Financial Times Reports on the rise of Eastern Europe’s business schools

On January 3rd, the Financial Times reported about the rise of Eastern European business schools and their competitiveness with their Western counterparts

The article highlights the vast difference and inadequacies of business schools in the 1990’s siting several examples of schools in Eastern Europe. It is explained that neither the content of the curriculum nor the style of teaching were conducive to preparing students for the newly shaping business world they were to be part of.  “The teacher was a fount of wisdom. They listened, and didn’t say anything. Initially it was quite difficult to encourage students to take part in a participative [class],” said Jim Ellert, meritus professor of finance and strategy at IMD in Switzerland. 

Further, the need for better executives eventually pushed schools to slowly start the transition into a more Western style of teaching, in order to meet the demand for local executives that were up to the task. “Helped by visiting professors, exchange programs and development courses run by western management schools, the quality of teaching in the new democracies advanced.”

Andreas Antonopoulos, Rector of the University of New York in Prague, added to the article that issues in the 1990s about the quality of local academics have all but disappeared. “We don’t see much difference in the quality of programs in the region to many in the west, bar a few Ivy League schools,” he says, rather it is local corporations who “need to catch up in terms of supporting MBA studies of their promising employees.” The article also mentions the positive impact of accrediting bodies on business education, raising and maintaining standards of programs across borders and cultures. CEEMAN for example which started its accreditation procedures in 1999, now, accredits 18.

To read the full article on the Financial Times website, “Eastern Europe’s business schools rise to meet western counterparts” written by Kester Eddy, please follow this link.

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