OPINION
From strength TO STRENGTH
CEO’S COLUMN
Andrew Main Wilson reflects on the year just gone and reviews his interview with the Dean of Miami Herbert Business School at the AMBA & BGA annual Latin America Deans & Directors conference
media predictions concerning the alleged demise of business schools in the US, and of the MBA programme in particular. John pointed out that the MBA has certainly stood the test of time as it was in fact founded more than 100 years ago; he added that it maintains its relevance by adapting curricula and content for new business needs. John also noted that most of the universities in the US view the country’s 2,000-plus business schools as vital “cash cows” that subsidise other elements of their activities. Moreover, he emphasised the essential role that accreditation bodies play in sustaining and enforcing standards to resist any “dumbing down” of academic input.
accreditation is also possible and we already have 22 joint AMBA & BGA-accredited schools. As I mentioned at our Latin America Deans & Directors conference in Cartagena in late September, the fact that we now have 37 AMBA-accredited schools and four BGA schools in the region, together with 7,000 student and graduate members, means there is a need to provide more content in Spanish. This will take the form of both thought leadership articles and best practice ideas to promote and fully explain the benefits of accreditation to students, parents and employers alike. At the conference, I interviewed one of our industry’s most experienced and respected leaders, John Quelch, Dean of Miami Herbert Business School and Vice-Provost of University of Miami. During our interview session, one of the topics we touched on was the frequent
he pandemic may have hit many organisations hard, but at AMBA & BGA, we have been lucky enough to record two years of exceptional growth.
I’m delighted to say that we now have some 294 AMBA schools in our network and there has been no attrition over the past 12 months, despite the ongoing financial pressures that some of our schools are facing. Prestigious new accreditations this month include the Miami Herbert Business School achieving AMBA accreditation and existing AMBA-accredited school INCAE, in Costa Rica, achieving BGA accreditation. In addition, the number of students and graduates in the AMBA network has risen to an impressive 61,000. Meanwhile, BGA, which was only launched in January 2019, has now grown to 220 membership schools. I think it’s worth highlighting that joint AMBA & BGA
Andrew Main Wilson, CEO, AMBA & BGA
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Ambition | BE IN BRILLIANT COMPANY
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