The reputations of most MBA programmes are dependent on the reputations of the educational institutions, which offer them. Ideally their reputation is linked to the performance of the MBA graduates who represent the educational process provided by the programme. However, such links may not be the basis for a programme’s reputation. So, a word of caution is offered when you try to determine the reputation of a particular MBA programme.
f) Programme quality
What is the quality of the programme? How do you determine the quality of an MBA programme?
Historical
In North America, measuring quality in management education required the calculation of specific numbers. These numbers included, but were not limited to:
- average GMAT® score of entering students,
- students’ average number of years of work and management experience,
- number of students in the class,
- number of faculty teaching on the programme,
- teaching staff/student ratio,
- number of full-time vs. part-time faculty,
- number of professors vs. associate professors,
- number of teaching staff holding doctorate degrees,
- faculty’s average number of years of MBA teaching experience,
- faculty’s average number of years of consulting experience,
- number of graduates in managerial roles,
- number of graduates in consulting roles,
- graduates’ average salary.
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These numbers attempted to reflect information on the quality of the students admitted to the programme, the amount of time faculty spent with students, the quality of the faculty who taught on the programme and then, the quality of the outcome of the educational experience.
Accreditation
Today, measuring the quality of management education is ‘big business’. Professional accreditation organisations have developed, internationally. In North America, the primary organisation is AACSB International (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) http://www.aacsb.edu/.
In the UK, the Association of MBAs http://www.mbaworld.com/ has a list of ‘approved’ MBA programmes. In Europe, EQUIS (the European Quality Improvement System) http://www.efmd.org/ provides a list of business schools that have successfully participated in their evaluation process. These organisations hire academics on a project basis from around the world to assist in doing ‘peer reviews’ of business schools or programmes.
In New Zealand, universities must have their degree qualifications approved ultimately by the Vice Chancellors’ Committee. As a private educational institution, AIS St Helens was required to go through the NZQA process of approval for their MBA degree. Henley and Southern Cross went through approval processes in the UK and Australia, respectively. Check out the chart that follows, which reflects the years in which professional accreditation was achieved by the ten business schools or MBA programs and with whom.
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