International reach |
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International Accreditation
Our accreditation is international in focus and our criteria are designed to be applicable to business schools around the world, rather than being based on a particular national system. We take into account the diversity of cultures and educational systems, and appreciate that different cultures have varying approaches to business education.
Accreditation is both judgemental and developmental. We believe that the standards enshrined in our criteria represent best practice in business and management education worldwide, and we will always encourage schools to learn from the practices of schools in other countries, and to place the education they provide in a global context. However, we will assess candidate schools with an understanding of the local context, and, while never lowering our standards, we will accept cultural differences in the organisation and delivery of programmes. Innovation and best practice is always encouraged.
We are always working to expand the international scope of the accreditation service, offering as many potential postgraduate business students as possible the opportunity to select a high-quality, peer-assessed programme, wherever they may be in the world. Recent accreditations have taken place in
China
, and the
Ukraine
, and we now accredit postgraduate business programmes in over 65 countries worldwide.
The History of International Accreditation
In 1997 the Association of MBAs had already been accrediting MBA programmes in the
UK
and some western European business schools for several years. However, we were becoming increasingly aware of the potential demand world-wide for our accreditation. As a result, we launched our international accreditation service at a reception at The Park Lane Hotel in Piccadilly, on April 17th 1997.
Our accreditation service grew in popularity across
Europe
from that point. In the next three years we accredited more than 15 MBA portfolios at schools outside the
UK
, and the year 2000 saw our first accreditations outside Europe, at Universidad Catolica
Argentina
and Universidad del CEMA, in
Latin America
.
In the last ten years, the Association of MBAs’ international accreditation service has developed enormously. There are now accredited MBA, DBA and MBM programmes in countries as far-flung as
New Zealand
,
Malaysia
,
China
and
North America
. Accreditations in continental Europe now number over 40, in Latin America there are over 20, and in the
UK
, where the Association has also continued to flourish, there are over 40 schools offering accredited MBA programmes.
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