DeansTalk - business management education

On Accountability, Consider Bologna

Click here for the article of Inside Higher Education, July 28, 2008.

Impressed by American higher education’s embrace of accountability?

"You shouldn’t be, according to a new policy brief on the Bologna Process from the Institute for Higher Education Policy. Written by Clifford Adelman, a senior associate at the institute, the document “contends that none of the major pronouncements on accountability in U.S. higher education that we have heard in the recent past – from Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings’ Commission on the Future of Higher Education to platitude pronouncements and wish lists for student learning from the higher education community — even begin to understand what accountability means"...

Russian Graduates Should Be Free to Go Abroad - Putin

Click here for article of iStockAnalyst, Wednesday, July 16.

MOSCOW. July 16 (Interfax) - Russian university graduates should not be restricted in their right to work for foreign companies or go abroad, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said.

"As head of the government, I dislike the fact that some (graduates) are leaving Russia, nevertheless, I believe it is wrong to restrict our people in their rights," Putin said at a meeting with senior members of the Federation Council in Moscow on Wednesday.

Responding to Federation Council Speaker Sergei Mironov's criticism of the Bologna process and his proposal to introduce special measures to make Russian university graduates stay and work in Russia, Putin said: "We have conceptual differences with you."

The fact that some Russian young people go abroad has a positive side to it, he said.

"Our education systems are therefore showing their competitiveness," Putin said.

"You think that by getting European-standard diplomas our people are encouraged to look for jobs in foreign companies or abroad. We should act not through restrictions but through creating the optimal conditions for young people to work here, that is by increasing salaries and providing housing opportunities," the prime minister said.

AcademyOne, Inc. promoting US student mobility

Website

AcademyOne is simplifying student mobility and curriculum alignment between higher education institutions balancing pro-active and re-active methods.

www.collegetransfer.net supports students, institutions and state agencies improving coordination, outreach, guidance, recruiting, assessment and student success by bridging policies, practices and processes.

Carrots, Sticks and Transfer - Bologna Process vs. US

Click here for the article of Inside Higher Ed, June 23rd 2008.

Before becoming a DC think tank person, I worked for the Indiana Senate, advising the chair of the State Budget Committee. Much of this job consisted of listening to people ask my boss for money.

...The United States is an unusually large nation populated by a restless citizenry prone to moving from place to place. Our higher education system is also unusually diverse and decentralized, with thousands of public and private institutions retaining the academic freedom to decide what kind of course credits they’ll accept from whom. As a result, the basic logistic challenges of managing student transfer are considerable. It’s hard for a given college to evaluate credits from a huge number of courses, departments, and institutions nationwide...

The result — a chaotic, inefficient transfer “system” that’s hardly a system at all — makes life very difficult for students who attend multiple institutions, as more and more do. What’s worse, many students don’t find out how many courses will be accepted for credit until after they transfer, so they can’t take ease of transfer into account when they decide where to go....

...The flawed U.S. transfer non-system has also persisted because, historically, it was still better than what students experienced elsewhere. But that, too, is changing. As the Institute for Higher Education’s Clifford Adelman found in his recent report on the Bologna Process, universities in Europe are poised to leapfrog the United States in ease of transfer, based on a process of deep, concurrent analysis of academic goals, degree qualifications and credit systems that goes far beyond what a harried registrar’s office in a U.S. institution could hope to accomplish one transcript at a time...

Increased Interest in Erasmus - Spain still no 1. destination.

Europa Communiqués de presse, 13/05/2008.

Established in 1987, Erasmus, the EU's flagship education and training programme for mobility and cooperation in higher education across Europe, continues to expand. Erasmus receives approximately € 450 million per annum under the EU's Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013. For the academic year 2006/07, figures show that 3% more students and 10% more university teachers went abroad compared to the previous year. This brought the total participants to almost 160 000 students and 26 000 teachers in that year alone. Central and Eastern European countries, as well as Turkey, have had the biggest growth in the numbers participating in the programme. ...

Student and teacher mobility

During the 20-year period from 1987 to 2007, approximately 1.7 million students benefited from a study period abroad under the Erasmus programme with 159 324 Erasmus students in the academic year 2006/07. This represents an annual increase of 3.2% compared to 7.2% in the previous year.

Germany continued to be the biggest sender with 23 884 Erasmus students followed by France (22 981), Spain (22 322) and Italy (17 195). Spain remained the most popular destination for students, receiving 27 464 over the year, with France in second place (20 673), followed by Germany (17 878) and the United Kingdom (16 508).

Bologna process-Call for proposals: Tempus IV programme

From Cordis website, 5 February, 2008.

The European Commission's Directorate-General for Education and Culture has issued a call for proposals for its Tempus IV programme, on the reform of higher education through international university cooperation.

Tempus promotes multilateral cooperation among higher education institutions, authorities and organisations from EU Member States and partner countries. It focuses on the reform and modernisation of higher education.

The overall objective of the programme will be to contribute towards facilitating cooperation in the field of higher education among Member States of the European Union (EU) and partner countries in the surrounding area. In particular, the programme will help promote voluntary convergence with EU developments in the field of higher education deriving from the Lisbon agenda and the Bologna process.

For further information, please visit:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/tempus/index_en.html

To see the full details of the call, please  click here

European Education and The Bologna Process

European Education and The Bologna Process

Australia, New Zealand and Israel to soon join the Bologna Process?

Australia and Europe collaborate on Research, 13 November, 2007

Israel’s ambassador to the EU praises ‘real dialogue' between Israel and Europe, 22 November, 2007

Santiago Iniguez - "Merit and Age" - Aspen Conference in Italy

www.SantiagoIniguez.com, Dean of IE Business School.

Some days ago I was invited to speak at the conference of The Aspen Institute Italy under the topic "Merit, Not Age as a Discriminating factor", jointly organized with the Agnelli Foundation at their headquarters in Torino, Italy. The conference was preceded on the eve by an interview in the Financial Times with Mr. John Elkann , Vice-Chairman of the Fiat Group, who in fact co-chaired the plenary sessions with Mr. Mario Monti, President of Bocconi University and former Commissioner of Competition of the European Union. 

When I was invited to contribute at the conference I believed that the main theme was the consequences of the ageing population phenomenon for European business. Consequently, my presentation dealt with some foreseeable measures, such as postponing the time of compulsory retirement, and some solutions from educational institutions, for example promoting entrepreneurship programs for the elderly people, since this segment of populations is experienced, skilled and in many cases have the resources to pilot new start-ups. Actually, Peter Drucker affirmed in one of his latest contributions that the fastest growing segment of future education will be programs for the mature and aged people.

