THE LONG TERM


DOMINANCE OF NORTH AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN BUSINESS SCHOOLS


Respectable international MBA rankings reveal a simple truth: North American and Western European business schools continue to dominate the MBA world, writes Ross Geraghty.


North America and Europe continue to dominate the world of business schools. A regional breakdown of the 200 elite schools to feature in the 2012/13 QS Global 200 Business Schools Report is telling in this regard. No fewer than 84 schools are North American, with Europe accounting for a further 65.


This is echoed in applicant preference. TopMBA.com research reveals that, though other regions are slowly gaining in popularity, Western business schools remain ahead.


“As countries such as China and South Africa increasingly feature in global economic discussion, MBA applicants are being attracted to local business schools aiming to benefit from developing a cultural understanding and close ties with local employers,” explains Nunzio Quacquarelli, managing director of QS Quacquarelli Symonds and author of the QS TopMBA.com Applicant Survey 2012.


“However, at the same time, the top 10 MBA study destinations retain a strong lead in popularity amongst MBA applicants and are almost exclusively Western nations. The only exception is Singapore; a nation well- known for offering western business ideals, as well as strong business education links to Western Europe.”


A Proud Heritage


The MBA began in the US, with Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth creating the first management program in 1900, and Harvard Business School offering the first MBA in 1908 and pioneering the still-dominant case study method in 1920. Chicago introduced the executive MBA in 1943. The first non-US school to offer MBAs was the University of


Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey in 1950.


This heritage is the reason for North American schools’ strength, believes Professor Sridhar Balasubramanian, associate dean for the MBA program at the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School: “A key reason for this dominance is the key role of business research [including] the development of influential theories and concepts, the establishment of important empirical findings, and the publication of impactful books.


“The research culture that supports research productivity has been nurtured over time. This culture cannot be transplanted or mandated. It has to be built


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