Even before the Bologna Declaration announced by the European Ministers of Education in 1999 and the resulting introduction of today's quality assurance systems, it became necessary to develop a suitable form of quality testing due to the confusing range of MBA programmes that had developed in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Hence, the leading organisations of Swiss, Austrian and German industry established the Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA) in autumn 1994 as an international foundation. Right from Day One, the intention was to develop a strict Assessment Guide for quality assurance in the field of management training. 

FIBAA Foundation Board is the leading board of the Foundation. It defines and represents the common interests of the founders and decides on the economic and strategic baselines of FIBAA's work. FIBAA Foundation Board assures that FIBAA's mission is well-established in society and its institutions and promotes FIBAA's overall values of transparency, quality and internationality in the field of higher education. 

(To enlarge, please click on the organisation chart or download here.)

President

• Prof. Dr. oec. HSG Rudolf Minsch, Chief Economist / Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Zurich

Vice President

• Dr. Oliver Heikaus, Head of Continuing Education, Deutsche Industrie- und Handelskammer (DIHK) (German Chamber of Commerce and Industry)

• Mag.a Melina Schneider, Head of Department for Education Policy, Austrian Federal Economic Chamber

Members

• Dr. Barbara Dorn, Head of Department Education | Vocational Training, BDA | DIE ARBEITGEBER, Berlin  

• Prof. André Haelg, formerly Zurich University of Applied Sciences

• Kurt Koleznik, Secretary General, Austrian Conference of Universities of Applied Sciences, Vienna

• Prof. Dr. Gerhard Riemer, Former Head of Education, Innovation and Research of the Federation of Austrian Industry (Industriellenvereinigung) and Member of the European Economic and Social Committee, Vienna

• Dr. Hans Höller, Siemens AG 

• Prof. Dr. Andreas Knorr, Deutsche Universität für Verwaltungswissenschaften Speyer

• Prof. Dr. Irina Kohler, Hochschule Fulda

• Nadja Kolibacz, Studentin an der TU Berlin

Higher education institutions or education providers can submit appeals to FIBAA against decisions of the FIBAA Accreditation and Certification Committee (F-ACC) or file complaints against procedures (procedural complaint).

In order to initiate an complaints procedure, a written appeal against the decision of the F-ACC or a complaint about the procedure (procedural appeal) must be lodged with the FIBAA office within one month of written notification of the decision by the F-ACC. Upon filing the appeal until the final decision on the appeal, all deadlines that may have been set by FIBAA up to that point are suspended.

In the next step, the appeal or procedural complaint is forwarded to the FIBAA Accreditation and Certification Committee (F-ACC) for a new decision.

If the FIBAA Accreditation and Certification Committee (F-ACC) does not reach a decision, the appeal or complaint procedure is submitted to the FIBAA Appeals and Complaints Committee for review and comment.

The FIBAA Appeal and Complaints Committee clarifies the facts and, on this basis, gives the FIBAA Accreditation and Certification Committee (F-ACC) a reasoned recommendation for a final decision in the pending procedure.

After referral to the FIBAA Complaints Committee, the FIBAA Accreditation and Certification Committee (F-ACC) makes a new and final decision.

In the event of a negative decision by the FIBAA Accreditation and Certification Committee (F-ACC), the costs of the appeal procedure are to be paid by the client. These consist of travel expenses and labour costs.

The rules of procedure of the FIBAA Appeals and Complaints Committee can be found here.