However, upon discussion with my table neighbors at the starting dinner I realized that the crux of the conference centered on how to ease the access of young people to key positions at Italian institutions. Interestingly, gerontocracy is the prevalent regime at most Italian organizations, from business to politics and academia. This is largely due to traditions and culture, but is also caused by strict labor laws, lack of real internal competition and the dominant systems for selecting and promoting people at the top. Indeed, Italy has one of the highest average age ratios of leaders across the board although there are some other countries in the same cluster, like Japan.       

Back at my hotel, located in the superbly restored Centro Histórico Fiat, once the reference of futuristic architecture, I redid my presentation to cover some topics related to the net generation and include some suggestions for promoting the advance of young leaders to management (see presentation attached). My main proposal was to foster the implementation of the Bologna Process at Italian universities. I believe that if Italy opens up to the cross-border movement of students, faculty and knowledge, the benign winds of international competition  and global convergence will facilitate the access of young generations, Italian and foreign, to many of its institutions, thus promoting meritocracy over gerontocracy. "Non habete paura" and open your doors to true competition.

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European Qualifications Framework

Povl Tiedemann, Head of Department, Danish Business Economists

26 October 2007

From EU-press release it should be noted that on 25 October 2007 The European Parliament voted in favour of adopting the Recommendation on the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework for lifelong learning (EQF), proposed by the Commission in September 2006.

The EQF will link countries’ qualifications systems, improve their transparency and so act as translation device in order to help Member States, employers and individuals compare and better understand qualifications held by individual citizens from elsewhere in the EU.

The EQF is a translation grid for qualifications around Europe. It has two principal purposes: (1) to promote mobility between countries, and (2) to facilitate lifelong learning. Both are indespensable for achieving more and better jobs and growth, as Europe faces the challenge of becoming an advanced knowledge-based economy.

At the core of the EQF are its eight reference levels, from basic to advanced – combined with corresponding demands for Knowledge / Skills / Competence. These describe what a learner knows, understands and is able to do, regardless of the system in which the learner’s qualification was acquired.

The EQF therefore shifts the focus away from learning inputs (such as length of a learning experience, or type of institution), to learning outcomes. Shifting the focus towards learning outcomes brings significant advantages:

•    It supports a better match between education and training provisions and the needs of the labour market (for knowledge, skills and competences).

•    It facilitates the validation of non-formal and informal learning.

•    It facilitates the transfer and use of qualifications across different countries and education and training systems.

As an instrument for promoting lifelong learning, the EQF encompasses general and adult education, vocational education and training, as well as higher education. The eight EQF levels cover the entire span of qualifications from those achieved at the end of compulsory education, up to those awarded at the highest level of academic and professional or vocational education and training.

The recommendation approved by the European Parliament foresees that Member states relate their national qualifications systems to the EQF by 2010, and that individual certificates or diplomas should bear an EQF reference by 2012.

From the statement of Commissioner Jan Figel: “People in Europe too often face obstacles when they try to move from one country to another to learn or work. They sometimes also face obstacles when they want to move from one part of their own country’s education system to another, e.g. from vocational education and training to higher education…”

For further information, please check:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/educ/eqf/index_en.html

International Conference on "The African Universities' Adaptation to the Bologna Process"

The International Conference, last 16th July, on "The African Universities' Adaptation to the Bologna Process" in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), marked yet another attempt in the series of efforts to get African universities effectively associated with the planned creation of 'European Higher Education Area' by the year 2010.

After a long period of hesitation, African universities choose, one after the other, to adapt to the architecture of studies organisation which has been promoted since 1999 by the Bologna process.

In the South, the changeover is not simple: the model is imported from the North, there is no preliminary consultation between the European and the African universities on the characteristics it should have in order to be adapted to the economic, cultural and social context and needs of these two regions of the world. The European universities have adopted an organisation of the studies which they impose on their African counterparts, who are led to model themselves on them. There is no continent that is not influenced by the Bologna model which becomes universal. Asia and Latino America have undertaken reforms that go along the lines of a greater compatibility with the European higher education systems.
International financial organisations and institutions (UNESCO, World Bank, etc.) are in favour of the adjustment of African universities to the Bologna model, especially when it falls within concerted initiatives.

Nigeria: Bologna Process And African Universities

EUA: Call for Proposals and The Complete Call for Proposals document pdf (121 KB)

Unesco's Portal for Higher Education's Call for Proposals.

The Europe Unit, working for the UK higher education sector

The Europe Unit

Higher Education Ministers at the Bologna Process Summit that took place in London on 16-18 May 2007. Higher education ministers from the 46 Bologna Process participating countries met to review progress and to set priorities for the next two years in the resulting London Communiqué. More details...

Bologna Process Stocktaking London 2007

Bologna Process Stocktaking London 2007, (440 KB, 88 pages)

Report from a working group appointed by the Bologna Follow-up Group to the Ministerial Conference in London, May 2007.

"There are three main findings from the 2007 stocktaking:
1. There has been good progress in the Bologna Process since Bergen.
2. The outlook for achieving the goals of the Bologna Process by 2010 is good, but there are still some challenges to be faced.
3. Stocktaking works well as an integral part of the Bologna Process strategy." (Report itself)

According to EurActiv .com: "While the report found that "there has been good progress on specific action lines and indicators", it reminds that is not enough to look at these in isolation because all aspects of the Bologna Process are interdependent. In particular, the report urges all participating countries to use learning outcomes as a basis for their national qualifications frameworks and systems for credit transfer and accumulation.

The ministers issued a Communiqué reviewing progress on the different Bologna process action lines (mobility; degree structure; recognition of qualifications; qualifications frameworks; lifelong learning; quality assurance; doctoral studies; social dimension; EHEA in a global context) and setting priorities for 2008-2009."

The National Unions of Students in Europe -Bologna

"BOLOGNA WITH STUDENT EYES" (2.5MB, 70 pages).

From The European Students' union (ESIB) website:      (About ESIB)

15th May: ESIB releases its third survey on how the Bologna Process is implemented around Europe. Covering 36 European countries, the report analyses how the commitments made in the Bologna Process are implemented in practice at national level. The authors deduce that many reforms are carried out only superficially: For example the European credit and transfer system, ECTS, (wikipedia definition) should facilitate mobility and put the learner in the center, but countries are not implementing it properly. It is shown that credits are not fully comparable within Europe.

Mobility of students, although one of the key Bologna objectives, remains connected to many obstacles. Student grants and loans are not fully portable for studies abroad yet, and additional financial support is missing. It is clear that not all students can afford to be mobile. The report also reveals the unequal treatment of foreign students in many countries. Problems related to visa regulations and work permits are a major hurdle for non-EU students.

