EFMD would like to warmly congratulate the: School of Business, Hong Kong Baptist University and the School of Economics and Management, Tongji University who have just been awarded EQUIS accreditation. This takes the number of accredited schools to 142 across 39 countries.

Professor Stephen Cheung, Dean of the School of Business at HKBU said, "EQUIS accreditation marks the School’s entrance into the elite circle of business education and we are very proud to join the EQUIS community of business schools throughout the world,dedicated to high-quality business education, research and consultancy services. This international recognition attests to our commitment to strengthen and integrate business ethics, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility into our pedagogical and research agenda. The School of Business is now among the very few of the world's business schools to be triple-accredited," The newly-acquired EQUIS accreditation further affirms the School's reputation and determination in providing high-quality business education in an ever-changing global economy.

"EQUIS accreditation is a very effective catalyzer for the globalisation of business schools. The accreditation of Tongji SEM is a great milestone on its expedition to becoming a world class business school for building a sustainable society," said Prof. Jiazhen Huo, Dean, School of Economics and Management, Tongji University.

Prof. Michael Osbaldeston, the EFMD Director of Quality Service added, "We are delighted to welcome the HKBU and Tongji SEM into the EQUIS community. Accreditation from EFMD is one of the best and most complete ways to certify the actual quality of a business school as accreditation involves an extensive self-assessment by the school, the visit of an international review team who spend several days interviewing many different people in the School, and finally a very experienced jury evaluating the assessment and findings of the review team to determine whether the School should be granted accreditation. There are currently no substitutes for such an in-depth assessment of quality and HKBU and Tongji SEM should be commended for their commitment to excellence."

EQUIS is not primarily focused on the MBA or any other specific programme as its scope covers all of programmes offered by an institution from the first degree up to the Ph.D. Institutions that are accredited by EQUIS must demonstrate not only high general quality in all dimensions of their activities, but also a high degree of internationalisation. With companies recruiting worldwide, with students choosing to get their education outside their home countries, and with schools building alliances across borders and continents, there is a rapidly growing need for them to be able to identify those institutions in other countries that deliver high quality education in international management. EQUIS also believes that business schools should be as closely connected to the real world of business as schools of medicine are to working hospitals. There must be a balance between high academic quality and the professional relevance provided by close interaction with the corporate world. EQUIS attaches particular importance to the development of managerial and entrepreneurial skills and fosters a students sense of global responsibility.

More information on EQUIS is available at www.efmd.org/equis

EFMD will be organising a Quality Services Information Session in Santiago de Chile, hosted by Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Escuela de Administración. The session will be given by Professor Michael Osbaldeston, Director of Quality Services, EFMD.

The EFMD Open House - Quality Services Information Session will take place on Thursday, 25 April 2013.

Participants will have the opportunity to learn more about EFMD and its activities around the world.

The session is designed for institutions that have little or no knowledge of the EFMD global network and its quality services porfolio. The information session will provide a basic introduction to  EQUIS (EFMD Quality Improvement System), EPAS (EFMD Programme Accreditation System) and EDAF (EFMD Deans Across Frontiers development system) and the underlying concepts of accreditation, mentoring and quality improvement. Special emphasis will be put on two of EFMD’s systems: EPAS and EDAF. The information session will be relevant for Business School Deans or their delegates with responsibility for quality assurance and/or accreditations. This is highly recommended for any School that wants to learn more about  EFMD membership, accreditation and development.

After the information session, participants will have ample time for questions and also have the opportunity to discuss individually the services which EFMD offers. If you wish to schedule a face-to-face meeting with Professor Osbaldeston in the afternoon of the 25 April please contact magdalena.wanot@efmd.org. This is highly recommended for any School that is considering applying for EFMD accreditation or development systems and the extra knowledge acquired during the session will be helpful in this process.

Do not miss the opportunity to explore EFMD and its accreditation and mentoring systems. The programme of the session, practical information and online registration form is available here. Find out more about the EDAF, EPAS & EQUIS.

The 2013 edition of the EQUIS documents for the first time broadly recognizes the role of business schools as ‘globally responsible citizens’ and as advocates of ethical and sustainable behavior in business and society. ‘Ethics, Responsibility & Sustainability (E∙R∙S)’ has been added as a transversal feature to the EQUIS system implying that these aspects are now covered throughout the EQUIS Standards & Criteria (S&C) – with a dedicated chapter (replacing the chapter on ‘Contributions to the Community’) as well as sections in most other chapters. E∙R∙S is therefore positioned in the same way as ‘Internationalization’ and ‘Corporate Connections’ (see Figure).

