The Association of MBAs' international accreditation service?

The following was posted on another channel"

http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/higher-education/access-to-professions/professional-bodies

http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/higher-education/access-to-professions/professional-bodies


I don't think BIS validates any professional body it just provides a listing.
Some may argue that its a sort of recognition when a professional body is listed with BIS.
I think that professional association needs to be recognized on its own merit and some unrecognized associations may be listed there. Maybe I'm wrong?

 

AMBA is legitimate; however, the majority of their accredited business programs are UK and Europe based. In the US, AMBA is not a recognized agency by the USDOE or CHEA. Currently there is only one USA B-school (Hult International Business School) that carries the AMBA accreditation).
Rankings and Accreditation

 

I don't see they having a Royal Charter or some other government recognition.

 

AMBA is part of the Triple Crown of UK business school accreditations (the other two being EQUUS and AACSB).

 

What's the deal with all these super-wide threads?

 

How can a HORSE accredit?

Don't you mean EQUIS, Ted? Equus is Latin for "horse." Even though Emperor Caligula, who was none-too-tightly-wrapped, appointed his horse a consul, that noble animal wasn't allowed to accredit schools, AFAIK. :silly:

Johann

 

Oops! You caught me!

 

If AMBA itself conferred degrees, it would need one, I guess. But it doesn't. Putting its own (valuable) "seal-of-approval" (programmatic accreditation) on business programs that meet its standards - does not require the same authority as granting degrees.

AMBA does not grant degrees OR accredit schools. Programmatic - not institutional.

Johann

 

WTF? I never said AMBA grants degrees? I did say they accredit business schools. What, praytell, is the difference between a business school and a business program?

 

Concerning this discussion (e.g., AMBA, EQUIS and/or AACSB accreditation) … I too consider B-school /B-program as synonymous.

 

No, Ted- you never DID say AMBA grants degrees --- and I know it.

(1) LERNER said AMBA had no Royal Charter. I said it didn't need one because it doesn't grant degrees. Nothing to do with your post.

(2) Business school - teaches business (degree) programs. Maybe a BBA, several streams of MBA and a DBA or two. Whatever. Each degree-stream is a program.

(3) I've often heard accreditations like those of AMBA,EQUIS, ACBSP and AACSB defined as programmatic accreditations, as opposed to institutional (whole school) accreditation. These business program accreditors DO NOT ALWAYS accredit ALL programs offered by a school.

See Swiss Management College. Most of their programs are ACBSP accredited but a couple of programs (including at least one Ph.D. and a Bachelor's - IIRC) were not ACBSP-accredited. You can see this here:

ACBSP Accreditation, National Accreditation, CHEA Recognition

This sparked a b-i-g discussion (or two) of this school and programmatic accreditation on the boards. there have been others.

I'm surprised you missed 'em.
Johann

 

A business "school" might offer multiple "business degree programs" in different fields (e.g. business, management, accounting) or at different levels (e.g. bachelor's, master's, doctorate).

AACSB accredits "business schools". So all degree programs offered by an accredited school covered -- regardless of field or level.

In contrast, AMBA accredits "business programs" (actually "programmes" since they are British), and only the MBA, MBM, and DBA specifically.

So for example, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania is AACSB accredited, and since AACSB's accreditation covers the entire business school, it includes Wharton BS degrees. In contrast, Wharton BS degrees would be ineligible for AMBA accreditation, since AMBA's accreditation only covers certain specific business degree programs, and those do not include the BS.

 

Simplest terms -

Ted

"What, pray tell, is the difference between a business school and a business program?" - Ted

I believe you have two MBA degrees (different majors) yourself, from the same school IIRC. (So why am I explaining this?)

That makes two different programs you had to complete, right?

Johann

 

The distinction between "accredited schools" and "accredited programs" can also be an issue in engineering. For example, the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has highly regarded engineering BS programs, most of which have full ABET accreditation. But they also offer a BS in Robotics Engineering, which is not accredited by ABET.

Nobody doubts that a WPI is a real engineering school, or that their Robotics Engineering degree is a "real" engineering degree. However, ABET accredits "engineering programs" -- not "engineering schools". And ABET has not (yet) established criteria for the accreditation of "robotics engineering" degree programs specifically. Until they do, this specific engineering program cannot get ABET accreditation -- regardless of the reputation of the WPI School of Engineering generally.

 

Johann,
You make good point.

Here is what I see

AACSB is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) to me that grants credibility and recognition to the accrediting agency.

IET(UK) and BCS (UK) are Royal Chartered and licensed by EC UK to accredit programs in Engineering , Technology, Computer Science and Information Technology.

AMBA seems to be fully independent without any government authority to accredit programs.

Together with AMBA listed on the BIS site for example something called Syndicate for Accreditation etc. They have the same right to accredit programs at colleges?
This seems not kosher. I may be wrong.

AACSB can accredit program at state licensed school that has no institutional accreditation and this will be considered recognized because of the CHEA recognition.

 

The Association of MBAs accredits MBA, MBM, and DBA programs … period.

Aberdeen, Aston, Bradford, Cass (City University London), Cranfield, Durham, Grenoble, Henley, Hull, Imperial College (London), INSEAD (France), Graduate School of Business (Hong Kong Polytechnic), Judge (Cambridge), London Business School, Manchester, Mannheim (Germany), Massey (NZ), Queens (Canada), Said (Oxford), Open University, Stellenbosch (SA), University College Dublin, Warwick, and Wits (SA) are seemingly some of the B-schools that consider there's importance in AMBA accreditation.

Complete AMBA listing:
SearchBusinessSchool - mbaworld

 

I think this is a hypothetical example; as far as I know, AACSB does not accredit any non-RA programs in the US. But even if they did, such a program would not be "considered recognized" in one important regard: Federal financial aid. For that, you need USDoE recognition, and AACSB does not have it.

Also, AACSB's reputation is not based on "CHEA recognition". AACSB has been well known and respected for nearly one hundred years. CHEA wasn't even established until the 1990s.

 

When were CHEA's predecessor organizations (COPA and CORPA) established?

 

COPA was established in 1974 and dissolved in 1993. CORPA then existed during a transitional period, before the establishment of CHEA in 1996.

The point is some professional accreditors (like AACSB, ABET, ABA, AMA) were established in the early 20th Century, long before COPA/CORPA/CHEA (or even USDoE) began keeping lists of "approved" accreditors. Their legitimacy and acceptance is not dependent on their membership in CHEA.

 

If the lack of government authority makes you uncomfortable, then you aren't going to like EQUIS either. EQUIS is run by the European Foundation for Management Development, which is an international non-profit organization. They are based in Brussels, but they have no official government authority to accredit degree programs, not from Belgium or any other country.

But CHEA isn't a government body either, it's just another private non-profit organization. It's great that CHEA recognition means "credibility and recognition" to you, but the reality is that AACSB currently has no US government authorization to accredit business programs (I think AACSB was recognized by the US Dept. of Education at one time, but they no longer offer recognition to most professional accreditors).

So AMBA, EQUIS, and AACSB all lack governmental authority to accredit business programs. But for most people, this distinction doesn't matter -- AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA are still considered prestigious anyway.

Accreditation doesn't have to be validated by a government agency to be respected and prestigious. Accreditation can also succeed through the free market -- which seems particularly appropriate for business schools.