The Social dimension of the Bologna Process, discussed and worked with since 2001, is also still an area in which a lot of work continues to be neccessary. There is still not enough comparable data availible about the social situation of the students and in some countries the social situation has deteoriated.

”Bologna goes Global”

Povl Tiedemann, Head of Department, Danish Business Economists

From recent press release by the Cabinet of EU Commissioner Jan Figel, it should be noted that the accelerating processes in the European Higher Education not only comprise the development from 29 to 45 participating countries – the contents and the objectives are also developing with an impressive momentum towards a global context.

Having the basic reforms on stream with:

-Three cycle structure,
-Quality assurance,
-Recognition of qualifications and study periods,

The London meeting of the Ministers of Education 17 – 18 May 2007 will expectedly adopt a  strategy for positioning the European Higher Education in a Global context with focus on: International Dialogue, Comparison, Competition and Quality.

The subsequent activities will comprise:

-Information provision,
-Attractiveness,
-Competitiveness,
-Partnerships,
-Policy Dialogue,
-Mutual Recognition.

Thereby the traditional ways of managing and performing Higher Education will be put under expected pressure by the competition- and market driven agenda of the future. However, also at an accelerated pace, and with due inspiration from the experiences of the suppliers of Mail – Tele – Rail – Energy.

Bologna Process - New EUA Trends Report

Complete article of European University Association (EUA), 10/05/2007 

Download the Trends V Report. (6.21 MB)

The latest survey of more than 900 European institutions, using both quantitative and qualitative analysis, will be presented to the 46 Education Ministers attending the Bologna Ministerial Conference taking place in London on May 17/18.

Trends V shows that 82% of the institutions responding to the survey have now introduced the three cycle degree system. However, while the report shows that there now seems little doubt that the reforms in degree structure will be in place by 2010, it highlights that there is still much work to be done to achieve the underlying social and economic aims of Bologna.

While 74% of institutions stated that it was crucial to make rapid progress to the EHEA, the report highlights that that most countries still need to make major progress in a number of areas such as:

•    Working more closely with employers to ensure that the reforms are understood, and that new qualifications are relevant for the labour market;
•    Improving quality assurance systems in Europe by strengthening institutional quality culture, involving students and moving to “light touch” external audits of institutions;
•    Strengthening trust between institutions and countries to improve mobility both for staff and students.

Trends V also highlights that universities must commit more resources to developing lifelong learning, a key goal for Europe. Only 17% of the sample felt this was currently a major priority for their institution. Finally, the study shows that the social objectives of Bologna are still someway from being achieved. Governments and institutions need to develop their strategies and take concrete action if they are to ensure that all who have the potential to benefit from higher education have equal opportunities in the European Higher Education Area.

Commissioner Figel to boost EU-Australia relations in education and training

EU-Australia Cooperation in Higher Education and Vocational Training

"There is no doubt that Europe, New Zealand and Australia can all profit from dialogue, exchange of experiences and best practices, and above all, institutional cooperation. Education cooperation is a powerful tool to improve mutual understanding, reduce distance and build long lasting personal and institutional relationships”

Bologna Process - Spain Grants Universities More Freedom in Faculty Hiring

Opening paragraphs from an article of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

Spain's parliament passed a law on Thursday that will give universities greater autonomy in faculty hiring but that critics say will foment academic inbreeding, long a controversial feature of Spanish higher education.

The new law is a modification of the Organic Law of Universities, enacted in 2001, which required candidates for tenured positions to pass nationally administered, competitive examinations in their fields.

Those examinations will now be replaced by a system in which universities can grant permanent teaching jobs to anyone accredited by national commissions composed of university professors. Accreditation will be based on an evaluation of a candidate's curriculum vitae, and there will be no limit on the number of accredited candidates. By contrast, the previous system qualified only enough candidates to fill the available number of permanent positions.

European universities courting Berkeley professors

Excerpt from article in FortWayne.com, March 5, 2007.

BERKELEY, Calif. - The new "Europe of Knowledge" could include a big chunk of UC Berkeley.

Professors on the Berkeley campus have received a surprising number of job offers from European institutions in recent months, the latest volley in the battle to keep top faculty members in the East Bay.

Berkeley professors have long entertained offers from the Harvards and Stanfords, but the Eidgenossische Technische Hochschules are the new players.

The push is part of an effort by European governments to improve higher education on the continent, seen as a key to economic success over the next few decades.

"European institutions are aware that they play second fiddle to American institutions," said Jan de Vries, the UC Berkeley vice provost who handles faculty issues.

In a bid to attract international students and faculty, at least 40 European countries have joined the Bologna Process, which includes dramatic changes to the continent's universities.

"A Europe of Knowledge," noted the 1999 accord that set up the process, "is now widely recognized as an irreplaceable factor for social and human growth."

A European college degree generally took at least six years to complete before the agreement; now it takes three or four years. Several universities have restructured tenure systems to make themselves more attractive to U.S. professors...

UK seminar today - Trade unions now fully integrated in the Bologna Process

Excerpt from Politics.co.uk article, 08 Feb 2007

University and College Union joint general secretary, Sally Hunt, will today [yesterday] tell delegates at a major European education seminar that unless trade unions are centrally involved in plans for greater mobility for staff and students across Europe the whole process risks becoming a white elephant.

Speaking at the ‘Making Bologna a reality’ seminar in central London, Sally Hunt will say:

“We are delighted that at last the trade unions representing the academic community in Europe are now fully integrated in the Bologna Process - it has taken us long enough to get to here. I want to impress just how important it is for the government and other key decision makers in every country to engage with the staff representatives and trade unions of our universities. The full involvement of academic and support staff in the Bologna Process will give it the dynamism it needs; without this the whole process risks being a grand idea that does not come fully to fruition.”

The aims of the Bologna Process are to create greater mobility between European countries for students and staff and to produce a system of easily comparable degrees..

The seminar takes place on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 February at the TUC Congress Centre, Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3LS. Sally Hunt is speaking at in the first session starting at 11am. Other speakers at the event include TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber. 

Australian Education passport in train

Article from The Australian (Higher Education section), January 10th, 2007.

THE University of New England will lead a consortium of 14 Australian universities to develop a template for a new international "qualifications passport".
The Australian Diploma Supplement is expected to make it easier for graduates to move between jobs and institutions in Australia and overseas.
It is part of the commonwealth's response to Europe's Bologna Process, a higher education bloc of 45 countries with common degree structures.

