstan
who are the national Tempus experts, so far CAMAN
does not have any strong influence on Central Asian
countries due to its weak and disorganised activities.
On the other hand, the Russian Association of Busi -
ness Education (RABE) which is very active in the
business education of Russia has also introduced its
own accreditation based on the example of CEEMAN,
and some B-schools (like IMEB in our study) apply
for this accreditation (see Table 3). Thus, the strongest
B-schools in Russia apply mainly for the internati -
onal programme accreditations like EPAS and AMBA,
while B-schools in Kazakhstan and Belarus start
from the regional international accreditations (Asian
AFBE or Central East European CEEMAN). The less
developed B-schools (Kyrgyzstan) that are still in the
process of applying for the national attestation/
accreditation after gaining this status applied for the
less developed Central Asian’s regional CAMAN
(coming from Kazakhstan).
In our study, we first investigated the estimated
advantages of international accreditation by CIS
business schools (see Table 5, where 1 is the most
important and 7 is the least important when calcu -
lating means and the determining rank order). In
Russia, the results show that the main advantages
of international accreditation are as follows: an
improved reputation of the business school on the
domestic market (rank 1); having an international
accreditation is a signalling strategy for students
that the school is of high quality, thereby attracting
more students (rank 2); international accreditation
distinguishes B-school from competitors (rank 3).
The least important advantage (rank 7) seems to be
that international accreditation is a signalling stra -
tegy for the Faculty members that the school is of
high quality. On the contrary, Kazakhstan B-schools
are more interested in introducing the system of
quality improvement (rank 1). Belarus B-schools are
Advantages of international accreditation
Russia
(Mean)
Russia
(Rank)
Kazak.
(Mean)
Kazak.
(Rank)
Belarus
(Mean)
Belarus
(Rank)
Kyrgyz.
(Mean)
Kyrgyz.
(Rank)
1. Improved reputation of the school on the domestic market. 2.70 1 3.20 3 3.50 4 4.00 6
2. Improved reputation of the school on the international markets
of higher education.
4.50 4 5.50 6 5.50 6 2.50 1
3. Increased value of our assets and brand. 4.75 5 4.50 5 7.00 7 4.00 7
4. Competition on the markets is strong and international
accreditation will distinguish our school from competitors.
3.50 3 5.50 6 4.50 5 3.00 2
5. Signalling strategy for students that school is of high quality. 3.00 2 3.00 2 2.00 1 3.00 3
6. Signalling strategy for Faculty members that school is of high
quality.
5.10 7 4.00 4 3.50 3 4.00 5
7. Pursuing an international accreditation is a way to introduce a
quality improving strategy.
4.40 6 2.20 1 2.00 2 3.30 4
Table 5. Advantages of international accreditation: Assessment of business schools
Dynamic Relationships Management Journal, May 2013
Yelena Istileulova, Darja Peljhan: How accreditation stimulates business school change: evidence from 
24
more focused on the signalling strategy for students
(rank 1). Kyrgyzstan is a country with the least
experience in international accreditation processes
as HEIs started the national accreditation processes.
They perceive that the most important advantage
of international accreditation is that it leads to the
improved reputation on the international market
(rank 1). Regarding the disadvantages of internati -
onal accreditation process, B-schools that experi -
enced the international accreditation strongly agree
that the process is both very time-consuming and
requires considerable human resources to be
involved.
According to our literature review, we exam ined
the relevance of 13 changes for B-schools from four
investigated CIS countries. We included B-schools
that already have the international accredi tation or
are in the process of getting one. Mostly, B-schools
indicated that they have to make the entrance
requirements to become stricter or progression rates
lower so that only high quality graduates will be
“produced.” In addition, they indicated that they
have to strengthen the school’s financial resources to
be able to carry out planned activities and improve -
ment efforts to reach the accreditation standards.
Other important changes are the following: schools
have to review a mission statement, decrease their
student-faculty ratio, and introduce measurement
metrics for the learning goals of programmes and
internationalisation of faculty members. The change
that was considered unnecessary was an increase in
the share of full-time employees.
In the CIS, the issues of external accreditation
and Bologna process are related, but there are still
a lot of contradictions, because of the political
introduction of the process without any previous
debates in society (Russia in the Bologna process,
2008). The main disadvantage of the Bologna
process from the position of Russian universities
was that the algorithm of quality assurance in the
higher education had not been clearly formulated,
but, on the other hand, it was recognised that an
external accreditation process facilitates the quality
of higher education (Resolution of international
conference, 2004; Koler, 2005). Russia’s acceptance
to the Bologna process and its positive and negative
consequences have been the most discussed topics
in the last years within the academic community of
Russia. The degree and speed of change vary
considerably across these countries with Russian B-
schools as the leading ones, followed by Kazakhstan,
and then by Belarus’ and Kyrgyzstan’s schools.
Russia is a leading CIS country in the processes of
international accreditation and presents the
benchmark for other CIS countries. For leading B-
schools in Russia the preferable international
accreditation comes from the British AMBA, follow -
ed by European (EPAS, EQUIS), and then by Ameri -
can accreditation (AACSB), which has been assessed
as the most difficult one to pursue.
