Highest Quality Standards are WU’s Priority

WU holds the three most prestigious accreditations for business schools worldwide. Being accredited by AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA not only shows WU’s commitment to highest quality standards but also its goal to belong to the best business schools around the world.

WU is the only university in Austria, one of eight in the German speaking area, one of five in the CEE region and one of 145 universities of business and economics and business schools worldwide holding this triple accreditation.

Quality matters

WU has a comprehensive and well-proven quality assurance system in place, along the widely accepted European Standards and Guidelines. The Universities Act 2002 requires universities to operate their institutional quality assurance systems, but gives them significant freedom in how they approach this task. WU's quality assurance framework is based on the quality culture concept and focuses on aspects such as communication and organizational learning through various feedback loops.

Quality as a value is supported by the entire institutional community and promoted in a variety of ways. Quality management is closely interlinked with other management and development processes. The quality culture is firmly anchored in the organization’s everyday activities.

Strategic frameworks and guiding policies provide strategic direction and objectives for the quality management system, as well as orientation and legitimacy. Processes and instruments operationalize these objectives, communicate strategic parameters, and manage expectations. They are integrated into the structures of the quality management system. The structures comprise three closely interlinked elements: clearly defined roles and responsibilities (individuals, committees, and units), information systems and tools (reports, dashboards, and IT applications), and a communication architecture that serves the quality dialogue. WU invests time and effort in promoting a quality dialogue with internal and external stakeholders in order to shape change processes together. An important aspect of this system is the quality culture, which both supports the system and is influenced by it. Similar to an iceberg, this part lies beneath the visible and tangible surface. Shared beliefs, values, subjective theories, and assumptions about how the organization works and should work, as well as unreflective routines, form the intangible basis of all actions. 

The external validation of its quality (assurance) plays an important role for WU. WU is the only Austrian higher education institution holding three major international accreditations (EQUIS, AACSB, AMBA). Furthermore, WU is actively committed to the development of the field by contributing to discussions and conferences on quality assurance in higher education on the European level.

Why are its international accreditations important to WU?

Being triple-accredited is not only a quality indicator, but it also highlights our international standing and reputation in business and management education. As Austria’s leading university in business and economics, being triple-accredited confirms that WU is part of the most renowned business schools on the international level as well. But showcasing our international standing and reputation is not the only reason why accreditations are important to WU. By regularly going through the rigorous external review procedures required for renewing the accreditations, WU receives valuable feedback and recommendations by experts in the field. This feedback helps to benchmark our performance and also ensures the continuous improvement of the university. As an accredited university, WU is member of the AACSB, EQUIS and AMBA Community and their global significance and reach opens up important benefits for WU. Belonging to these communities offers valuable opportunities for networking, exchange, benchmarking with and insights into the work of like-minded universities and business schools.
This is why for over 15 years WU voluntarily invests considerable time and effort in its internal and external quality assurance processes.

What is WU recognized for?

In the last two re-accreditation procedures WU was commended on several topics. In particular, the international reviewers were impressed by

• WU’s commitment to being a responsible university by embedding responsibility in the culture, operations and all programs

• WU’s climate neutral campus and the ambition to become a climate neutral university

• WU’s comprehensive and ambitious digitalization strategy

• WU’s internationalization regarding WU’s students and WU’s faculty

• WU’s strong connections with the world of practice

• WU’s impact on business and society and

• The high level of commitment of all stakeholders, who feel genuinely proud to be part of WU.

Contact

Dr. Oliver Vettori
Dean, Accreditations & Quality Management

Accreditation Office
akkreditierungen@wu.ac.at