Education Minister Julie Bishop announced in September that she would proceed with a diploma supplement. Today she will reveal the 14 members of the consortium selected to draw up a template.

The supplement, used in many European countries, is a document of several pages attached to a degree or diploma that can be easily understood by institutions and employers anywhere...

... Last April a federal government discussion paper warned that Australia needed to look at uniform degree structures, a diploma supplement and international recognition of qualifications to meet competition from Europe.

"The Bologna process seems likely to have a profound effect on the development of higher education globally," the paper said.

But some sceptics believe the potential effect is overstated and that it would be better for Australia to align with Asian countries.

Erasmus

Brussels, 7 December 2006

The President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, said: “ERASMUS has developed beyond just being an educational programme. It gives many European university students the chance of living for the first time in a foreign country, and it has reached the status of a social and cultural phenomenon. It is an excellent example of what coordinated European action in the field of education can achieve, and bodes well for the success of the recently proposed European Institute of Technology, which – like Erasmus 20 years ago – is a brand new concept that represents a vision and a belief that concerted European action has a larger added value than the sum up of excellent independent initiatives.”

Jan Figel, European Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture, and Multilingualism said: “Erasmus has been and remains a key factor in the internationalisation and somehow “Europeanisation” of the EU’s higher education systems. Those months spent abroad are also a turning point in the lives of thousands of individuals: 80% of the participants are the first in their family to undertake a period of study abroad”. To conclude: “Among the challenges left, the ERASMUS grant remains far too low to allow students from less favourable financial backgrounds to enjoy the benefits of the Programme. Also the Commission is calling for Member States to increase their support for ERASMUS, to open it up to even more students, especially those from less privileged backgrounds.”

Education & Training 2010 - European Commission

"Education & Training 2010", Main policy initiatives and outputs in education and training since the year 2000. (88KB) - January 2007

This document provides an overview of the main policy initiatives and outputs resulting from the work
of the European Commission in the field of education and training since the Lisbon European Council
in March 2000. These form part of the integrated policy framework ‘Education & Training 2010’ and
includes Commission contributions to the Bologna intergovernmental process in the field of higher
education.

The Erasmus Programme celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2007

From European Commision>Education and Training>News The ERASMUS programme was launched in June 1987 and 3244 participated in its first academic year. Now, more than 150 000 people benefit each year from the programme. The Commission and the 31 participating countries will celebrate its 20th anniversary throughout the year 2007. The ERASMUS programme, which is arguably one of the best-known Community actions, encourages student and teacher mobility, and promotes transnational cooperation projects among universities across Europe. The scheme currently covers nine out of every ten European higher education establishments. It was named after Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466 – 1536), who was a Dutch humanist and theologian. ERASMUS has developed beyond just being an educational programme. It gives many European university students the chance of living for the first time in a foreign country, and it has reached the status of a social and cultural phenomenon. Well over 1.5 million students have so far benefited from Erasmus grants, and the European Commission hopes to reach a total of 3 million by 2012.

Contribution of the Council of Europe to the Bologna Process

The Council of Europe

COE- "Bologna for Pedestrians"

1. What is the Bologna Process?
2. How is the Process organised?
3. How did it all begin?
4. 1999
5. Prague 2001
6. Berlin 2003
7. Bergen 2005
8. Council of Europe
9. Who participates in the Process?

COE - "Contribution of the Council of Europe to the Bologna Process"

No German presidency initiative on education?

Article from Euractiv (About Euractiv), 18 December 2006.

Germany prepares to relaunch the EU's Lisbon Agenda without highlighting the key role that education must play to reach the Lisbon objectives.

Background:

When heads of state agreed on the Lisbon Agenda and goals in 2000, they asked for "not only a radical transformation of the European economy, but also a challenging programme for the modernisation of social welfare and education systems". They also said that by 2010, Europe should be the world leader in terms of the quality of its education and training systems.

To achieve these goals, however, all member states will need to fundamentally change their education and training systems. Such change could be brought forward by co-ordination between member states (joint definition of the objectives, common benhmarking, exchange of bes

Issues:

Even though Germany has set the relaunch of the Lisbon Strategy as one of its top priorities, no new initiative is set to be put forward on education by the end of July 2006.

The 'Lisbon relaunch' will instead focus on better regulation, with Germany bringing the current EU initiatives forward, linked to the Bologna process follow-up ministerial conference in May 2007 and the consultation on the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET) practice)...

Merger and Profiling - Danish examples in Academia

Povl Tiedemann, Head of Department, Danish Business Economists

Merger and Profiling
How to maintain accredited brand and identity independence  in a joint consortium with a non-accredited partner and continuing entity.

Gaining critical mass and volume concerning research and researchers, students, lecturers and professors, combined with viability in general, often involve establishment of co-operation like collaborative provision, consortia and direct commitment through merger.

Smaller and larger institutions – market driven business schools and classical universities, may find natural synergies through joint forces and ownership with full reciprocal commitment. This is of importance, specifically when operating on a worldwide scale.

However, when two or more institutions with full independent positioning, profile, identity and history are entering into such mutual commitments, accreditation may appear to be a critical issue between an accredited and a non-accredited institution - especially when the latter is the largest, the carrier of the main identity and being the continuing entity, e.g. a classical university.

Integration of institutions maintaining separate accreditation or an individual identity in general, will call for special merger models to ensure continued individual commitments and strengths, combined with the joint and scaled activities.

Dividing an “in-coming” and often smaller institution into bits and pieces to be absorbed by the continuing and often larger institution most certainly will eradicate the expected values added as well as the synergies of joint faculties.

To maintain accreditation together with brand and identity independence for the “in-coming” institution, it is imperative to:

Balance differences of mission and vision, aiming at full
Autonomy concerning
Resources
Strategy 
Internationalisation
Governance

constituting the basic business school accreditation elements and criteria to be supplemented by AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS.

Such demands may be difficult for the absorbing and continuing entity to accept and digest. However, through creation of the necessary platform and modus operandi to host the “in-coming” institution, the initial process and final consolidation may develop fruitfully, and with full complementary and synergy benefit.

For a positive case of inspiration please visit the websites and management forum at: the University of Aarhus , the Aarhus School of Business and the Danish University of Education

Above institutions of great variety are joining forces commencing by 2007, based on a general “university / professional school” platform of independency and individuality created at AU for the ASB and DPU units.

The basic elements of this platform are deducted from above accreditation criteria, thus leading the way for similar merger initiatives – locally as well as internationally across institutional interests.

The initial inspiration for this process is presented on www.globalisering.dk and the driving force is maintained by www.vtu.dk, nourished by the attitude that students should be treated like quality demanding clients, and Business Schools - Universities should perform like customer oriented service providers on a global marketplace.

