Assurance versus enhancement: less is more?

It is commonly assumed that there is a zero sum contest between assurance and enhancement: the drive to secure the accountability of institutions to their external stakeholders, and of teachers to their managers, is thought to undermine the creativity and commitment of 'front line' academic staff. In exploring the roots of the problem, this article suggests that the difficulty arises with those forms of enhancement that incur a high level of risk for individual members of staff and their institutions. It is argued that the dilemma could be overcome through a 'modernisation' of quality management systems - a project that is variously facilitated and frustrated by the terms of engagement between institutions and external agencies.