A business school is a higher education institution or professional school that teaches courses leading to degrees in business administration or management. [2] A business school may also be referred to as school of management, management school, school of business administration, college of business, or colloquially b-school or biz school. A business school offers comprehensive education in various disciplines related to the world of business.
There are several forms of business schools, including a school of business, business administration, and management.
Andreas Kaplan classifies business schools along four Corners: [2]
The first business schools appeared in Europe in the eighteenth century and multiplied from the beginning of the nineteenth century.
In the United States, common degrees in business are:
Graduates in business may also have generically titled degrees such as Bachelor of Science (BS), Master of Science (MS) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).
In Europe, higher education degrees are organized into three cycles under the Bologna Process in order to facilitate international mobility: bachelor's, master's and doctorates. The details of how degrees are organized vary between countries and institutions, but in terms of ECTS credits, where 60 credits represents a full academic year's work, a bachelor's degree typically requires 180–240 credits and a master's degree 90–120 credits. [40]
In France, those levels of study include various "parcours" or paths based on UE (unités d'enseignement or modules), each worth a defined number of ECTS credits. Grande école business schools are elite academic institutions that admit students through an extremely competitive process, and the PGE (grande école program) ends with the degree of Master in Management (MiM). [41] [42] [43]
Some business schools structure their teaching around the use of case studies (i.e. the case method). Case studies have been used in Graduate and Undergraduate business education for nearly one hundred years. Business cases are historical descriptions of actual business situations. Typically, information is presented about a business firm's products, markets, competition, financial structure, sales volumes, management, employees and other factors influencing the firm's success. The length of a business case study may range from two or three pages to 30 pages, or more.
Students are expected to scrutinize the case study and prepare to discuss strategies and tactics that the firm should employ in the future. Three different methods have been used in business case teaching:
When Harvard Business School started operating in 1908, the faculty realized that there were no textbooks suitable for a graduate program in business. [45] Their first solution to this problem involved interviewing leading practitioners of business and writing detailed accounts of what these managers were doing, based partly on the case method already in use at Harvard Law School. Of course, the professors could not present these cases as practices to be emulated, because there were no criteria available for determining what would succeed and what would not succeed. So the professors instructed their students to read the cases and to come to class prepared to discuss the cases and to offer recommendations for appropriate courses of action. The basic outlines of this method still operate in business-school curricula as of 2016 [update] .
In contrast to the case method some schools use a skills-based approach in teaching business. This approach emphasizes quantitative methods, in particular operations research, management information systems, statistics, organizational behavior, modeling and simulation, and decision science. The leading institution in this method is the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. The goal is to provide students a set of tools that will prepare them to tackle and solve problems.
Another important approach used in business school is the use of business games that are used in different disciplines such as business, economics, management, etc. Some colleges are blending many of these approaches throughout their degree programs, and even blending the method of delivery for each of these approaches. A study from by Inside Higher Ed and the Babson Survey Research Group [46] shows that there is still disagreement as to the effectiveness of the approaches but the reach and accessibility is proving to be more and more appealing. Liberal arts colleges in the United States like New England College, [47] Wesleyan University, [48] and Bryn Mawr College are now offering complete online degrees in many business curricula despite the controversy that surrounds the learning method.
There are also several business schools which still rely on the lecture method to give students a basic business education. Lectures are generally given from the professor's point of view, and rarely require interaction from the students unless notetaking is required. Lecture as a method of teaching in business schools has been criticized by experts for reducing the incentive and individualism in the learning experience. [49]
In addition to teaching students, many business schools run Executive Education programs. These may be either open programs or company-specific programs. Executives may also acquire an MBA title in an Executive MBA program within university of business or from top ranked business schools. Many business schools seek close co-operation with business. [50]
There are three main accreditation agencies for business schools in the United States: ACBSP, AACSB, and the IACBE. In Europe, the EQUIS business school accreditation system is run by the EFMD, which sometimes applies the more narrow EPAS label to specific courses. The AMBA accredits MBA programmes and other post-graduate business programmes in 75 countries; its sister organisation the Business Graduates Association (BGA), accredits business schools, based on the impact they make on students, employers and the wider community and society, in terms of ethics and responsible management practices. Triple accreditation is used to indicate that a school has been accredited by these three bodies: AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS. [51] About 1% of business schools are triple-accredited. [52]
Each year, organizations and publications such as Bloomberg Businessweek (US), [53] Corporate Knights (Canada), [54] Eduniversal (France), [55] Financial Times (UK) [56] and Quacquarelli Symonds (UK) [57] publish rankings of business schools and MBA programs that, while sometimes controversial in their methodologies, [58] nevertheless can directly influence the prestige of schools that achieve high scores. Academic research is also considered to be an important feature and popular way to gauge the prestige of business schools. [59] [60] [61] Business schools share the common purpose of developing global managerial talent and to this end, business schools are encouraged to accelerate global engagement strategies on the foundations of collaboration and innovation. [62]
In Europe, a bachelor's degree is tuition-free at public intuitions in several countries: Austria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Malta, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey. [63] In the German education system, most universities do not charge tuition, except for some executive MBA programs. French tuition fees are capped based on the level of education pursued, from €183 (US $216) per year for undergraduate and up to €388 (US$459) for doctorates. Tuition fees in the United Kingdom were introduced in 1998 and are £9,250 annually for undergraduate courses for home students in England, with higher fees for students who are not domiciled in the UK. [63] Postgraduate courses in the UK often have higher fees, and many universities charge a premium rate for MBAs. All private and autonomous institutions in Europe charge tuition.