This development corresponds directly with the 10 may 2006 – position of the European Commission on how best to modernize Europe’s universities, comprising the proposal to allow universities greater autonomy and accountability, so that they can respond quickly to change.

Winds of change rattle European universities

Article by CNN, November 20, 2006.

PARIS, France (AP) -- German universities are trying to charge tuition. Paris schools are considering selection instead of open admission. Dutch colleges are pushing students to finish faster. Greece wants to lift a ban on private universities.

Change is rattling Europe's temples of learning.

Resistance remains fierce, driven by fears of the "Americanization" -- or commercialization -- of higher education.

But economic realities are overpowering those who maintain that universities should impart universal knowledge, not pave the way to a job. Too many European graduates are getting welfare checks instead of paychecks...

Scenarios for European Higher Education and Research in 2015

Newropeans, 27 November, 2006.

Newropeans´5 Scenarios of EU development in the next 10 years underlie this paper on the future of higher education and research in Europe in general, and in particular their consequences for recognition of studies abroad. (first few lines of scenarios 1,2,3, 4 & 5).

Paper by Bernd Baumgartl PhD (www.navreme.net )
Developing VET Scenarios in Central and Eastern Europe and Their Added Value for Policy-Making”, European Journal of Education, No. 1/98, Institute for European Educational Policy, Paris.

Article describing Scenarios 1,2,        Article describing Scenarios 3,4,5

(The reader might like to compare the scenarios with those of an earlier post on this blog, "OECD - Future of Higher Education" 28 Oct. 2006)

1 Scenario “Re-Nationalisation”
Scenario 1 has at its starting point the enormous impact which accession has meant for the EU. By 2015, the Union is in severe crisis. Since the accession of the first countries of Central and Eastern Europe in 2004, the uncompleted reform has meant serious financial implications for the Commission’s budget...

2 Scenario “Self-Governance”
The second scenario is based on an integrating EU, which however limits itself to its re-affirmed “core competences”, i.e. economic and monetary integration. The reinforcement of the principle of subsidiarity had exacerbated the cleavage between policy areas within EU responsibility, and those where the Commission is explicitly excluded...

3 Scenario “Mega-Centres”
This scenario foresees the implementation of the concept of “European Excellence” in all policy domains – substituting the principle of subsidiarity. Rather than functioning as a government, the European Union institutions and actors aim at supporting Europe’s institutions, companies and actors with international standing to become more competitive on the global market...

4 Scenario “Europeanisation”
This scenario assumes the undertaking of serious measures to implement the “Europe of Knowledge”. The policy goals agreed in Feira, Lisbon and Gothenburg had been brought forward, and the Estonian presidency 2011 had selected “Structuring European Knowledge Development and Mutual Learning” as the main priority for the EU integration and enlargement. Instead of economic competitiveness, the shared objective of democratisation of the EU and good governance is the manifest priority. Hence, enhanced attention for social policy and life quality...

5 Scenario “Privatisation”
The last scenario stems from the assumption of a general “retreat of the state”. Both on national and EU level, government has become less important. Like in the Italy of Berlusconi at the beginning of the decade, all states have continued their privatisation and de-regulation policies started in the 1990s, and powerful corporate and commercial interests have taken over the leading role in most policy fields...

Making Sense of ‘Bologna Degrees’

Making Sense of ‘Bologna Degrees’, November 6th, 2006, InsidehigherEd.com

(At a recent meeting in Washington there was discussion of how US, European and Australian educational systems might be harmonised especially in view of the upcoming Bologna Process changes in Europe).

In the early 1990s, the then-presidents of Oberlin College and Stanford University floated the idea that the standard time for an undergraduate degree might be better at three years instead of four. The idea went nowhere — at least in the United States.

But 45 European nations have pledged to make three years the standard time for their  undergraduate degrees by 2010. Under “the Bologna Process,” ...where the agreement for “harmonizing” European higher education was signed in 1999...

...What happens when some of that mobility involves graduate study in the United States? ...Should American graduate schools recognize three-year degrees and admit such students to graduate programs?

These were among the thorny questions that brought a number of academic leaders from the United States and Europe together on Saturday in Washington, at a meeting organized by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. The outcome of these deliberations is also seen as likely to affect students and institutions in many other countries.

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(Blogmaster) One of the comments to the original article:

There is an excellent set of resources on the Bologna Process available at the Web site of NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Location: http://www.nafsa.org/knowledge_co...t_admissions/bologna_process_net

Seeking Quality, German Universities Scrap Equality

Seeking Quality, German Universities Scrap Equality, The New York Times, October 20, 2006

Yet last week, when a German government committee anointed three institutions as elite universities — a sort of Teutonic Ivy League — Karlsruhe made the cut while Heidelberg did not. The other winners were the University of Munich and the Technical University, also in Munich.

The much anticipated decision, which entitles the schools to more than $100 million each over the next five years, sent spirits soaring at Karlsruhe and swooning at Heidelberg. It also set off a national discussion about the nature of excellence, the necessity of focusing on science and technology and the wisdom of culling the great from the merely good.

"People used to say elite was a dirty word,"....

OECD - Future of Higher Education

Special thanks for this information provided by Povl Tiedemann, Head of Department, Danish Business Economists

Very useful OECD links on the future of education:

Teaching , Learning, and Schools for the Future

CERI - Schooling for Tomorrow

Furthermore, asides from that Danish universities and business schools commenced charging tuition fee for non-EU-students 1. January 2006, other notable news was that at the Meeting of OECD Education Ministers 2006, the Danish minister opted for the fouth scenario, as outlined below, as the most likey.

Four Future Scenarios for Higher Education [pdf 95 KB]

1.Open Networking 2. Serving Local Communities 3. New Public Management 4. Higher Ed. Inc.

Webcast of Meeting (streaming video of just over 3 hours)

What plays out in the future often depends upon decisions taken today, particularly as the passage of time narrows the room for manoeuvre of different players. Hence the importance of factoring the long term into decision-making in higher education. This paper presents four scenarios for higher education systems developed by the OECD Secretariat as part of its ongoing project on the future of higher education

New era begins at Swiss universities

New era begins at Swiss universities, October 23, 2006, Swissinfo.

Thousands of new students will be starting university on Monday under the Bologna system : the first time that degrees have been totally harmonised in Switzerland.

A record number of students have registered for the new academic year with figures said to be up by two per cent on last year. But the Bologna reforms have not been welcomed by everyone....

