AACSB International was founded in 1916 and began its accreditation function with the adoption of the first standards in 1919. Additional standards for programs in accountancy were adopted in 1980. AACSB International members approved mission-linked accreditation standards and the peer review process in 1991. In 2003, members approved a revised set of standards that are relevant and applicable to all business programs globally and which support and encourage excellence in management education worldwide.

Accreditation is a process of voluntary, non-governmental review of educational institutions and programs. Institutional accreditation reviews entire colleges and universities. Specialized agencies award accreditation for professional programs and academic units in particular fields of study. As a specialized agency, AACSB International grants accreditation for undergraduate and graduate business administration and accounting programs.

AACSB International accreditation represents the highest standard of achievement for business schools worldwide. Member institutions that earn accreditation confirm their commitment to quality and continuous improvement through a rigorous and comprehensive peer review. AACSB accreditation is considered to be the hallmark of excellence in management education. Through accreditation, business schools provide stakeholders with the assurance that they:

• Guide educational delivery by a carefully constructed mission
• Select and support students to produce outstanding graduates a carefully constructed mission
• Guide educational delivery by
• Structure learning through relevant curricula faculty
• Contribute to knowledge through research and scholarship
  

(European Foundation for Management Development)

EQUIS has established its prestige and recognition worldwide. 115 institutions have been awarded EQUIS, with 33 countries represented among the accredited schoolsThe fundamental objective of EQUIS, linked to the mission of EFMD, is to raise the standard of management education worldwide. EQUIS is not primarily focused on the MBA or any other specific programme. Its scope covers all programmes offered by an institution from the first degree up to the Ph.D.

Institutions that are accredited by EQUIS must demonstrate not only high general quality in all dimensions of their activities, but also a high degree of internationalisation. With companies recruiting worldwide, with students choosing to get their education outside their home countries, and with schools building alliances across borders and continents, there is a rapidly growing need for them to be able to identify those institutions in other countries that deliver high quality education in international management.

EQUIS assesses institutions as a whole. It assesses not just degree programmes but all the activities and sub-units of the institution, including research, e-learning units, executive education provision and community outreach. Institutions must be primarily devoted to management education.

EQUIS looks for a balance between high academic quality and the professional relevance provided by close interaction with the corporate world. A strong interface with the world of business is, therefore, as much a requirement as a strong research potential. EQUIS attaches particular importance to the creation of an effective learning environment that favours the development of students’ managerial and entrepreneurial skills, and fosters their sense of global responsibility. It also looks for innovation in all respects, including programme design and pedagogy.

EQUIS is supported by a broad international body of academics and professionals.
For more information visit www.efmd.org/equis and also EPAS - www.efmd.org/epas

please contact the EQUIS office or e-mail SEAA.

Association of MBAs UK

With so many MBA degrees on offer, quality has become key. Since its beginnings in 1967, the Association's objectives have been:

To promote the MBA to institutions, prospective students and employers and to increase the supply of and demand for MBA programmes

To ensure the quality of programmes produces professional managers, the accreditation process was established. The accreditation is market-driven and international in focus. The association assesses the characteristics of a business school and its MBA programme against a set of criteria established by the International Accreditation Advisory Board(IAAB). The senior academics and corporate representatives who sit on the board constantly monitor the accreditation criteria. The IAAB also now includes a senior Indian academic Dr Pritam Singh, Emeritus professor of Management of MDI Gurgaon, the first Indian institution which the Association of MBAs had accredited in 2005.

The Association of MBAs has two main roles :

Assessment of the quality of MBA programmes and not institutions as with the most other leading accreditation agencies including the AACSB International and EQUIS.

As a membership driven organisation for students and graduates of accredited MBA programmes from around the world.

The Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) is the leading specialized accreditation association for business education supporting, celebrating, and rewarding teaching excellence. The association embraces the virtues of teaching excellence and emphasizes to students that it is essential to learn how to learn. ACBSP acknowledges the importance of scholarly research and inquiry and believes that such activities facilitate improved teaching. Institutions are strongly encouraged to pursue a reasonable mutually beneficial balance between teaching and research. And further, ACBSP encourages faculty involvement within the contemporary business world to enhance the quality of classroom instruction and to contribute to student learning.

MISSION
ACBSP develops, promotes, and recognizes best practices that contribute to continuous improvement of business education and accredits qualified business programs.

VISION
ACBSP will be the global leader enhancing the quality of business schools and programs focused on teaching excellence.

HISTORY
ACBSP, founded in 1988 and located in Overland Park, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City, was created by its members to fulfill a need for specialized accreditation by institutions of higher education with business schools and programs. Specifically, that need was for business education accreditation based on the mission of the institution and of the respective unit, an accreditation that acknowledged and emphasized quality in teaching and learning outcomes.

As of August 2008, ACBSP membership included 585 educational institutions as members, 413 of which have successfully achieved accreditation. In addition membership includes fifteen corporations and twenty emeritus members. Over 6,400 persons at these entities are individual members and receive benefits of membership.

Since that time, the IACBE has grown into the premier professional accreditation body for student-centered colleges and universities, with well over 200 members in the United States and throughout the world.The IACBE’s accreditation principles are designed to promote and stimulate excellence in business education, and each accreditation principle is linked to one or more characteristics of excellence in business education.The IACBE accredits business programs in colleges and universities throughout the world. Institutions outside the United States with quality business programs are encouraged to obtain specialized accreditation, which allows them the opportunity to partner and have student/faculty exchanges with IACBE member institutions. The IACBE’s mission-driven, outcomes-oriented approach to accreditation allows it to accommodate the distinctive characteristics of international educational institutions.

South Asian Quality Assurance System

Association of Management Development Institutions in South Asia (AMDISA), a not for profit association, based at Hyderabad launched the accreditation system for Business Schools called “South Asian Quality Assurance System” with acronym as SAQS. SAQS is the South Asian system of quality assessment, improvement, and accreditation of higher education institutions in management and business administration. AMDISA received financial support from EFMD during 2004-2006 for developing SAQS.

The SAQS accreditation system follows the major international accreditation systems like that of EQUIS and AACBSB with the major emphasis on getting the self-assessment document right for the schools being accredited as the first step . This is followed by the visit of the international SAQS Peer Review Team/Committee to the school. Based on the Peer Review Report and Recommendations, the final school-wise decisions are made by the SAQS Accreditation Awarding Committee.

The following Schools, four from India and one from Pakistan have been awarded accreditation:

1. Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India
2. Suleman Dawood School of Business, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
3. ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad, India
4. Prin L. N Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Mumbai, India
5. Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, India

SAQS status report