Innovative Accreditation Standards in Education and Training: The Italian Experience in Ethical Standards and the Impact on Business Organisation

134 Pages·2015·3.091 MB·English

by  Pietro Previtali (auth.)

Pietro Previtali
Innovative
Accreditation
Standards in
Education and
Training
The Italian Experience in Ethical
Standards and the Impact
on Business Organisation
Innovative Accreditation Standards in Education
and Training
ThiSisaFMBlankPage
Pietro Previtali
Innovative Accreditation
Standards in Education and
Training
The Italian Experience in Ethical Standards
and the Impact on Business Organisation
PietroPrevitali
EconomicsandManagementScience
UniversityofPavia
Pavia
Italy
ISBN978-3-319-16915-6 ISBN978-3-319-16916-3 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-16916-3
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2015937884
SpringerChamHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
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Contents
1 OrganisationalTheoriesandModels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 AComparisonofOrganisationalTheories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 TheClassicalOrganisationalTheories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 TheStructuralContingencyTheory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4 OrganisationalEcology,ResourceDependenceandTransaction
CostTheory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.5 TheNew:InstitutionalismandCompliance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2 TheEthicalChallenge:AnItalianWayThroughOrganisational
ModelsandTheories. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 17
2.1 EthicsandtheResponsibilityofLegalPersonsinItaly:The
LegislativeDecreen.231/2001. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2 TheCompany’sResponsibilityandOrganisationalModels. . . . . . . 21
2.3 ComplianceandOrganisationalModels:RhetoricalorTechnical
Requirement?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.4 FromCompliancetoBusinessEthics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3 TheOrganisationalModelandanInnovativeAccreditation
StandardintheEducationSector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.1 TheRoleofEducationandTrainingintheImplementation
oftheEurope2020Strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.2 AccreditationProceduresandStandardsintheVETSystem. . . . . . 38
3.3 OrganisationalModelandInnovativeAccreditationStandards
intheItalianVETSector. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
3.4 OrganisationalTheoryinAction:FromNewInstitutionalism
toAccreditationSystems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
v
vi Contents
4 InnovativeAccreditationStandards:TheItalianExperience
inVET. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.1 ResearchBackground. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.2 TheLombardyRegion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
4.3 TheResearchResults. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
4.4 Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5 AMoreGeneralConsiderationAboutAccreditationStandards:
FromVETtoHealthSystems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5.1 ResearchBackground. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
5.2 TheResearchResults. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
5.3 FinalConsiderations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
6 FurtherApplicationsofCompliancewithDecree231and
Anti-Corruption. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
6.1 TheEvolutionofCompliancewithDecree231asaCondition
ofAccreditation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
6.2 FromCompliancewithDecree231toAnti-Corruption. . . . . . . . . . 77
6.3 TheStateofPlay:FromVETtotheEducationSector. . . . . . . . . . 78
6.3.1 SpecificControl. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
6.3.2 OtherControls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
6.3.3 Transparency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
6.3.4 Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
6.3.5 RotationofExecutives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
6.3.6 Whistleblowing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
6.3.7 CodeofEthics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
6.4 Conclusion. . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 83
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Conclusion....... ........... ........... ........... ......... 85
Appendix. .... .... .... .... ... .... .... .... ... .... .... .... ... 89
List of Figures
Fig.1.1 Interactingstructuraldimensionsofdesignandcontingency
factors................................................................... 7
Fig.1.2 Mechanisticvs.organicorganisation................................. 8
Fig.1.3 Populationecologymodel............................................. 9
Fig.2.1 Crimescontemplatedunderthedecree............................... 20
Fig.2.2 Administrativeliabilityandlegalentities............................ 22
Fig.2.3 Complianceversusethics.............................................. 31
Fig.4.1 Compositionofthesamplebyrevenue.............................. 54
Fig.4.2 Compositionofthesamplebypublicfunding...................... 54
Fig.4.3 Compositionofsupervisoryunitbynumberofmembers.......... 58
Fig.4.4 Compositionofsupervisoryunitbynumberofmembersinsmall
enterpriseswith(a)revenuesbelow500,000euros.(b)revenues
rangingfrom500,000euroto2millioneuros....................... 59
Fig.4.5 Compositionofsupervisoryunitbyprovenanceofmembers..... 59
Fig.4.6 Numberofmeetingminutesofthesupervisoryunitayear........ 60
Fig.4.7 Numberofmeetingminutesofthesupervisoryunitincompanies
withrevenuesbelow2millioneurosayear(a)revenuesbelow
500,000euros.(b)revenuesrangingfrom500,000eurosto
2millioneuros......................................................... 60
Fig.4.8 Distributionofthesampleaccordingtoprofitability............... 61
Fig.4.9 (a)Comparisonofprivateandpubliccompanyorganisations
accordingtothenumberofmeetingminutesayearbysupervisory
unitin2011.(b)Comparisonofprivateandpubliccompany
organisationsaccordingtothenumberofmeetingminutesayear
bysupervisoryunitin2012.(c)Comparisonofprivateandpublic
companyorganisationsaccordingtothenumberofmeeting
minutesayearbysupervisoryunitin2013.......................... 62
Fig.4.10 FinesimposedontheVETproviders................................ 63
Fig.4.11 Impactsonprocedures................................................. 63
Fig.4.12 Impactsonprocedures................................................. 64
vii
viii ListofFigures
Fig.4.13 Relationshipbetweencomplianceandethics........................ 66
Fig.5.1 Compositionofthesamplebyrevenue.............................. 68
Fig.5.2 Compositionofthesamplebypublicfunding...................... 68
Fig.5.3 Compositionofsupervisoryunitbynumberofmembers.......... 69
Fig.5.4 Compositionofsupervisoryunitbyprovenanceofmembers..... 69
Fig.5.5 Numberofmeetingminutesofthesupervisoryunitayear........ 70
Fig.5.6 Organisationalimpactofcompliance................................ 70
Fig.5.7 ValueofthecompliancewithDecree231........................... 70
Fig.5.8 Probabilityofadoptionoftheorganisationalmodelwithoutthe
obligationbylaw....................................................... 71
Fig.5.9 Yearofimplementationoftheorganisationalmodelcompliant
withDecree231........................................................ 71
Fig.6.1 Anti-corruptionstrategiesinItalianuniversities.................... 80
List of Tables
Table1.1 Organisationaltheories................................................ 2
Table1.2 Threemechanismsforinstitutionaladaptation..................... 13
Table2.1 Conceptoftheorganisationalmodel................................ 26
Table4.1 Keycharacteristicsoftheregion..................................... 56
Table4.2 Activeenterprisesregisteredinthebusinessregister.............. 57
Table4.3 Employmentstatusofthepopulation................................ 58
Table6.1 ComparativeevaluationofcompliancewithDecree231.......... 76
ix