Posted Feb 08, 2008 15:44
Raul,
Thank you for your interest in BMI and for your suggestions! Before I begin, I suggest that (if you have not already done so) you ought to read my previous postings on this discussion thread. Okay, so I know that accreditation is used by many potential students as a signal of quality of an institution's MBA programme. I am not altogether convinced (if that was not clear in my previous postings) that accreditation actually measures quality. Indeed, I seem to recall another person on the findMBA discussion board who used the analogy of a Ministry of Health. I agree. . . a Ministry of Health merely sets the minimum standards for the cleanliness of the kitchen, the temperature on the dishwashing machine, and so on. It says nothing about the tastiness (quality) of the food, or, even more important, to my marketing mind, about whether or not it delivers what you as the consumer want to eat at a given time. With that in mind, therefore, I would suggest that the discussions really ought not to be about accreditation, but ask questions about quality (tastiness) of the MBA programme. What is its fitness with what you as the potential student want? That leads back to the question ?What is quality?? I know that it is a difficult thing to define. At BMI, we like to think that everything which we do is excellent: from the personal touch which you would receive from our director of admissions, to the award-winning professors from leading institutions, to our student activities and outings, and even to the food and drink which we serve at parties and celebrations. As for fitness, we also like to think that we have described accurately and honestly what BMI is, what our MBA programme is all about, and so on, so that you can evaluate ?fitness? for yourself.
Now, more to the point of accreditation, there are 3 agencies which are most respected: AMBA (from England), EQUIS (from continental Europe), and AACSB (from the U.S.A.). There are in addition to these 3, 10?s if not 100?s more. And very cynically, by the way, one might ask why these agencies exist in the first place. Do they perform any real function? Are they simply self-serving? Do they exist another reason than to provide jobs to the people who started them? There are some, I might add, which were developed by the very institutions which then are accredited by them. Hmmm! In any case, the ?big 3? are well known, well respected, and generally used by potential students as signals of quality. Again, I do not think they necessarily measure quality. However, I do believe that they prescribe minimum standards for business schools, and, admittedly, these minimum standards are probably similar to the minimum standards which I would suggest if I were in the accreditation business. As such, BMI hopes to achieve 1 or more of these 3 accreditations in the near future, in order to demonstrate to its potential students that it meets or exceeds a set of minimum standards. In all honesty, the self-reflection which is required of an institution when it is preparing its application for accreditation, is also a wonderful process in and of itself (optimising processes, insuring policies, and so on. . . getting your kitchen clean and dishwasher hot). As such, BMI is engaged fully in the accreditation process to reflect how it meets or exceeds the minimum standards. In the meantime, BMI would welcome any additional comments or suggestions, and is certainly eager to speak with you about your candidacy.
Raul, I hope that this posting was useful to you and others. I look forward to future postings.
With best wishes,
John Branch
Raul,
Thank you for your interest in BMI and for your suggestions! Before I begin, I suggest that (if you have not already done so) you ought to read my previous postings on this discussion thread. Okay, so I know that accreditation is used by many potential students as a signal of quality of an institution's MBA programme. I am not altogether convinced (if that was not clear in my previous postings) that accreditation actually measures quality. Indeed, I seem to recall another person on the findMBA discussion board who used the analogy of a Ministry of Health. I agree. . . a Ministry of Health merely sets the minimum standards for the cleanliness of the kitchen, the temperature on the dishwashing machine, and so on. It says nothing about the tastiness (quality) of the food, or, even more important, to my marketing mind, about whether or not it delivers what you as the consumer want to eat at a given time. With that in mind, therefore, I would suggest that the discussions really ought not to be about accreditation, but ask questions about quality (tastiness) of the MBA programme. What is its fitness with what you as the potential student want? That leads back to the question ?What is quality?? I know that it is a difficult thing to define. At BMI, we like to think that everything which we do is excellent: from the personal touch which you would receive from our director of admissions, to the award-winning professors from leading institutions, to our student activities and outings, and even to the food and drink which we serve at parties and celebrations. As for fitness, we also like to think that we have described accurately and honestly what BMI is, what our MBA programme is all about, and so on, so that you can evaluate ?fitness? for yourself.
Now, more to the point of accreditation, there are 3 agencies which are most respected: AMBA (from England), EQUIS (from continental Europe), and AACSB (from the U.S.A.). There are in addition to these 3, 10?s if not 100?s more. And very cynically, by the way, one might ask why these agencies exist in the first place. Do they perform any real function? Are they simply self-serving? Do they exist another reason than to provide jobs to the people who started them? There are some, I might add, which were developed by the very institutions which then are accredited by them. Hmmm! In any case, the ?big 3? are well known, well respected, and generally used by potential students as signals of quality. Again, I do not think they necessarily measure quality. However, I do believe that they prescribe minimum standards for business schools, and, admittedly, these minimum standards are probably similar to the minimum standards which I would suggest if I were in the accreditation business. As such, BMI hopes to achieve 1 or more of these 3 accreditations in the near future, in order to demonstrate to its potential students that it meets or exceeds a set of minimum standards. In all honesty, the self-reflection which is required of an institution when it is preparing its application for accreditation, is also a wonderful process in and of itself (optimising processes, insuring policies, and so on. . . getting your kitchen clean and dishwasher hot). As such, BMI is engaged fully in the accreditation process to reflect how it meets or exceeds the minimum standards. In the meantime, BMI would welcome any additional comments or suggestions, and is certainly eager to speak with you about your candidacy.
Raul, I hope that this posting was useful to you and others. I look forward to future postings.
With best wishes,
John Branch
