In my recent post about
Indian business schools: Best practices, I had written about top business schools identifying best practices to help benchmark with foreign schools and attract the best students and faculty.
International accreditation helps business schools get a global stamp of recognition for their MBA programmes. Students get their degrees recognised globally, while the business school is successful in securing more foreign partnerships and linkages.
Four business schools in India have received the
Association of MBAs (AMBA) accreditation. The UK-based AMBA is an international impartial authority on postgraduate business education. The AMBA accredits MBA provision at 187 schools in over 70 countries.
IIM Lucknow’s MBA programme is the most recent to receive the Association of MBAs accreditation in November 2011.
The first to receive global accreditation from the Association was
MDI Gurgaon in 2005 followed by
SP Jain and
IIM Kozhikode. More business school accreditations are also in the pipeline.
“Granting Association of MBAs accreditation is a mark of the quality of a business school’s programmes and ultimately is a great profile-raising tool for schools, as our programmes are recognised internationally, thereby giving the business school a global status and network,” said Sharon Bamford, Chief Executive of the Association of MBAs.
“The Association of MBAs accreditation is unique as it focuses on individual programmes, rather than the whole institution. This in-depth and detailed approach means that the highest standards of teaching, faculty and student interaction are guaranteed by our accreditation. We also believe that programmes should be of the highest standard and reflect changing trends and innovation in postgraduate management education,” she added.
As well as accreditation of top business schools, the Association of MBAs is committed to the growth and high standards of post-graduate management education by creating enhanced membership opportunities for Indian MBA students and alumni. The first of the Association’s membership initiatives launched in November 2011 with a networking and learning event called Global Connections.
“India is the cornerstone of the Association of MBAs innovation strategy. Our focus is to work with Indian business schools to build and improve on their management education giving them international recognition, and to support MBA students and alumni with membership opportunities that assist in their professional development,” said Sharon Bamford.
Future initiatives include empowering local MBA students and graduates to build a global network representing accredited MBA programmes. This will provide professional development through learning and networking events and through the opportunity to build an international profile for those who have studied at an accredited programme. This global network would unite MBA students, business schools and employers of MBAs under the prestigious umbrella of the Association of MBAs.