OPINION
Reaping the opportunities in a HYBRID WORLD
CEO’S COLUMN
Andrew Main Wilson looks at the positive achievements and ongoing challenges laid down by a second year of disruption caused by Covid-19
O ver the past few weeks, I’ve heard a few commentators was the worst of times.’ Not to get drawn into hyperbole, I can understand where the sentiment comes from. As we close off another year of disruption, we might reflect that 2021 has brought both good news and bad news for our community of business educators. AMBA & BGA achieved the strongest compare 2021, to the first line of Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities : ‘It was the best of times, it financial results in its 54-year history, yet the world had to endure yet another year of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our accreditations edged closer to our declared ceiling of 300. At the time of writing, there are 289 Business Schools with AMBA accredited programmes in 75 countries. A total of 112 of these Schools are now Triple-Crown accredited – further evidencing the high quality of our network. Of course, the AMBA network also includes more than 59,500 individual members. Like our
member Schools, they benefit from a wide array of services and resources, notably our topical Ambition magazine, which continues to offer thought- provoking perspectives and relevant news. AMBA has grown from strength to strength, ever supported by our world-class network of Business Schools. As we grow, we are able to offer more and more services as part of out Beyond Accreditation initiative, offering more than 35 free events to our Schools and their students in 2021. This success has been shared by our Schools network and I was delighted to read the Application and Enrolment report, highlighted in this issue, which clearly demonstrates the growth of MBA applications in all regions during the pandemic, as well as the remarkable innovation employed by Business Schools in terms of continuing to deliver the highest quality student experience to cohorts. But Covid-19 has, of course, hampered our operations for the second year running, just as it as affected organisations around the world. We have had to conduct accreditation visits online, connect to our Regional Advisory Councils via Zoom, and
stage our AMBA & BGA Accreditation Forum, the Excellence Awards, and our main Global Conference as online events. All of these, and countless other events and online meetings, had to be managed from the home offices of team. And, while Zoom events and online accreditations are invaluable during a pandemic, I know many of you are longing for richer face-to-face meetings. With that in mind, I’d like to remind you that we will be hosting our first hybrid event on 21 January. During the day, this will comprise our Business School Leaders Summit, which will address issues in business education including innovation, climate change, partnerships, and diversity. This will be followed in the evening by our Gala Dinner and AMBA & BGA Excellence Awards, offering a world-class networking experience in London, as well as a studio-quality live stream for those of you who would prefer to attend virtually. You can find out more about both of these events via the AMBA website. Andrew Main Wilson, CEO, AMBA & BGA
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