BGA | BUSINESS IMPACT
FROM THE CEO
T he pandemic may have hit many organisations hard, but at AMBA & BGA we have been lucky enough to record two years of exceptional growth. Indeed, despite the ongoing financial pressures that some of our schools are facing, the BGA network continues to expand. Since its launch in January 2019, its membership has grown to 220 schools, with many also opting to pursue BGA accreditation. At this point, it’s worth pointing out that joint AMBA & BGA accreditation is also possible and we already have 22 joint AMBA & BGA-accredited schools. Just last month, for example, the existing AMBA-accredited school INCAE Business School, with campuses in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, achieved BGA accreditation. AMBA & BGA is now aiming for further ambitious growth. However, we must also face the reality of an increasingly uncertain and volatile world in 2023. The Covid pandemic continues to impact countries, the war in Ukraine looks unlikely to end in the short term and rampant inflation appears to be raging across many of the countries in which we operate. This brings us to the subject of accreditation panel visits and conferences, and the issue of choosing between physical and virtual modes of delivery. We firmly believe, as AACSB and EFMD also do, that a physical accreditation panel visit allows for deeper discussion and understanding between schools and assessors – and so that will be our preferred method of accreditation going forward. However, we will remain flexible and open to virtual accreditation panels where necessary. We also believe that physical conferences enable richer learning and vastly superior networking opportunities for our delegates. This is why we returned to a physical Global Conference in Lisbon, Portugal, in May this year and a physical Latin America Conference in Cartagena, Colombia, in September, having had to hold both events virtually in 2021. The feedback from those in attendance at this year’s events has been superb and it is clear to us that the combination of learning and discussion, together with a return to face-to-face networking, is one that results in a resounding success. The next dilemma our organisation faces is gauging the practicality and productivity of staff working from home versus working from our head office. We have decided to offer staff the best of both worlds – working two or three days a week in our spectacular new office and working the remainder of the week from home. I firmly believe that organisations that have closed offices and transitioned fully to home-working run a serious risk over time of both corporate culture and staff bonding becoming much weaker and more fragmented. I feel so strongly about this that we have relocated to a new, more contemporary global headquarters in central London, offering staff facilities more commonly associated with forward-thinking multinationals such as Apple or Google. We look forward to hosting many of you there on your next visit to London.
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An optimistic outlook AMBA & BGA CEO Andrew Main Wilson outlines plans for the associations’ accreditation services and future events, as he looks forward to continued growth
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