The European Institute of Technology

Povl Tiedemann, Head of Department, Danish Business Economists

Comments on COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL, The European Institute of Technology: further steps towards its creation, Brussels, 8.6.2006 - COM(2006) 276 final. PDF (152 KB)

In connection with launching and developing the initiative of European Institute of Technology (EIT), intensely supported by President José Manuel Barroso, following elements should be considered:

With network communities having an increased influence in future world economy, it will be necessary to nourish initiatives as the Airbus and the cooperative development projects of the European automotive industry through relevant attachment to joint research forces, as presently under establishment under the auspices of the EIT. Additional links to CERN could be most appropriate.

The proposed structure organized within the framework of Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KIC’s), under the strategic direction of a Governing Board may contain insufficient leadership possbilities. Thus it is strongly recommended to intensify leadership and structure profile to create and sustain adequate commitment and identity. Future world economic development will demand new priority paradigms additional to traditional technologies. Thus the EIT initiative portfolio should adapt trans disciplinarily and multiculturally, thus including the business and service sector together with elements from the humanities as relevant focal points.

For inspiration, please visit http://www.stanford.edu/group/dschool/ (Big Picture, 03 Multidisciplinary Approach) together with www.globalisering.dk publishing the Danish approach to the future challenges of Globalization. Modernising and reforming the professional career and functional conditions in general for the academia will be relevant as part of developing the EIT. This will not only comprise incentive measures and packages, however, focus should also be set on professional conditions as key elements of development.

With Business School competences as relevant platform for the development of cross cultural and trans disciplinary faculties, it is advisable that the Business School Community be represented in the management structure – politically as well as operationally – thus participating in the development of the strongest possible governance process and structure. The above has been communicated to the EU, Directorate-General for Educationand Culture together with Commissioner Jan Figel.

Bologna Process - Funding, Individual Mobility Grants

Tempus annual report 2005 

During 2005, a total amount of approximately € 57 million was committed under Tempus.

The Tempus III Programme (2000-2006) focuses on the development and modernisation of higher education in the 27 partner countries through co-operation with institutions from the Member States of the European Union.

(Page 4, last paragraph - concerning Bologna Process)

Curriculum development projects cover a wide range of areas such as applied sciences, technology, business administration and social sciences. Institution building and university management projects support reforms related to quality assurance, teaching quality or the financial management of universities in the partner countries. In a majority of countries, the selected Structural and Complementary Measures are clearly linked to the action lines of the Bologna process. The selected projects under this programme component typically concern issues such as the design of quality assurance systems or the introduction of credit transfer mechanisms. Projects also focus on the modernisation of university operations and services, including the updating of training programmes, the use of information and communication technologies and the strengthening of international relations. The selected Individual Mobility Grants concern mainly retraining and study periods (70%) followed by preparatory activities for Joint European Projects (18%) and participation in specific conferences and seminars (12%).

The Future of European Universities under Examination

In the paper titled "The Future of European Education: Rennaissance or Decay"", published in June this year, Richard Lambert and Nick Butler argue that "If Europe wants to stop falling behind and stem the ‘brain drain’ across the Atlantic it must act now. It needs to devote more resources to research, improve its teaching record, build up centres of excellence, strengthen links between education and business, and give its universities more autonomy".

Commission supports university reforms in neighbouring countries

Europa: press release July 17th.

The Commission supports university reforms in neighbouring countries

The Tempus programme supports higher education reform in the EU’s neighbouring countries. The university cooperation projects and structural measures under Tempus are the EU’s contribution to the modernisation of the higher education systems of the partner countries surrounding Europe. Today, the European Commission has given its approval to 110 new university cooperation projects and 61 structural measures under the Tempus programme.

The European Commission has selected a total of 110 Joint European Projects (JEPs) with an EC contribution totalling € 46 million.

Commision awards of 53 million euros to university related projects, Eurofunding Mag

Europe - Erasmus: university exchanges expand rapidly among the new Member States

Europa: press release March 16th

The European Commission’s flagship action in the field of education, the university exchange programme Erasmus, continued to expand in the academic year 2004/05. The overall number of students taking part on Erasmus exchanges rose by over 6% on the previous year, while the number of university teachers exchanged under the scheme grew by almost 13%.

The biggest impact of the scheme has been felt in the Central and Eastern European countries. Student exchanges rose on average by an impressive 36% in the new Member States, while growth in teacher mobility was even more dramatic, rising on average by almost 77%.

What Erasmus is.

Tags(clickable): Education, MBA, Business School, Erasmus

GATS – and Quality Improvement

Povl Tiedemann, Head of Department, Association of Danish Business Economists.

With the development of the General Agreement on Trade and Services, GATS, under the auspices of WTO, services and thereby also the services rendered by Universities and Business Schools, will be considered as commodities and priced products.

Thus students are to be considered as customers, demanding value for money.

Through this equation-like array of consequences, it is evident that quality improvement will be of paramount importance for the future performance in the University and Business School sector.

This counts for both public as well as private institutions.

Increased financial commitment from the students / customers naturally will create demand for transparency concerning the products, and their quality.

Tags(clickable): Povl Tiedemann,  Bologna Process, GATS, quality, management education

Research | - "How should we train our PhDs?"

Paul Danos, Dean Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

In response to Dean Ininguez's entry on PhD programs, I agree wholeheartedly that professors must be skilled and dedicated teachers in addition to striving to push back the frontiers of knowledge in their fields.  One very complicated factor I have seen at many schools is the question of whether each and every faculty should be committed to dual excellence or should some specialize in teaching and others specialize in research?

Because top researchers are so rare and expensive to support, I would say that some may not be particularly devoted to MBA teaching but the majority who do teach MBA or other professional courses should be both excellent researchers and excellent teachers.  Most  of the top PhD programs do a small amount in the way of training teachers, primarily by  giving opportunities to teach a course or two or by being a teaching assistant, but they spend the vast majority of the program doing a fabulous job of training researchers. 

We should probably have a post-doctoral period where young PhD graduates could both hone their research skills and also really dig into both the theory and practice of good teaching.  The current system, is primarily "on-the-job" training where the  pressures and the stakes are very high.  This is probably not best for student learning. 

We need to also look at the other side of the imbalance, which is perhaps even more important.  There are so many non-researchers who teach a high percentage of the courses in some business schools and ideally they should get more training in interpreting high-quality research.  As I have said in other entries in this blog, the best teaching in MBA programs is done by those who are both cutting edge thought leaders and dedicated teachers.  In a world where perhaps as many as 30-40% or more of some programs are being taught by non-PhD's who do do necessarily follow the latest research findings, perhaps a concerted effort is needed to make them conversant with leading edge thinking.  Of course, they along with their PhD colleagues are not necessarily trained in good pedagogy. 