Figure: The EQUIS Criteria Framework















The approach adopted by EFMD reflects the belief that E∙R∙S is relevant for every aspect of business school management and operations. The starting point for business schools should be to reflect on the role of E∙R∙S in mission, vision and strategy (EQUIS S&C, chapter 1). The adopted strategy should be backed up with clearly defined objectives, specific milestones and adequate resource support. It is further assumed that the strategy is broadly communicated to the various stakeholder groups.

Business schools should integrate E∙R∙S into their educational offerings, which include degree programmes (EQUIS S&C, chapter 2) and non-degree executive education (EQUIS S&C, chapter 6). Reporting should differentiate between offerings dedicated to E∙R∙S and coverage in other programmes. In the case of degree programmes, detailed information should be provided on how E∙R∙S is integrated in programme design, delivery and assessment. It is certainly expected that applicant schools have moved beyond the still widely used approach of simply tagging on an E∙R∙S module to the curriculum with no obvious connection to the programme core. In addition, E∙R∙S should be linked to all facets of student management, which includes recruitment, admissions, scholarships and awards, diversity management, personal development as well as support provided for (extra-) curricular student engagement (EQUIS S&C, chapter 3).

The new standard will challenge business schools to reflect on how E∙R∙S can be mapped into faculty management (EQUIS S&C, chapter 4) and how faculty can be encouraged to integrate E∙R∙S into research & development (EQUIS S&C, chapter 5). Applicants should also present evidence that they are actively contributing to the ethical, responsible and sustainable development of businesses and business practices (EQUIS S&C, chapter 10). Explicit policies should be in place to ensure that E∙R∙S is firmly embedded in the School’s infrastructure management, operations, and administration (EQUIS S&C, chapter 7).

A transversal chapter dedicated to E∙R∙S (EQUIS S&C, chapter 9) represents the anchor of the new standard. It gives Schools the opportunity to summarize their E∙R∙S-related achievements and to report on their contributions to the ethical, responsible and sustainable development of local as well as global communities.

The revised EQUIS documents are operational as of now. Schools in process must ensure that they comply with all E∙R∙S-related changes, which also includes an additional section in the EQUIS data sheet and revised information requirements for the Self-Assessment Report and the Base Room.

Given the holistic nature of the EQUIS framework and the emphasis placed on diversity, business schools will have considerable degrees of freedom in complying with the E∙R∙S standard. The introduction of E∙R∙S should therefore not be misinterpreted as a fundamental questioning of management education as practiced by most business schools today.

In recent years, many EFMD member institutions have adjusted their educational offerings, their research foci and in some cases even their strategic development trajectories to address issues such as global warming, unethical behavior of high-profile managers and business practices perceived to be socially irresponsible. These achievements have largely escaped public attention. With the revised EQUIS framework, business schools are given a more explicit opportunity to document their multi-faceted contributions to E∙R∙S and to achieve recognition for embracing their wider role in society.

If you have any questions or require further details on EQUIS please contact us via equis@efmd.org

The Quality Services Department at EFMD has provided accreditation services over the past 15 years. These services have the aim of improving management education in Higher Education institutions by establishing internationally agreed standards and assessing institutions against them. Institutions deemed to meet the standards are accredited and thus gain international recognition. EFMD accreditation is recognised worldwide by potential students, employers, other clients, and the media (often being a pre-requisite for entry to rankings). It is the process of striving to meet these standards that leads to quality improvement. The accreditation process is well established and consists of self-reflection and peer review followed by recommendations for improvement and, where appropriate, accreditation.

Beginning in 1997, the EFMD Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) was designed to assess the quality of a business school holistically and to grant accreditation to those that met its exacting standards. These standards cover the school’s governance and strategy, its resources, its faculty and their intellectual activity, its degree programmes and students, executive education and the school’s international focus on the business world. It should be noted that the EQUIS approach is rooted in respect for diversity and EQUIS therefore does not believe in “one best model” for a business school.