In the United States, most public college and universities charge tuition. According to the CollegeBoard, the average cost for an out-of-state, or international student, to attend a public four year university in 2020 was $38,330 (€32,409), while the average in-state cost was $21,950 (€18,559). [64] Two year public universities, such as a community colleges, charge $3,730 (€3,154) on average for in-state students, but these institutions usually do not offer Bachelors or MBA degrees. [65] Private institutions in the United States all charge tuition, often considerably more than their public counterparts.
A Master of Business Administration is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounting, applied statistics, human resources, business communication, business ethics, business law, strategic management, business strategy, finance, managerial economics, management, entrepreneurship, marketing, supply-chain management, and operations management in a manner most relevant to management analysis and strategy. It originated in the United States in the early 20th century when the country industrialized and companies sought scientific management.
The Aalto University School of Business, is the largest business school in Finland. Founded in 1911, it is the second oldest business school in Finland and one of the oldest business schools in the Nordic countries. The school became part of Aalto University on 1 January 2010. It has been previously known as the Helsinki School of Economics, the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, and during 2010–2012 the Aalto University School of Economics.
HEC Paris is a business school and grande école located in Jouy-en-Josas, a southwestern outer suburb of Paris, France. One of the best business schools in the world, and consistently ranked the best in Europe, it offers Bachelor, MiM, MSc in International Finance, MBA, EMBA, executive education, professional development, professional certification, and PhD programs.
Beal University is a private university in Bangor, Maine. It specializes in professional programs such as healthcare and business.
Business education is a branch of education that involves teaching the skills and operations of the business industry. This field of education occurs at multiple levels, including secondary and higher education
The University of Potsdam is a public university in Potsdam, capital of the state of Brandenburg, northeastern Germany.
KIMEP University is a private university founded in 1992 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
Caucasus University is a private university in Tbilisi, Georgia. The university was established in 2004. It is the successor to the Caucasus School of Business, founded in 1998 in partnership with Georgia State University, Atlanta, U.S., during Georgia's transitional period from planned to free market economy.
The Florida State University College of Business is the business school of the Florida State University. Established in 1950, it enrolls more than 6,000 students including undergraduates and graduate students seeking their bachelor's, master's or doctoral degrees. All programs are accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business.
Antioch University Midwest (AUM) was the name of a campus of a private institution of higher education serving adult students in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Previously the campus was named "Antioch University McGregor" after the management professor and theorist Douglas McGregor, who served as the President of Antioch College from 1948 to 1954. On June 12, 2010, the campus was officially renamed "Antioch University Midwest."
Walsh College is a private college in Troy, Michigan. Founded in 1922 by Mervyn B. Walsh, an accountant with the Thomas Edison Light Company, Walsh College is an upper division undergraduate and graduate institution that provides a transformative business and technology education that combines theory, application, and professional experience to prepare graduates for successful careers.
The University of Management and Technology (UMT) is a private for-profit online university headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It was founded in 1998 and offers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees as well as certificate programs.
KLU - Kuehne Logistics University is a private business school based in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded by the Kuehne Foundation of German billionair Klaus-Michael Kühne, based in Schindellegi, Switzerland. The foundation supports education and research in logistics, supply chain, and operations management as well as keeping the assets of Kühne Family.
The Graduate School of Management is the business school of Saint Petersburg State University. GSOM offers undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate programs taught in English and Russian. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in Europe. GSOM's Master in Management degree is the only MiM program in Russia ranked by the Financial Times and The Economist.
IÉSEG School of Management is a French grande école, private and graduate business school, established in 1964 in Lille, France. IÉSEG School of Management is a member of the private Université Catholique de Lille consortium, the largest private university in France in terms of student population and endowment. The school has two campuses, one in Lille and one in Paris. IÉSEG holds the "Triple Crown" of international business school accreditations: EQUIS, AACSB, and AMBA.
Kozminski University is a private, nonprofit business school in Warsaw, Poland; according to the Financial Times, it is considered to be "Poland’s highest rated private university". It was established in 1993 and named after Leon Koźmiński, a Polish professor of economics and entrepreneurship, and also the father of Andrzej Koźmiński, the founder and the first rector of the school. It is one of the top business schools in the world, contains the Central Eastern campus of ESCP as of 2015, and the only institution of higher education in Poland, holding the "triple accreditation ". Less than 1% of business education providers worldwide hold these three major international quality accreditations. The Financial Times named the university as the best business school in Poland and Central Europe.
GBSB Global Business School is a private business school located in Barcelona and Madrid, Spain and in Birkirkara, Malta.
National University is a private university with its headquarters in San Diego, California. Founded in 1971, National University offers academic degree programs at campuses throughout California, a satellite campus in Nevada, and various programs online. Programs at National University are designed for adult learners. On-campus classes are typically blended learning courses, concentrated to four weeks or on weeknights with occasional Saturday classes. The university uses asynchronous learning and real-time virtual classrooms for its online programs.
NUCB Business School is a private graduate business school in Japan which was established in 1990 by the Kurimoto Educational Institute. The school offers an Executive MBA program, an MBA program, M.Sc. programs, and executive education programs.
Universum College is a university in Prishtina, Kosovo. It was founded in 2005. The university offers 15 undergraduate programs and 8 graduate programs. Studies can be offered with dual study memberships or double degrees with EU universities for specific studies. The college as a higher education provider is accredited by the Kosovo Accreditation Agency. The university is partnered up with 152 universities within the Erasmus+ program. Universum College is also accredited by the University of Northampton to offer programs with English curricula and standards. Students who attend these programs will receive a University of Northampton degree. UON is one of the universities listed in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).
When Harvard Business School was started, its faculty members realized that there were no textbooks suitable to a graduate program in business. That was when they decided to use case studies which are detailed accounts of innovative methods and practices that managers follow.
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