Earning global badges
More SA business schools are seeking international accreditation for their activities, to gain a competitive edge in an increasingly crowded market.
Following the success of the Potchefstroom and Rhodes schools in winning recognition for their MBA programmes since last year, others hope to do the same.
However, it’s not just about MBAs. Wits Business School (WBS) director Steve Bluen says his institution wants to follow in the footsteps of the university schools at Cape Town and Stellenbosch, which have the sought-after triple-crown accreditation.
This consists of MBA accreditation by the UK-based Association of MBAs (Amba), the Equis badge for overall school activities from the European Foundation for Management Development, and similar catch-all approval from the US-based Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).
Henley SA can claim the same accreditations, through its UK parent.
WBS already has the Amba stamp and Bluen says pursuit of the others underlines the school’s new purpose as it seeks to leave behind several years of upheaval. As recently as 2013, a sharp drop in MBA student registrations threatened the Amba link. Since then, numbers have almost trebled and Amba has renewed the school’s accreditation.
Bluen says WBS is benefiting from improved relations with Wits University hierarchy. Instead of comparing WBS resources with those of other university departments, Wits is measuring it against rival business schools. “It is a fundamental change in how we are treated,” he says.
He adds that WBS is still in the recovery phase and has a lot of work to do to regain its former glory. “But we are on track.” He says triple accreditation is part of that process. “It’s not just about the badges. It’s about learning what our strengths and weaknesses are through accreditation. It takes us into a cycle of continuous improvement.”
Schools such as WBS may also feel driven to stay ahead of lesser-known institutions. Steve Burgess, director of Port Elizabethbased Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Business School, says he is already pursuing Amba and then will seek Equis.
Less predictably, private schools like Milpark and Regenesys are also seeking international endorsement. “SA schools are knocking down our doors,” says Amba CE Andrew Main Wilson.
However, accreditation by an international body is a long and expensive process, with no guarantee of success. Some schools see no point in pursuing it. Zaheer Hamid, director of the Durban-based Management College of Southern Africa (Mancosa), says accreditation bodies are too Western for African needs. “There will be benefit once these global bodies provide a new narrative for African business schools.”
he says, there are more pressing issues close to home. Mancosa launched a graduate school of business late last year and is in the middle of a two-year development of its Botswana campus.
Durban neighbour Regent Business School, too, has regional plans. Director Ahmed Shaikh says Namibia has offered Regent an educational subsidy to operate there. Within SA, the school is investing in a centre for entrepreneurship.
Other schools are positioning themselves for growth beyond SA. Sharmla Chetty,