In recognition of the fact there are many excellent programmes offered in schools that may not yet be able to achieve EQUIS accreditation, in 2005 EFMD launched the EFMD Programme Accreditation System (EPAS). This is designed to assess in depth the design, delivery and graduate output of any business and/or management degree programme. Such programmes would normally be offered by a business school but EPAS also recognises that many other types of organisations offer business related programmes such as degrees in health or engineering management.

Because of the fact that EQUIS and EPAS between them can only touch maybe 500 schools which is a very small, and top end, proportion of the business schools community, EFMD launched EFMD Deans across Frontiers (EDAF) in 2011. This is a service designed to assist the management of business schools at any stage of their evolution to develop their institution further. By peer review, EDAF evaluates where the institution is currently positioned with respect to its key strategic objectives and it makes recommendations for improvements. EDAF then provides a 3-year mentoring process to assist the institution’s management to achieve its goals, which may include eventual accreditation.

The Quality Services Portfolio
The three systems (EQUIS, EPAS and EDAF) are now designed as a portfolio. Each of them is a free-standing quality improvement process dealing with different aspects of an institution. However they are also linked as a potential pathway between systems. For example an institution entering EDAF may either use it as part of its development trajectory or to aim in due course for EPAS accreditation for one or more of its programmes, or perhaps to achieve EQUIS. On request EDAF can provide a gap analysis on the key areas requiring improvement in order to achieve an accreditation.

An institution entering EPAS may just be seeking programme accreditation or it may use it to develop its range of programmes before aiming for EQUIS and it too can receive advice on its readiness for EQUIS as part of the EPAS process (EQUIS gap analysis). Alternatively an EPAS school could instead use the EDAF process to assist it to evaluate its gap to EQUIS accreditation and to receive guidance through mentoring to achieve its goal. In principle an EQUIS school might even wish to have one of its programmes, eg its doctoral programme, reviewed in depth by EPAS. However, this would require a change in the policy agreed by the EFMD membership some time ago that EQUIS schools should not be permitted to undergo EPAS.

Finally EQUIS and EPAS member schools (as part of their own social responsibility) are particularly welcome to sponsor EDAF schools in terms of supplying advisors and mentors and/or funding some of the EDAF costs. With this structure, EFMD and Quality Services offer a coherent portfolio of improvement and development services which are open to the full quality spectrum of business schools or institutions. For further information go to www.efmd.org

Chris Greensted is a Senior Advisor at EFMD. This post is taken from a recent Global Focus article "Peak Performance". The new Quality Services Portfolio Brochure is available here.

Most deans of leading business schools would agree that being a top-performing faculty member is synonymous with being a top researcher. The production of widely cited A-level articles has become the core ingredient for a successful academic career, leading to peer recognition, tenure and ever-larger pecuniary rewards in the form of higher base salaries and bonuses.

At the same time, though, many practitioners would argue that the way academics are conducting research is the very essence of what is wrong with business schools today. They claim that research methodologies and outcomes are too often detached from the realities of managing enterprises and that researchers lack the motivation as well as all too often the ability to credibly surpass Andrew Pettigrew’s double hurdle of generating academically meaningful as well as practically relevant knowledge.

What is particularly worrying about this long-standing debate is the apparent unresponsiveness of the business school community, which continues to operate in the “we know best” mode. Business schools are facing environmental dynamics that will eventually make change inevitable. PhD programmes are not producing enough graduates to fulfil the hiring needs of a rapidly growing sector. Market entry by non-research for-profit providers will produce additional challenges to a system where business schools are using a large part of their resources to support a seemingly zero-return activity. There are effectively two pieces to the puzzle.

Researchers argue that they are, above all, writers seeking recognition from their peers. In contrast, communication experts claim that business schools need to improve on their customer orientation. They should produce research that meets the real needs of their stakeholders in terms of content and packaging.

Building a bridge between these two positions is not impossible. Business schools are currently operating based on model where researchers are drifting like particles in institutional space, where they have complete freedom to interact with other particles within or across institutional boundaries and where they eventually release output that is measured by a centuries-old metric.

But why not define academic research as a starting point of an innovation chain? It would allow researchers to focus on what they know best, the production of peer-reviewed articles. It would also, however, introduce the research outcomes into a refinement process that leads to spin-off outputs such as case studies, podcasts,  business simulations, policy position papers, open source e-learning content and interactive communication with corporate partners.