Bologna Process |- "An Uncertain Future"

Jonathan Slack, Chief Executive of the Association of Business Schools (ABS).

It is widely anticipated that there might be up to 12,000 new ‘Bologna Masters’ degrees by 2010 across the European Higher Education Area. What I have not heard being discussed is the huge additional costs that this will place upon those schools undergoing the Bologna reforms. These costs will arise from: curriculum development, additional quality assurance, new promotions, extra publications, website development to name but a few.

There is another (largely unspoken) element to these reforms and this relates to the likely drop in overall student numbers progressing directly to the Masters level as growing numbers of students exit into employment directly from their first degrees.

Is not the inevitable outcome of rising costs and reduced demand, that business schools in this situation will look to reduce their costs and that staffing is where they will look first? Another likely outcome is that the trend towards, two-year Masters courses, being widely adopted from the Bologna reforms, will be hard to sustain in a global market where one-year Masters are both the norm and highly popular with international students.

Bologna Process | - "Lingua franca, Management Education and the UK"

Della Bradshaw, The Financial Times Business Education editor.

I think Fernando Jimenez (of Spain's state advisory body) is absolutely right when he says UK business schools (and universities more generally) have been highly successful in attracting overseas students because of the English language. So to answer Prof Iniguez's point.....why are there so few UK business schools in the Financial Times inaugural ranking of Masters in Management programmes?

I believe the answer is the way in which we have historically viewed management education in the UK.

Twenty years ago business studies as an undergraduate degree was seen as a second-rate option taught at polytechnics for those who couldn't get a place on a "proper" degree course, such as law, philosophy, economics or geography. This in turn influenced the way recruiters employed managers - graduates with these general degrees were employed in graduate trainee programmes in all the top UK companies.

If you look at France, by comparison, business degrees are one of the most highly sought after degrees, and their graduates get most of the top jobs.

In the UK things are changing, though. I visited the Said school at Oxford University last week where the university was effectively doubling the capacity of the business school there. Ten years ago Oxford had no business school at all, now its economics and management undergraduate programme is the most oversubscribed in the university.

Hopefully other UK universities will follow their lead.

Research| - "PhD Programmes: Need of Reforms"

Santiago Iñiguez, Dean of Instituto de Empresa Business School.

PhD programmes are essential to the whole education system. They are the pool of future university researchers and teachers. Last week, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, a US based non-profit organisation dedicated to promote excellence in education, released the report "The Responsive PhD: Innovations in US Doctoral Education", an extremely interesting document on doctoral education in the US that calls for important reforms: "there have been too many words and too little action", it states. The report also comprises a series of successful initiatives developed in PhD programmes at different US universities.

I want to focus on two recommendations of this report. First, that pedagogy should be an important part of doctoral preparation. For some time, PhD programmes have focused almost exclusively on training academic researchers. This has been essential, but not sufficient. In fact, the omission of some other important facets, such as preparing candidates to teach effectively and to link with the corporate world, has reduced the potential development and the opportunities of PhD graduates.

Another recommendation is the need of connecting doctoral programmes with other major social stakeholders outside universities, mainly the organisations that may recruit or work with PhD graduates: "the doctorate in totality and in every discipline will benefit enormously by a continuing interchange with the worlds beyond academia", says the report.

This report should be very welcome and it comes at a time when there is a growing market for DBA (Doctor in Business Administration) programmes in Europe. Significantly, the Association of MBAs (AMBA) recently launched a new accreditation scheme aimed at DBA programmes, to cope with the increasing demmand from the market. I do not dare to dissect here the differences between PhDs in Management and DBAs. Maybe in some future post. But it seems that the latter category of programmes is where the growth will take place in the future.

Bologna Process | - "English, the “lingua franca” of future European education"

Santiago Iñiguez, Dean of Instituto de Empresa Business School.

The 13th century saw the establishment of the first universities in the Western World. At that time, the language used for communication was Latin. This provided the opportunity for both professors and scholars to teach and study at different universities across Europe. Manuscripts were also written in Latin, thus allowing the sharing and the rapid distribution of knowledge. It was the beginnings of a common Western academic world.

Seven centuries later, we find ourselves in analogous circumstances. Globalisation has turned English into the "lingua franca", the language mostly used worldwide in business and academia. According to September 2005 figures published by "Internet World Stats", the four main languages used worldwide in internet are, respectively, English (31,7% of users), Chinese (13%), Japanese (8,1%) and Spanish (6,4%).

Eric Beerkens, a regular commentator in our blog, raises the question about whether multilingualism is a threat to the implementation of the Bologna process in Europe. I do not believe so. It is foreseeable that those European universities that aim at attracting foreign students will offer courses in English. But part of the richness of European educational offerings will consist of learning a second or a third language and a different culture.

Given the pre-eminence of English in academia, I believe that the first beneficiaries of the flow of students after Bologna will be universities based in English-speaking countries. However, the first European Masters in Management Rankings recently published by the Financial Times include only 6 universities from the UK and Ireland out of the top 25. Is this evidence that the language spoken in a country will not be a critical factor for choosing a university, provided that the teachings are run in English?

EQUAL / EQUIS and the Bologna Process

Povl Tiedemann, Head of Department, Association of Danish Business Economists.

As the Bologna Process moves on it becomes increasingly important to involve experience and applied knowledge, especially in the areas of quality development, -maintenance and -assessment.

For that reason it is evident to utilize some of the most recently developed ressources, operationalised by EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System), supported by the Advisory Board of EQUAL (European Quality Link) involving 11 institutional and 4 professional associations under the auspices of EFMD (European Foundation of Management Development) Brussels.

The necessity and access for such involvement is clearly stated in:

A) The "Berlin Communiqué" from 19 September 2003, expressed in the paragraph "Promoting the attractiveness of the European Higher Education Area" pointing at attracting appropriate fora for maintaining academic quality.

B) The recommendations of the "Bled Seminar" from 23 October 2004 pointing at strengthening the active participation of e.g. professional associations.

Further it should be noted from the introduction to the findings of the GMAC study of the Bologna Project on the volume and intensity of the Business School sector as driver of the quality improvement initiatives - and the importance in relation to ENQA (European Network of Quality Assurance). In this connection it is also valuable to note that from personal contact with the Commissariate for Education of the European Commission, the Chairman of EQUAL has received positive and supporting attention concerning the role of Management Education as Ice Breaker in the process of quality development in the sector of higher education.

