Helsinki School of Economics has passed the audit of QA system

Based on the proposal of the audit group, FINHEEC has decided that the Helsinki School of Economics fulfils the criteria set for the quality assurance system as a whole and for quality assurance in its basic missions. The audit is valid for six years.

The audit group notes that the HSE QA system covers most of the HSE's activities and that the QA procedures constitute a fairly well-functioning whole. However, there are still some differences between the units in applying these procedures. The HSE’s management and Executive Team is very motivated and committed to quality improvement and also to developing the QA system. In addition, the management’s aim is to encourage the organization to work in a dynamic quality environment and to contribute to its further enhancement. The HSE Executive Team has ownership of the QA system and provides a back-up to systematic quality work. The results of this commitment can be seen as awareness of the need to improve quality and quality assurance throughout the whole HSE organization. HSE quality assurance is largely based on external, international evaluations. These accreditations provide good information and inputs for quality assurance when combined with internal reference points.

The audit team makes the following development recommendations to the Helsinki School of Economics:

• Quality assurance is seen as a collective responsibility and thus clearly stated responsibilities are not precisely defined in an adequate way. The audit group recommends that the HSE defines its quality assurance responsibilities more clearly.
• The audit group recommends HSE to define more specific and concrete guidelines and objectives in HR strategy. In its current form the HR strategy does not give much practical assistance and support to the line managers of the different units.
• The audit group recommends the compilation of unit-specific quality handbooks, containing precise descriptions of the key processes because the identification and transfer of good practices is very difficult without process descriptions.
• The audit group recommends that the HSE develops its management processes to ensure that the information collected is used in decision making and that the necessary corrective action is taken.
• The HSE should define more precisely its external stakeholder groups and the regions that it seeks to have an impact on.
• The HSE should clarify the role of the Advisory Board in the quality assurance system and utilize its expertise more effectively. Also, the HSE should clarify the role of postgraduate students in the quality assurance system.

The aims of the audit of the Helsinki School of Economics (HSE) quality assurance (QA) system, carried out by FINHEEC, were

• to establish the qualitative objectives set by the HSE for its own activities;
• to evaluate what procedures and processes the HSE uses to maintain and develop the quality of its education and other activities;
• to evaluate whether the HSE’s quality assurance works as intended, whether the QA system produces useful and relevant information for the improvement of its operations, and whether it brings about effective, improvement measures.

FINHEEC 10:2008 (pdf) (401.5 KB)

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