Embedding researchers into vertical innovation chains might also foster mutual learning with practitioners, which will affect the direction of research \and thereby address the main criticism of the corporate world.

In sum, business schools should reflect on how to organise their research activities better in order to justify the significant resource commitments. Laissez faire, with some moderation using a system of external, peer-based controls, has so far not enabled them to pass the double hurdle test. Existing research capabilities could possibly be made better us of by reversing the atomisation of research production and by creating support structures for top researchers.

Proceeding on this line must and should not infringe on the academic freedom of the individual researcher as since this would probably lead to harmful feedback effects in terms of research quality and productivity. However, business schools should attempt to break open their research silos and let the wider community that surrounds them participate in the benefits of their knowledge-generation activities.

Ulrich Hommel, Director of Research & Surveys at EFMD

2013 EFMD MENA Conference - Empowering the Next Generation of Leaders

We are delighted to invite you to the 2013 EFMD Conference in the MENA Region hosted by the Abu Dhabi University and sponsored by GMAC® in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on the 14-16 April 2013.

2013 EFMD Conference in the MENA Region.
Business Schools in the MENA Region - Empowering the Next Generation of Leaders

The EFMD MENA conference is one of the most important management education events in the region and brings together business schools, companies, NGOs and the private sector to share and exchange ideas and best practice examples. More specifically it addresses ongoing trends in management education inside and outside of the MENA Region and promotes an active debate between regional actors and participants from other regions of the world.

Topics such as business education for employment, family business and succession planning, the role of business schools in preparing entrepreneurs for the region, research, managing country risk perception, executive education, alumni engagement and the role of international campuses will be discussed, with the contribution of leading academics and business representatives from the MENA Region, North America and Europe.

As well as the conference there will be an EFMD Quality Services Seminar that will provide information on EQUIS & EPAS accreditation and the EFMD Deans Across Frontiers development system (EDAF). The seminar will take place on Sunday 14 April just before the conference starts and requires a separate registration (which can be done through the same link as the conference, by choosing the option "I will attend the EQUIS, EPAS and EDAF Seminar on Sunday 14 April").

If you and your school are interested in participating in the conference and seminars, please register by visiting the conference webpage: www.efmd.org/mena. If you have any additional questions you can contact Inês Proença (ines.proenca@efmd.org).

Finally, do not hesitate to pass on this invitation to your colleagues who might be interested in attending.

The 2013 EFMD Deans & Directors General Conference, will be hosted by Koç University School of Business in Turkey on the 31st Jan – 1st Feb. This year EFMD and the organising committee has chosen to investigate, discuss and explore the theme of: Making Things Happen and has put together an exceptional programme with high-class speakers including:

• Developments Over the Past Five Years
  Paul Danos, Dean, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, USA
  Ben Glover, Regional Director, GMAC - Graduate Management Admission Council®, UK
  Monica Sacristán, Dean, Executive Development, ITAM Business School, ITAM - Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, MX
  Kwei Tang, University Chair and Dean, College of Commerce, National Chengchi University, TW
  Howard Thomas, Dean of Lee Kong Chian School of Business and LKCSB Chair of Strategic Management, Singapore Management University, SG
  
  
• Making Things Happen – Future of Business Education
  Dominique Turpin, President, IMD, CH
  Pankaj Ghemawat, Professor of Strategic Management, IESE Business School, ES
  Siwei Cheng, Dean, Management School of University of China Academy of Sciences, CN
  
  
• How to Approach the Digital Generation?
  James W. Dean Jr., Dean, Kenan-Flagler Business School, USA
  Andrew Crisp, Director, CarringtonCrisp Ltd., UK
  Moderated by Santiago Iñiguez, President IE University, Dean IE Business School, ES
  
  
• How to Manage Multiple Campuses?
  Susan Hart, Dean, Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, UK
  Alberto Grando, Dean, SDA Bocconi School of Management, IT
  
  
• Changes and Developments in Undergraduate Education
  Melanie Currie, Head of Undergraduate Programmes, Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University, UK
  Jon Erik Svendsen, Dean Bachelor, BI Norwegian Business School, NO

• Trends in MSc and MBA
  Kai Peters, Chief Executive, Ashridge, UK
  Julia Marsh, Executive Director, Masters in Management, London Business School, UK
  Moderated by Jane Delbene, Director of Marketing, EMEA, GMAC -  Graduate Management Admission Council®, UK
  
  
• What do Employers Expect in five years?
  Aysegul Aydin, Managing Partner, Heidrick and Stuggles, TK
  Aysegul Ildeniz, Regional Director, Middle East, Turkey, Africa, Intel Corporation

The full programme is here - if you have any questions please contact Delphine HAUSPY delphine.hauspy@efmd.org

As in previous years, this conference will ONLY accept registrations for those with chief executive (top management) responsibility and authority in EFMD member business schools and centres. We will only accept the Dean of the school, the Director General, the President, the Rector or the Managing Director of the school itself.

