Organizational Effectiveness and University Rankings

Abstract

We pay attention to ranking and quality management systems because these ­mechanisms contribute to institutional quality and organizational effectiveness. Academics have believed that measuring organizational effectiveness in the public sector is much more difficult than in private corporations. The education field, especially higher education, has long been considered as an area where quality measures cannot be applied because professors designed their courses by themselves and they are recognized as having the highest specialty in the discipline areas. However, the perception has been changing with developments in academic theory and practice. For example, institutional leaders and theories have been develo­ping measures of teaching quality by course evaluation and/or by student learning outcomes. Even van Vught (1995) argued that quality was an issue since university was established in the medieval ages. The French model was initiated to assure quality by external control (Catholic Church), while the English model was a self-governing model and the Italy model was by students who had the power of faculty hiring.