How does a business school move from being national to global? How can a school form partnerships and alliances across the globe to share experiences, faculty, students and knowledge? Becoming recognised in a world where there are at least 11,500 university business schools is difficult, but one thing is certain – accreditation by a major accrediting body indicates that the school is a member of a set of special management education institutions. There are three major accrediting bodies that are known around the world: EFMD (with EQUIS and EPAS), AACSB and AMBA. Accreditation brings with it many benefits, including a demonstrable signal that the school is committed to continuous quality improvement. This presentation, bringing together representatives of all three of the major accrediting bodies, discusses the benefits and value of international accreditation from the perspective of each body.

1. 6th QS-APPLE Annual Conference
Singapore, November 19, 2010
Session 2.7
Using international accreditation to improve global positioning:
Perspectives from the business school world
- Association of MBAs
Professor Nigel Healey
Pro-Vice-Chancellor, University of Canterbury
International Accreditation Advisory Board, AMBA

2. Overview
 Development of AMBA accreditation service
 Assessment criteria
 Some trends and data on accreditation
 The benefits of accreditation

3. Development of accreditation
• Founded in 1967 “to advance business education at postgraduate
level”
• Accreditation service established in the late 1980s
• Criteria and process formalised in 1992
• International demand – formation of the IAAB in 1997
• Faculty of Assessors
• MBM and DBA assessment introduced 2004-05
• Criteria and process review 2005 – next review in process

4. AMBA’s objectives
 Accreditation: Providing world class accreditation for
postgraduate management programmes
 Business Schools: Delivering information and networking to
accredited business schools
 Individuals: Creating an exclusive network for MBA students and
graduates from accredited programmes and supporting their
professional development.
 Employers: Raising awareness of the MBA

5. Specific accreditation objectives
 With so many graduate business programmes on offer
worldwide, quality has become a key issue
 The Association’s accreditation objectives are:
 To promote graduate-level business education to institutions,
prospective students, and employers, and to increase the supply
of, and demand for, such programmes
 To ensure that the quality of graduate-level business education
produces professional business leaders

6. Characteristics of MBA accreditation
 Independent process
 Faculty of Assessors (3 + 1 AMBA)
 International Accreditation Advisory Board
 International
 Market-driven
 MBA-specific
 Developmental/judgemental

7. International Accreditation Advisory Board
Mr David Professor Nick Mr Christopher Professor Robert Professor Valerie
Gravells Binedell Bones Dixon Gautier
Chair, IAAB Dean Dean Dean Associate Dean
Association of Gordon Institute of Henley Business Durham Business HEC Paris
MBAs Business School School France
UK South Africa UK UK
Professor Professor Martyn Professor Nigel Professor Ms Lyn Hoffman
Santiago Iniguez Jones Healey Andrew Lock Associate Dean
de Onzono Pro-Vice Dean Dean Emeritus London Business
Dean Chancellor University of Leeds University School
Instituto de Kingston Business Canterbury Business School UK
Empresa School New Zealand UK
Spain UK

8. International Accreditation Advisory Board
Mr Kai Peters Professor Dr Mark Oakley Professor James Professor
CEO Howard Thomas Academic Director Wright Larissa
Ashridge Dean Arthur Lok Jack Director Kartashova
UK SMU Business Graduate School FIA Univeristy of Deputy Rector
School of Business Sao Paulo Sinerghia Institute
Singapore Trinidad Brazil Moscow
Russia
Professor Philip Professor Professor Pritam Professor Zhong Carlos Ramos
McLaughlin Michael Patry Singh Ming Wang International
Dean Director Dean Director, Advisor
Bordeaux BS HEC Montreal MDI ZJU CAPS AMBA
France Canada India Zhejiang Argentina
University
PR China

9. Accreditation Criteria
• Definition of an MBA
 The MBA is a career development generalist degree for
those with significant relevant work experience, on which
the learning process should build
 The emphasis is on leadership through strategic
management, with a significant practical and professional
orientation to the programme of study

10. The criteria – an overview
 Used as a base for accreditation recommendations
 Developmental / judgemental
 At least one programme will have graduated students for a
minimum of 3 years
 Conformation to the overall criteria for 3 years prior to
candidacy

11. Scope
 The Institution
 Faculty
 Students
 Purpose and Outcomes
 Curriculum
 Assessment
 Mode and Duration

12. New Member (ie, Accredited) Schools
1st July 2009 - 30th September 2010
Universidad ICESI Salford Business School
Colombia UK
Sun Yat-sen University BS Hult University London Campus
P R China UK
INALDE Massey University
Colombia New Zealand
WU Executive Academy Mediterranean School of Business
Austria Tunisia
Lingnan (University) College Lorange Institute of Business
P R China Switzerland

13. Association of MBAs, AACSB & EQUIS
Member Schools as of November 2009
600
500
400 Australia & New Zealand
Latin America
North America
Asia
300
Middle East and Africa
Eastern Europe
Western Europe
200 United Kingdom
100
0
AMBA AACSB EQUIS
AACSB is the oldest and largest...

14. Growth of the International Accreditation
From 2002 to 2009
140%
120%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
AMBA AACSB EQUIS
09-2002 09-2002 09-2002
11-2009 11-2009 11-2009
...but AMBA and EQUIS are grower fastest...

15. Comparison
Member Schools in 2002 and 2009
600
500
400
Australia & New Zealand
Latin America
300 North America
Asia
Middle East and Africa
Eastern Europe
200 Western Europe
United Kingdom
100
0
AMBA AMBA AACSB AACSB EQUIS EQUIS
09-2002 11-2009 09-2002 11-2009 09-2002 11-2009
...but AACSB is still accrediting more new schools...

16. Association of MBAs, AACSB & EQUIS
Number of Countries with Accredited Schools
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
AMBA AMBA AACSB AACSB EQUIS EQUIS
2002 2009 2002 2009 2002 2009
...all three have become more international...

17. Association of MBAs
School Members in 2002 and 2009
180
160 8
2 6
140
3
8
120 4
Australia & New Zealand
16 Latin America
100 North America
Asia
80 Middle East and Africa
1 52
5 Eastern Europe
2
2
1
2
60 Western Europe
21 United Kingdom
40
45
20 37
0
AMBA AMBA
09-2002 11-2009
....AMBA is no longer just UK/EU...

18. 170 member schools @ September 2010

19. The Benefits of Accreditation
 For students, accreditation provides a list of institutions/MBA provision
of guaranteed quality
 For graduates, accreditation gives reassurance that their MBA will
retain its value over time
 For employers, accreditation gives a recognised pool of talented
graduates from which to recruit
 For institutions, accreditation gives international credibility (and
visibility) to their MBA provision and benchmarks them against
international standards
 For deans, accreditation gives them an extra lever to make changes
which the administration and/or faculty might otherwise oppose

20. Conclusions
 Accreditation gives a quality mark
 Rigorous review of all aspects of an MBA portfolio
 Learning experience for the institution
 Increased credibility with all stakeholders
 Provides potential students with reassurance
 Leads to membership of a global network of quality institutions
 For further information: www.mbaworld.com/accreditation