The information sessions will provide an introduction to EFMD and the international network  as well as providing information on EQUIS (EFMD Quality Improvement System), EPAS (EFMD Programme Accreditation System) and EDAF (EFMD Deans Across Frontiers mentoring system) and the underlying concepts of accreditation, mentoring and quality improvement. The sessions will be relevant for Business School Deans and / or their delegates with responsibility for quality assurance and/or accreditations. This is highly recommended for any School that wants to learn more about EFMD membership, events, seminars, and specifically about accreditation and mentoring.

November

• On the 13th of November, EFMD will hold a Quality Services Information Session on EQUIS, EPAS & DAF, hosted by  CFVG - Centre Franco-Vietnamien de Formation à la Gestion in Ho Chi Minh City and on the 14th of November, EFMD will be presenting the Quality Services portfolio during the Colloquium on Quality that CFVG is organising for their 20th anniversary in Hanoi.
  
  
• On November the 29th, EFMD is arranging a Quality Services Information Session in Moscow, hosted by the Lomonosov Moscow State University Business School that will introduce Deans Across Frontiers programme (DAF), EPAS & EQUIS.
  
  
• Finally, following the 2012 CEIBS-EFMD conference on Innovative Business in China and Europe in Beijing on November the 29th and 30th, there will be seminars on the Deans Across Frontiers programme (DAF), EPAS & EQUIS.

More information on all of the events is available on the EFMD website or please email info@efmd.org if you have any question or require further information.

EFMD will be organizing a Quality Services Information Session in Moscow on Thursday 29 November 2012, hosted by Lomonosov Moscow State University Business School. The session is given by Professor Christian Delporte, Associate Director, Quality Services, EFMD.

The session is designed for institutions that want to learn more about EFMD, its accreditations and other quality services and will provide a basic introduction to EQUIS (EFMD Quality Improvement System), EPAS (EFMD Programme Accreditation System) and EDAF (EFMD Deans Across Frontiers mentoring system) systems and the underlying concepts of accreditation, mentoring and quality improvement. Special emphasis will be put on two of EFMD’s systems: EPAS and DAF. The information session will be relevant for Business School Deans or their delegates with responsibility for quality assurance and/or accreditations. This is highly recommended for any School that wants to learn more about EFMD membership, accreditation and mentoring.

After the information session, participants will have ample time for questions and also have the opportunity to discuss individually the services, which EFMD offers. If you wish to schedule a face-to-face meeting with Professor Christian Delporte in the afternoon of the 29th, please contact magdalena.wanot@efmd.org. This is highly recommended for any School that is considering to apply for EFMD accreditation or mentoring systems and the extra knowledge acquired during the session might be helpful in this process.

Do not miss the opportunity to explore EFMD and its accreditation and mentoring systems: EPAS and DAF. The programme of the session, practical information and online registration form is available here. Find out more about the Deans Across Frontiers programme (EDAF), EPAS & EQUIS.

If you have any question or would like further information please contact magdalena.wanot@efmd.org.

EFMD would like to warmly congratulate:

• EBS Business School, EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht, Germany
• Faculty of Management, Economics & Social Sciences, University of Cologne, Germany
• IESEG School of Management Lille-Paris France
• Yonsei University School of Business Korea
• School of Management, Zhejiang University China

who have just been awarded EQUIS accreditation. This takes the number of accredited schools to 138 across 38 countries.

Prof. Julio Urgel, the EFMD Director of Quality Service said, "We are delighted to welcome 5 more leading international schools into the EQUIS community. Accreditation from EFMD is one of the best and most complete ways to certify the actual quality of a business school as accreditation involves an extensive self-assessment by the school, the visit of an international review team who spend several days interviewing many different people in the School, and finally a very experienced jury evaluating the assessment and findings of the review team to determine whether the School should be granted accreditation. There are currently no substitutes for such an in-depth assessment of quality and the new schools who have been accredited should be commended for their commitment to excellence."

