The Effects of Quality Assurance in Universities Empirical Evidence From Three Case Studies

This article focuses on the impact of evaluation in the university, with particular attention paid to institutional and organisational levels. The impact of evaluation is divided into three areas: organ-isational learning, resources and power management. Using three European universities as case studies, the impact of evaluation is recorded empirically. The important role of quality culture and organisational structures on determining the impact of evaluation is also investigated. The analysis highlights certain fundamental factors in understanding the effects of evaluation. These include the importance of peer review, the differences between teaching and research evaluations, the significance of the time factor and the risk of degeneration of the evaluation process.