Article in Guardian (10 Sept.): Master it anywhere. This comment about MBA accreditor Amba is interesting: ... Amba does not validate any online MBAs at present - though it might do so in future once guidelines have been established. Accredited distance learning courses present some of the same issues as an online MBA. Any validation following so soon after the launch of an MBA, however, is unlikely. "In principle we would need to establish that an online MBA meets the needs of its students and that quality doesn't suffer," says Peter Calladine, Amba's education and services manager. "We would look very carefully at processes and delivery. However, I wouldn't want to give the impression that online MBAs are something we would endorse. My feeling is that students do not generally like to read too much from a computer screen."
I would defer to the expertise of Professor Kennedy, or any other British academics, but I recall that for some years, AMBA has not accredited any UK MBA distance learning programs that did not have at least a minimal residency requirement. So I am not surprised by a similar stance being adopted for online MBA programs. This residency requirement is the primary reason that AMBA dropped accreditation of the Edinburgh Business School at Heriot Watt University. Many British academics who have posted on this site suggest that cronyism and other socio-political issues cause AMBA to maintain this policy, but that AMBA's stance may well change in the future. Regards. Michael Lloyd Mill Creek, Washington USA
Sections 4.3 and 5.2, found on page 15 of the AMBA criteria, seem to be the areas calling for 'active interchange' and 'participant involvement time' pertinent to open or distance learning MBA programs. I wonder if these are the criteria interpreted as calling for at least minimal residency requirements. Interesting to speculate if a school could craft an electronic means of real-time interaction that would satisfy the AMBA criteria. Regards, Michael Lloyd Mill Creek, Washington USA
From the website of the AMBA (http://www.mba.org.uk), it is noted that a number of UK DL MBA programmes are accredited by AMBA, including those from Aston, Bradford, Brunel, Durham, Henley, Warwick, and so on.
And are those not the DL MBA programs that do have minimal residency requirements? Based on previous postings to this board, I am unaware of any completely DL UK MBAs that meet the AMBA criteria in their entirety. Regards, Michael Lloyd Mill Creek, Washington USA
