Higher educational institutions as organizations are made up of complex webs of individuals and groups with diverse orientations, perceptions, values, goals and aspirations. Getting all such individuals and groups committed to a vigorous pursuit of the quality standards aspired for is a Herculean task for managers of higher educational institutions. What effective measures can leaders of such institutions put in order to ensure that quality assurance is accepted and pursued by all or most involved actors? A sustained organizational commitment of all or most actors seems to be an answer. Organizational culture has become in recent years a frequently discussed topic in both academic and economic environment. The research in this field shows that it affects management decisions and even the way in witch evolves the organization. Thus, regardless of what type of organization we refer, either a public or commercial enterprise, organizational culture is one of the main factors that can determine success or failure of that organization. A quality-oriented organizational culture is for any organization the guarantee of the survival and continued development, whether operating in a highly competitive environment or in a socially, economically or politically unfavorable environment, because the organizational culture, through its components, dictates certain rules of conduct of employees and how they perceive the reality and adapt to environmental changes. Culture is a kind of "map", which gives employees direction and knowledge about how to react and adapt in different situations. Given these considerations, the present paper addresses the concept of organizational culture, places it in the quality management field, and stresses the relationships influence between organizational culture and the success of quality management system configuration. The main objective of this paper is to highlight the importance of institutional environment as a prerequisite for quality assurance of educational services, using a case study of "Petru Maior" University of Tg. Mures.
