I read on the AMBA site that they recently started a new association / network / accreditation body: the Business Graduate Association (BGA).
It's ostensibly billed as a networking tool, but there's also an accreditation element. There are three levels of membership for business schools, each costing more than the previous. A business school can join the association, and then basically pay for the review for BGA accreditation as an upgrade.
Schools that already have AMBA accreditation can join the network for no cost (although there would still be a fee for BGA accreditation).
I get it: AMBA wants to expand beyond its core 'MBA' focus and in this way build more revenue. But do business schools really need another 'badge?'
My worry is that the standards for the BGA accreditation will be much looser than those for AMBA and we'll see a whole load of subpar b-schools with this badge in the near future (much like we have with the AACSB "Member" label, which in my mind has negatively impacted the AACSB brand image.)
Any thoughts on this from the community?
It's ostensibly billed as a networking tool, but there's also an accreditation element. There are three levels of membership for business schools, each costing more than the previous. A business school can join the association, and then basically pay for the review for BGA accreditation as an upgrade.
Schools that already have AMBA accreditation can join the network for no cost (although there would still be a fee for BGA accreditation).
I get it: AMBA wants to expand beyond its core 'MBA' focus and in this way build more revenue. But do business schools really need another 'badge?'
My worry is that the standards for the BGA accreditation will be much looser than those for AMBA and we'll see a whole load of subpar b-schools with this badge in the near future (much like we have with the AACSB "Member" label, which in my mind has negatively impacted the AACSB brand image.)
Any thoughts on this from the community?
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