How International Accreditation help?
While India's National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is a good step, importance of international accreditation cannot be discounted. There are many such recognized systems in place to choose from. Of several of these, AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS are most sought after international systems as they offer some special advantage to Business Schools. These accreditation systems evaluate B-Schools on their adoption of global standards of teaching, faculty capacity, students and overall services, among other things and further help them position uniquely in the crowded MBA market.
There are several advantages of accreditation. It creates a gateway for students as their MBA degree gain recognition worldwide by industries and institutions, Attending an accredited institution influences the competitiveness of MBA graduates in the job market as the best employers to prefer students from only those that carry such a tag. Students from accredited institutions can avail several avenues at the global level, ie. attend conferences, participate in exchange programs, become eligible for fellowships and higher education, etc. International collaborations by Business Schools and research grants obtained are also linked to accreditation.
A snapshot of the accreditation agencies and their reach is given in Table below. Among the three, AACSB is the most popular as its scope of coverage is comprehensive ie management to accounting programs and grants university-wide accreditation. This system is adopted by Business Schools of high repute viz. Harvard Business School.
AMBA go for a more focused approach as it accredits the B-school's programs such as MBA and MBM etc. EQUIS accredits the B-School but not the university.
AACSB accreditation expects every schools have enough qualified faculty group, develop a forward looking curiculum with adequate focus on soft skills and business leadership, enhance students' experience, have adequate support staff to deliver to program success, and produce research that advances business.
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AACSB |
AMBA |
EQUIS |
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History: Association to
Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is US and Singapore-based
international organization whose main focus is on developing best practices
and benchmark Business School teaching. It is the most sought after
agency for accreditation of graduate and undergraduate business programs
offered by business schools, since 1919. Today AACSB accreditation spread of business
schools across >51 countries. It also include accrediting accounting
programs since 1980. Benefit: An AACSB accreditation is received with a positive evaluation of a "school's mission, operations, faculty qualifications
and contributions, programs, and other critical areas." The accreditation is accorded and renewed after re-evaluation every five years. Current Stats: By 2018, over 800 Business Schools have been accreditated, 75% of which are based out of the United States. Share of other countries with high numbers of AACSB-accredited business schools include Britain, France, and Canada. Currently, there are 9 Indian B-Schools accredited by AACSB that include ISB Hyderabad, IIM Calcutta and Udaipur, and XLRI Jamshedpur. |
History: Association of MBAs (AMBA) is London based international organization whose accreditation of MBA programs is spread around 70 countries. It is active since the early 1980s. Apart from MBAs, it also accredits Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) and Master of Business and Management (MBM) programs. It judges the quality of a business school's strategy, mission, faculty, students, curriculum, and assessment. By AMBA standards, for example, students admitted onto an AMBA-accredited program must have at least three years of work experience. Three-quarters of a business school's faculty must have a Masters or Doctoral degree in a relevant discipline. Current Stats: AMBA is popular in Europe and UK (50% of all AMBA-accredited MBAs). Latin
America and Asia contained 33 percent of AMBA-accredited schools, with only
two percent located in North America. Currently, there are 10 Indian
B-Schools accredited by AMBA that include IIM Calcutta, Lucknow, Indore and Kozhikode, XLRI Jamshedpur, and MDI
Gurgaon. |
History: This is known as European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) and run by Brussels-based EFMD
Management Development Network, which offers a number of accreditations, apart from EQUIS, which only focuses on evaluating a Business School's
governance, strategy, programs, students, faculty, research and development,
executive education, contribution to the community, resources and administration,
internationalization, and corporate connections. EQUIS's scope ranks in the middle, as it accredits
the business school but not the university and not specific portfolios of
programs. Current Stats: Most of the EQUIS-accredited business schools (176 by 2018) are located in Europe. UK has 26, France-20, and China-22. Currently, there are 4 Indian B-Schools accredited by EQUIS that include IIM Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Calcutta, and ISB. Only three US business schools had earned an EQUIS accreditation. |
- Accreditation necessitates strict adherence to quality standards of curriculum and padagofy in business programs.
- So this ensures overall improvement in student quality and richness in faculty and programs offered
- Accreditation opens up worldwide acceptance by top employers and other universities.
- Accreditation opens up higher access to recruiters, globally.
- Statistics show their graduates receiving higher, more competitive salaries.
- Accreditation attracts international students thereby increasing international diversity and a vibrant culture of learning and bonding.
- Attracting good students ensures an aspring graduates make a distinct mark in the real world, thereby adding to reputation of the school
- Accreditation also repose confidence of donors and enhanced opportunity for more sponsorship, donations & endowments
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Why
Accreditation? |
Why
AACSB? |
Benefits? |
Actions
required? |
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§ It
assures adherence to high-quality standards of management discipline based on
the latest research and professional practice. § Exchange
programs become easy with partnering B Schools at International level § International
students evaluate their target program based accreditation of the B School § It
is often a pre-condition for global funding of large projects by
international agencies § An
accredited institution is seen as more competitive in the global job market |
§ AACSB is choice of majority of Business Schools across globe. Hence having AACSB will be advantageous as it covers wide range of undergraduate and graduate
business administration and accounting degree programs. § AACSB
International accreditation has gained high reputation over a period of time as it applies stringent scruitiny to shortlist a school for accreditation. Only 25 percent of U.S. business
schools achieve AACSB International accreditation—the hallmark of excellence
in management education. § Some
of the top Business Schools like Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and Columbia are
only AACSB accredited. |
§ International
Accreditation by any agency would help a B-School achieve stipulated goals § B-School going for it has to follow global standards of academics § Attracting
international students will be easy § It
will be easy to undertake exchange programs with partnering B- Schools across the globe § It
will facilitate faculty exchange § Lead
to higher impact due to increased faculty size (min should be 40). Nurture specialised competency § Student-Teacher ratio to the recommended level (10:1) |
§ Aggressive
faculty recruitment to reach a size of 40 § Each
‘Area of specialization’ has to identify own growth agenda § A dedicated committee to look after accreditation process § Consult other B Schools where experience exists § Have
a dedicated office & staff for the same § Target to achieve AACSB accreditation within the
next 5 years time |
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