• "The faculty of the School of Management, Economics and Social Sciences is very proud that the School has been rewarded the prestigious EQUIS accreditation. This accreditation acknowledges the efforts of all members of the school to transform it successfully into a competitive, international business school. And it encourages us to continue striving for excellence in research and education."
  Prof. Dr. Werner Mellis, Dean, School of Management, Economics and Social Sciences, University of Cologne
  
  
• “We are proud and honored to be rewarded with the prestigious Equis accreditation. This is for us an extremely important recognition and a fantastic starting point for further development of new international programs and partnerships, recruitment of international students and faculty and improving the placement of our students on a worldwide level.”
  Dr. Jean-Philippe Ammeux, General Director, IESEG School of Management Lille-Paris
  
  
• "We are extremely proud to have achieved EQUIS accreditation. This prestigious achievement reflects the hard work and dedication of our faculty toward providing our students with a world-class education and honors us with inclusion among the world’s elite institutions. The accreditation process has been a journey, not a destination, because the insights gained in the peer review will continue to guide us as we build on this achievement. In celebrating our reaching this milestone in our history, however, I must also express our deep gratitude for the support and guidanceof the late Jim Herbolich of EFMD. His encouragement during his briefing visit with us and on other occasions played a crucial role in our achieving this accreditation."
  Prof. Dr. Sang Yong Park, Dean of Yonsei University School of Business
  
  
• "We are so very pleased to have been awarded EQUIS accreditation as this means that the school’s achievements in teaching and research quality, and professional relevance have been acknowledged. EQUIS will help our school become more internationally exposed and even more innovative and entrepreneurial. EFMD evaluates excellent business education all over the world and EQUIS has systematically helped business education programmes move from being good to great and helped guide them on a path to continuos improvement. We have benefited enormously from being a part of the EFMD international network as the global membership base has helped us learn a great deal from other members. Because of the work of EFMD and the value gained from going through the EQUIS process, we are much more confident now in our educational strategy of Global Perspective, Innovation Capability, Entrepreneurial Spirit, and Socially Responsibility, which makes the school unique.
  Prof. Dr. Xiaobo Wu, Executive Dean, Zhejiang University School of Management
  
  
• “We are very proud to have received the EQUIS seal. The EQUIS accreditation confirms our reputation of being one of the leading Business Schools in Germany and will in return increase the attractiveness for international students and faculty. The accreditation confirms the excellence of our teaching and research, the international orientation of our programs with its strong focus on personal development, the broad executive education program portfolio and the strong practical focus due to our broad corporate network.”
  Prof. Rolf Tilmes, Dean of EBS Business School

EQUIS is not primarily focused on the MBA or any other specific programme as its scope covers all of programmes offered by an institution from the first degree up to the Ph.D. Institutions that are accredited by EQUIS must demonstrate not only high general quality in all dimensions of their activities, but also a high degree of internationalisation. With companies recruiting worldwide, with students choosing to get their education outside their home countries, and with schools building alliances across borders and continents, there is a rapidly growing need for them to be able to identify those institutions in other countries that deliver high quality education in international management. EQUIS also believes that business schools should be as closely connected to the real world of business as schools of medicine are to working hospitals. There must be a balance between high academic quality and the professional relevance provided by close interaction with the corporate world. EQUIS attaches particular importance to the development of managerial and entrepreneurial skills and fosters a students sense of global responsibility.

More information on EQUIS is available at www.efmd.org/equis

The Quality Services Office is happy to present the 2012 version of the EQUIS and EPAS Documents. Every year the Quality Services Department revises its documentation to improve the quality of its accreditation services. The revision includes changes to:

-    EQUIS Standards and Criteria
-    EQUIS Process Manual
-    EQUIS Process Manual Annexes
-    EPAS Process Manual
-    EPAS Process Manual Annexes
-    EPAS Standards and Criteria

Some of the key changes are:

•    A new annex on the provision of the distance learning programmes (EPAS)
•    Fundamental changes to the EPAS Doctoral criteria (EPAS)
•    A strengthening of aspects of academic learning (EPAS)
•    Revised Peer Review Visit Schedule Templates (EQUIS and EPAS)
•    Many minor improvements in the accreditation process (EQUIS and EPAS)

A new re-accreditation procedure for EQUIS Schools that received 5 year accreditation three consecutive times is currently being fine tuned. Since it will only be of application for the first time to a few schools in their reviews in 2013, it will be published as a separate document in March 2012. After this pilot testing, it will be incorporated to the EQUIS Process Manual in 2013.

