Innovative Accreditation Standards: The Italian Experience in VET

The purpose of the research developed in this chapter is to present the application of an innovative accreditation standard in the Italian VET sector; the introduction of an organisational model pursuant to Decree 231 as a compulsory requisite to gaining accreditation and being able to access public funds. The data reported in this chapter are the results of research based on an empirical analysis of more than 500 VET providers in the Lombardy Region. Lombardy was chosen because it is compulsory for VET providers in this region to adopt Decree 231. Our principle focus was the supervisory unit, since this is the body appointed to oversee the adoption of the organisational model anticipated by Decree 231. We examined both the choices that were made with regard to the composition of the supervisory unit and the requisites that members of the said unit should possess, as well as looking at how it functions. Our results show that VET providers don’t plan the operation of their supervisory body by responding to the necessity for control, strategy and organisation, but they “simply” incorporate norms from their institutional environments and thus gain legitimacy, resources and stability. In this way, they “institutionalise” compliance with Decree 231. And this, in turn, shows that this illusion of compliance does not coincide with ethics. It is clear that there is a great risk of creating a merely formal paper-based compliance system, which has no real impact on organisational behaviour, despite the fact that compliance is compulsory and anticipated by a law.