Transparency and comparability of higher education institutions especially in terms of their academic programmes and research activities are important issues for today's working environment. This paper is an overview of a recently completed PhD thesis which outlines examples of selected Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries (Austria, Germany, Finland, the UK, the USA and Canada) with their different approaches to implementing a quality assurance system. These case studies are compared through peer-reviewed country reports and interviews with national and international experts. Based on this comparative study, useful recommendations are provided to create a functioning quality assurance system within an international higher education area. (Contains 1 figure and 4 tables.)