For more detailed information, please consult the relevant lists of changes and the new versions of the documents on our website. Schools are advised to use the most recent version of the documents when preparing for the next step in the accreditation process.

Deans Across Frontiers (DAF) aims to assist Business Schools to develop further through mentoring of the institution’s Senior Management Team. DAF is the third service offered by the EFMD Quality Services Department that complements EQUIS and EPAS and as with the accreditation systems, the school will undergo a Self-Assessment and Peer Review Process. Following the assessment by the Peer Review Team, the School will benefit for a three-year period of mentoring by an experienced former Dean and will progress towards defined development objectives. The EFMD will assure the effectiveness of the process through systematic progress tracking.

EFMD has a mission to promote excellence in business and management education worldwide. This is partly fulfilled by its existing accreditation systems, EQUIS and EPAS, which are aimed at the very top schools. However, EFMD also has a social responsibility to support all levels of schools, whether they be members of EFMD or not. The launch of Deans Across Frontiers is the response to this need. Fees are charged for DAF but applications are invited for full or partial-funding scholarships on a case-by-case needs basis.

The spirit of DAF and especially the relationship between mentor and institution is one of mutual cooperation and learning.  The mentoring and evaluation of a School has to consider the educational, cultural and political environment in which the institution operates and to relate it to a wider international context. It is not the intention of DAF to promote any particular model of Business School, but to give contextualised assistance or advice.

The DAF Committee convened for the first time on 18 October and the system was presented in November at the EFMD Africa Conference in Cape Town and the EFMD MENA conference in Casablanca. The pilot phase has now been officially launched and the DAF office is happy to receive applications. As DAF is still at an early stage of development, individuals and institutions are invited to become involved with DAF as mentor, reviewer, donor or godfather institution.

If you are interested in DAF or have any questions please email Friedemann Schulze-Fielitz friedemann.schulze-fielitz@efmd.org

On 15 November and 16 November, EFMD is organising EPAS and EQUIS Accreditation seminars just after the EFMD conference in the MENA Region in Casablanca (Host: ESCA- Ecole de Management). The seminars will be led by two highly experienced accreditation directors at EFMD.

The seminars are designed for institutions considering applying for EPAS (the EFMD Programme accreditation system) or EQUIS (the European Quality Improvement System – whole school accreditation) or for those already holding active eligibility in either system. The aim of the seminars is to give participants a deeper understanding of the EPAS or EQUIS accreditation systems. This is highly recommended for any School that wants to go through these accreditation exercises and the extra insights gained from the seminars might make all the difference towards achieving successful accreditation.

The seminars will cover the following areas:

•    The interpretation and practical application of the EPAS / EQUIS Standards and Criteria
•    Understanding the process as explained in the EPAS / EQUIS Manuals and Application Datasheets
•    The use of the key stages of the EPAS / EQUIS Accreditation processes for quality improvement
•    The preparation of an effective and informative Self-Assessment Report
•    The optimal timing of the EPAS / EQUIS Accreditation process

Do not miss this wonderful opportunity to find out more about EPAS or EQUIS accreditation and the value it can bring to your school. Registrations are open and places are limited. Sign up for both seminars and profit from a reduced fee.

For more information on the accreditations processes visit - EPAS and EQUIS.

"Avant tout, il faut comprendre que nous ne sommes pas dans une logique de sanction, souligne Eric Cornuel, directeur général de l’EFMD (lire ci-contre), qui délivre le label Equis à 18 institutions en France et 129 dans le monde (dont 30 % hors Europe). Notre objectif est d’être des vecteurs de progrès pour les institutions."

+ More // Les Echos

The Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration at Chulalongkorn University has become the only higher learning institution to earn both US and European accreditation. In December, it was accredited with EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System)......... "Regarding the European accreditation, the emphasis of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) is more on practicality as the EFMD consists of both business and academic interests." + More // The Nation