| dc.description.abstract | Higher education is a critical economic sector that has eventually been followed by all
other major economic sectors such as financial services, healthcare, telecommunication,
aviation, transportation etc. Today, higher educational institutions all over the world
operate in a fast-dynamic environment with high competition for reputation, talent ac quisition, and student attraction. Following the basis of the high competition is leading
to a significant focus on quality. It is not easy to define the quality in terms of higher
education owing to the complex relationships of higher education to students and the
different roles of a student in the higher education process. Addressing the issue, ISO
has recently published a new quality framework for higher educational institutions; ISO
21001:2018 Educational Organisations Management System and most of the institutions
adopted ISO 9001 standard series until the publication of the new ISO standard for higher
education. This study employs an evidence-based approach and critically evaluates the
existing literature on ISO Quality Management Systems (QMS) implementation in higher
education institutions in different countries to elaborate on the necessity of adopting it in
the Sri Lankan context. Further, it attempts to summarize the key benefits, challenges, and
critical success factors of ISO implementation in Sri Lanka. According to the findings,
the key benefits of ISO adoption to higher education institutions are cost reduction,
consistent customer satisfaction, risk management, international recognition, adopting
rapid changes, attracting grants/ funds, and strengthening international linkages and
relationships. In addition, the challenges and critical success factors are also elaborated
for easy implication. | en_US |
