Aligning compliance, quality, and service excellence in vocational education: a case study of Australian Harbour International College (AHIC),

Journal title CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
Author/s Al Sadat Ibne Ahmed, Parves Sultan, Indrajit Das, Hind Hammouch, Sonal Trivedi, Otilia Manta, Maria Palazzo, Francesco Notari
Publishing Year 2026 Issue 2026/1
Language English Pages 26 P. 85-110 File size 0 KB
DOI 10.3280/cgrds1-2026oa23328
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The Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector operates at the intersection of regulatory compliance and service- quality imperatives, yet management scholarship has only partially examined how individual providers reconcile these tensions through integrated organisational frameworks. Addressing this gap, the study asks asingle guiding question through what organisational mechanisms does a regulated training provider co-produce compliance and service quality over time? This article addresses that question through a qualitative single-case study of Australian Harbour International College (AHIC), a Registered Training Organisation in Sydney that has developed a coherent Service Quality Management Framework spanning curriculum design, multi-source feedback systems, trainer development, digital infrastructure, and stakeholder engagement. Adopting a theory-elaborating case design grounded in the methodological tradition of qualitative research, the study triangulates institutional documents, audit reports, performance indicators, and stakeholder feedback. The analysis identifies five interlocking pillars through which the institution co-produces compliance and quality. Triangulated evidence shows measurable improvements in completion rates, learner and employer satisfaction, audit performance, and staff retention. The article reframes the compliance – quality dichotomy as a productive duality rather than a trade-off that is, as two organisational logics that, when structurally and culturally integrated, become mutually reinforcing rather than competing, in the manner theorised by the literature on organisational ambidexterity; refines the service-quality literature by foregrounding stakeholder feedback as a continuous-improvement governance device; and extends qualitative theorising on case-based inquiry by demonstrating how an embedded single-case design can illuminate context-sensitive organisational processes.

Keywords: Vocational Education and Training (VET); Service Quality Management; Student Experience; Australian Harbour International College (AHIC); Stakeholder Governance; Compliance; Dynamic Capabilities.

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Al Sadat Ibne Ahmed, Parves Sultan, Indrajit Das, Hind Hammouch, Sonal Trivedi, Otilia Manta, Maria Palazzo, Francesco Notari, Aligning compliance, quality, and service excellence in vocational education: a case study of Australian Harbour International College (AHIC), in "CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT STUDIES" 1/2026, pp 85-110, DOI: 10.3280/cgrds1-2026oa23328