For example, the Director of Additional Profes -
sional Education from the public Russian B-school
HSE, the Higher School of Economics, explained in
the following (Interview, 12 June 2011): “As a public
B-school, we know that the Government probably
has money for the purpose of international accredi -
tation, but our school is earning money itself to apply
for accreditation. In our self-assessment report, we
consider that AMBA accreditation makes sense first
for our local market, but the EPAS programme ac -
creditation is also included.” Two months later (on 30
September 2011), the interview about the plans on
international accreditation with the Dean of HSE was
officially published on the official HSE website (Inter -
view with the HSE Dean, 2011): “Accreditation is very
important as a result, and we think that the process
of gaining accreditation itself is useful, because it
includes thorough and comprehensive examination
by the leading foreign experts that are attracted by
EFMD... Availability of this EMFD accreditation is
probably is not so important for the Russian market
– our market is not so sensitive, but accreditation
may play a role for the international partnership of
our Faculty. For our foreign partners it would be a
signal of high academic quality of our programmes
and it will have a positive impact on such a seemingly
ordinary thing as student exchanges… On 13 Septem -
ber (2011), a meeting of the EPAS Committee approv -
ed the programmes of the Faculty for admission to
the accreditation process. However, it was mentioned
that our “problem zone” is the level of internation -
alisation of our Faculty and University as a whole….”
Currently there are nine local and three joint
programmes of B-schools in Russia that have been
AMBA certified, six programmes with EPAS (from the
EFMD), and one institutional EQUIS accredita tion
the Commonwealth of independent states
Dynamic Relationships Management Journal, May 2013 25
(see Table 1). In the efforts to improve quality, there
is strong support coming from the RABE, the Russian
Association of Business Education. Presently, no CIS
B-school has been accredited by AACSB. However, six
B-schools from Russia and three B-schools from
Kazakhstan are already the members of the AACSB.
Our forecast is that the main competi tors for AACSB
accreditation in the CIS are two leading B-schools -
the Graduate School of Manage ment, St. Petersburg
University from Russia (the first in CIS with EQUIS
accreditation) and BCB, KIMEP University (Kazakh -
stan) with more than one interna tional programme
accreditation. Somehow, AACSB accreditation will be
granted depending on the so-called “special status”
of these B-schools (in the case of Russia, the
indicated B-school has the required status). This
“special status” seems to be a very unique situation
for B-schools in the CIS, and the literature review
does not indicate any similar cases with AACSB on
the matter of any “special status” for B-schools.
In November 2009, Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev signed a law granting St. Petersburg State
University the special status of “a unique scientific
and education complex, the oldest institution of
higher education in Russia being of a great impor -
tance to the development of the Russian society.”
The right of giving its own diplomas with the official
symbols of the Russian Federation has also been
granted to the University (St. Petersburg State
University – School Description, 2013). The new law
on Education also specifies that Saint Petersburg
State University and Lomonosov Moscow State
University are the leading classical universities in
Russia, and the special federal law defines the
peculiarities of this legal status.
Kazakh B-schools were founded at the beginning
of 1990s with the first leading international B-school
of western type in the CIS. This is KIMEP University,
BCB which was the first to introduce foreign lecturers
and business programmes in English, and was set up
in 1992. Kazakhstan joined the Bologna Process
seven years after Russia, in March 2010, and com par -
ed to Russia, the international accreditation process
that takes place in B-schools is behind Russian B-
schools. During the interview processes it has been
revealed that all private B-schools make their
decision based on the orders coming from B-schools’
owners (the interesting detail is that the owners of
B-schools are at the same time the Rectors or
Presidents of B-schools). The decision on inter -
national accreditation of local B-schools still depends
on the policy of the Ministry of Higher Education in
Kazakhstan. The leading B-schools in Kazakhstan
prefer to start their process of external accreditation
not from the “leading international accreditation
bodies,” but from “the other” types of accreditations
coming from the European “regional” accreditation
like CEEMAN (Central and East European Manage -
ment Development Association), AFBE (Asian Forum
on Business Education), or AQA (Austrian Agency for
Quality Assurance, which is recommended by the
Ministry of Higher Education for the HEIs). Also, the
ACBSP(Accreditation Council for Business Schools
and Programs), has been mentioned in the case of
one business school from Kazakhstan. However, four
out of eight leading Kazakh B-schools demonstrated
priorities and preferences in the international accred -
itations process. Their reasons to apply for the Asian
AFBE Accreditation, for instance, refer to: (1) the
relatively short-term accreditation process as com -
pared to the AACSB or EQUIS accreditations, which
are more time-consuming and expensive; and (2)
good advice how to achieve the stage of international
accreditation based on EPAS/EQUIS standards. This
Asian regional accreditation has been designed as an
alternative approach to EQUIS, AACSB, and AMBA.
The difference in Kazakhstan B-schools com -
pared to Russian ones is in the structure of owner -
ship with the prevailing private schemes of owner -
ship. It is also different from all other HEIs in the CIS,
where there is much higher share of public (state)
HEIs and B-schools. In the case of Kazakhstan, the
number of private HEIs and B-schools is bigger than
the public schools. The other difference is that
practically all B-schools from Kazakhstan start from
the “other” type of accreditation, and then plan to
apply for the leading accreditations. From 2009-2010
we can observe a common trend towards a reduction
of HEIs through the processes of mergers and
acquisitions in the studied CIS countries. This trend
is connected with the issues of optimisation, the
emphasis on quality, and the demographic shift of
students’ population.
In Belarus, the internal changes for B-schools
due to the processes of international accreditation
refer mainly to the substantial increase in the
Dynamic Relationships Management Journal, May 2013
Yelena Istileulova, Darja Peljhan: How accreditation stimulates business school change: evidence from 
26
quality of publications of faculty members. Also,
there is a difference who makes the decision on
accreditation process in a private school (by the
owner), and in the state business school (by the
Rector and faculty members). The private business
school follows the regional accreditation (CEEMAN)
process. In the case of the public business school
from Belarus, the main advantage is to introduce a
quality improvement strategy to the school. Both
schools agree that the accreditation process is very
time-consuming and requires considerable human
resources and investments. There is the indicated
future trend towards AMBA accreditation, followed
by the European EQUIS, and then by American
accreditation (AACSB).
The internal changes for Kyrgyzstan’s B-schools
are still a long way from implementation. In the case
of the private schools, the most important change
is a review of their mission statement. Kyrgyzstan B-
schools will be working towards introducing
changes related to their internationalisation and
management. At the moment, B-schools are acquir -
ing their national accreditation. They are acquainted
with AMBA and EQUIS schemes, but most probably,
they will start the process of international accredita -
tion with the “other” type of accreditation (like the
regional external institutional body CAMAN based
in Kazakhstan, which is quite similar to CEEMAN, but
without any strong support and reputation on the
regional market). The perceived assessment of
advantages and disadvantages reflect a weaker
positioning of these B-schools, thinking that by
doing the international accreditation they will
improve “reputation of the school on the interna -
tional markets of higher education.” However, the
private business school believes that “pursuing
international accreditation is a way to introduce a
quality improving strategy, making it better.”
Our findings reveal that the most likely scenario
for the future development of CIS B-schools is that
they will become the members of the Bologna
process and follow international accreditations
coming from the European market, which consist of
the following three steps. First, “strong” B-schools
that have existed more than 20 years, in the first
stage get programme accreditation (e.g. AMBA,
EPAS accreditation) due to the highly-profitable
MBA programmes, their popularity among CIS
customers, but at the same time are in a very
competitive environment – in order to get a short-
term competitive advantage. Second, CIS business
schools move to regional accreditation coming from
East-European countries (like CEEMAN) to under -
stand the logic of accreditation and make them
familiar with international accreditation. Third, B-
schools start the process of obtaining Western
European institutional accreditation due to the
Bologna process to increase their internation -
alisation.
5. CONCLUSION
In the paper we analysed CIS business-school
internal changes due to the impact of external
international accreditation processes. Since most
studies on service quality in business education
have been conducted in Western countries and
cultures, our objective has been to focus on non-
Western countries. Our purpose was to find out
what the CIS B-schools priorities and changes in the
process of international accreditation are because
there is scarce or almost non-existent research on
changes that take place in B-schools during the
processes of international accreditation in the CIS
region.
We found out that CIS B-schools changes due
to the accreditation processes refer mainly to
introducing more strict entrance requirements. In
addition, they indicated that they have to
strengthen their financial resources to be able to
carry out planned activities and improvement
efforts to reach the accreditation standards. Other
important changes are the following: schools have
to review their mission statement, decrease their
student-to-faculty ratio, and introduce measure -
ment metrics for the learning goals of programmes
and internationalisation of faculty members. In CIS
countries, B-schools usually start from programme
accreditations (AMBA and EPAS), or rarely, from
institutional regional accreditation (CEEMAN) (B-
schools cases: IMISP, Russia and IAB, Kazakhstan).
Then schools want to apply for the European
institutional international EQUIS accreditation (as
St. Petersburg University, Graduate School of Man -
agement (Russia)). However, there are no schools
the Commonwealth of independent states
Dynamic Relationships Management Journal, May 2013 27
now in the CIS region with institutional AACSB
accreditation. This is the next target for business
schools in the CIS that are either accredited with
EQUIS (Graduate School of Management, St.
Petersburg University), or B-schools awarded with
international programme accreditations, and with
the so-called “Special status” which is required by
the AACSB in this region.
We believe that in assessing strategic options
for the future, CIS business school leaders must take
into account their institutions’ existing structure and
ability to change. Currently, some educational
leaders and faculty lack full awareness or concern
for the potential changes. Without some change,
however, especially in the critical areas of new
markets, products, and partnerships, some business
schools may face trouble in the years ahead. For
future research, we suggest comparing the charac -
teristics of accreditation processes among different
countries, especially countries from Central and
Eastern Europe, where we lack the empirical studies
about B-school accreditations. Further, it would be
valuable to compare how B-schools make decisions
about accreditations, how this opportunity is
actually brought to a particular school, and how
accreditation signals are perceived by the market.
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