Alltogether - the basis and legitimacy for involving EQUIS / EQUAL as relevant source and inspiration for the BFUG (Bologna Follow Up Group) is evident - thus following the relations established with the Bergen Summit Administration, now to be continued with the London based Summit Administration.

ASSOCIATION OF DANISH BUSINESS ECONOMISTS
Povl Tiedemann
Head of Department

Bologna Process | -"Need of comparable information to implement Bologna"

Santiago Iñiguez, Dean of Instituto de Empresa Business School.

The Bologna Process will create a much more efficient and competitive European university market, similar to the American. The objective is that students could choose any university in Europe according to their preferences and personal merits. In turn, universities will compete to attract the best students and will have to fully exploit their resources to become the reference in their areas of excellence.

The creation of this university market requires the fulfilling of at least two requirements, which to date have not been developed nor contemplated in discussions by the Bologna stakeholders: 1) The creation of a transparent “information market”, where students have access to all relevant knowledge about existing offerings;. And, 2) the development of financial means that guarantee the efficient distribution of resources, e.g., grants and loan schemes.

I will now focus on the first of those requirements: the information market that will make more transparent the range of educational offerings across Europe. Economists say that for a market to be efficient, consumer information needs to be readily available, including their differential features and prices. Certainly, perfect information does not exist, but the more transparent markets are, the more efficient they will be. Nowadays, comparative information regarding university offerings on a European scale is incomplete and very fragmented. In the Bologna future, candidates will need to know, for example, which are the best schools in any given area of speciality, the average salaries of graduates from different schools, the quality of the support services, tuition and average costs of living in a particular city etc.

To generate this information flow, two means exist that can bring added-value to the consumer if produced rigorously: accreditation systems and school rankings. The international accreditation agencies give a guarantee of quality and in the context of business schools the most important are AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS (see the left side-bar of this blog). As regards rankings, this topic in itself warrants its own debate.

Bologna Process | - "The EU style"

Santiago Iñiguez, Dean of Instituto de Empresa Business School.

At the end of his latest post, Dean Danos rightly identifies the crux of the matter about Bologna when he says that it does not address the fundamental issue of adequately funding education.  The problem has not even been raised yet in the discussions of the Bologna Follow-up Group (BFUG), i.e. the group of different stakeholders responsible for pushing the Bologna process beyond national governments. The BFUG  is working well taking into account the diversity and different agendas of its members and the complexity of its mission. It is currently focused on identifying the key stakeholders and defining quality processes.

However, the key issue is how to finance the implementation of Bologna. There is no calculation of its estimated cost nor knowledge about whether financial support will come from the public, the private sectors, or from both. Strangely enough, there was no item in the 2004 EU (big as it was: 109 billion Euros) devoted to education nor any provision for the implementation of Bologna. You probably know that the major portion of the EU budget is dedicated to agriculture. Imagine what could be done by assigning just a little chunk of it to education!

Every reform in the European Union happens in a gradual and sequential fashion. Take the example of the started accession negotiations with Turkey, approved by the EU yesterday; something we should celebrate. The road to this decision involved many years of intense analysis and negotiations and it will still take a further decade to culminate. It is the EU style of development and institution- building. It is a detailed and intricate, sometimes tortuous, system, but once it is completed, there will be no way back. Some people accuse the system of being too bureaucratic, but in fact in the long run it works better than other systems of multilateral integration. The same will happen with Bologna. The first stages now are centered on harmonizing the different exisiting systems in Europe, establishing procedural norms and quality-assement frameworks. Once this stage is completed, the players will progressively confront more complicated issues, leaving for dessert the crucial matter of financing.

Bologna Process | - "More on the Bologna Accord"

Paul Danos, Dean Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

After participating in a panel discussion earlier this year on how the German business programs might respond to the Bologna Accord (see “Roundtable on future of business education in Germany” in this blog), I came away with the impression that the process would lead to a standard structure option for the first two degrees in business at most universities. I think that this opportunity for structural consistency has many advantages and should be supported.

I also came away with two major concerns: potentially rigid accreditation standards and a lack of response to market demands.

I often consult with new business schools around the world and usually suggest that they consider being innovative and adapting to local needs in the design of their curriculum. Some international accreditation bodies have adopted a “missions based” approach that emphasizes being consistent with a school’s own goals, as opposed to filling pre-established criteria. Thus, a school could be accredited as readily with very a unique curricula approach as with one lifted from a long-established school. Accreditation processes in all parts of the world should evolve in the direction of flexibility and away from rigidity.

Some very successful European business schools certainly understand this and are quite responsive to the needs of industry in the graduates they hire. On the other hand, some members of the Roundtable were concerned that the Bologna process smacks too much of a “push down” from government and less of a “bubbling up” from the markets. A guiding principle for professional schools should be that students need to be prepared for professional life and responsiveness to employers is very important.

Of course our academic programs, while affected by structure, accreditation standards and the influence of practice, are aimed at giving high quality educational experiences. Quality of this sort depends on, among other factors, student qualifications, faculty expertise in research and teaching, curricula relevance and innovations, adequacy of facilities and underlying all of these, overall funding. The Bologna process, as important as it is, does not directly address the fundamental issues of adequate funding of business education, assuring access to all who need it and the shortage of qualified professors.

Current-Affairs | - "Turkey belongs to Europe"

Santiago Iñiguez, Dean of Instituto de Empresa Business School.

Tomorrow, October 3^rd, and after 40 years of negotiations, it is expected that formal talks will begin on the membership of Turkey to the European Union. But the recently announced opposition of some of EU member countries, explicitly  Austria, has fuelled a crisis in the process. This week, the European Parliament demanded extempore that Turks acknowledge as genocide the mass killing of Armenians 90 years ago and that they recognise Cyprus, one of the youngest EU members. In order to find a last minute solution, the European Foreign Ministers are meeting in Luxembourg at the time of this post, trying to find a plausible solution for all parties. Nobody can reasonably deny that Turkey has fulfilled all the conditions established by Brussels to start this process and it would be right and beneficial for Europe to continue ahead.

Turkey is one of the signatories of the Bologna Agreement. The quality of its higher education system has improved significantly in the past decade, and it currently comprises 53 public and 19 private universities. The country has still few business schools but some of them are gaining international recognition and attracting students from overseas. On-line education has also grown importantly in recent years. Certainly, the increasing internationalisation of Turkish universities is contributing to modernise the country and given its key geopolitical enclave, it can become the pole of attraction of many students from Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

The Turkish Prime Minister has warned the EU members they are facing the acid test of whether Europe is a "global power or a Christian club." The words are unfortunate and may heat further debate about the inclusion of Turkey in Europe. But I hope they are judged as a spontaneous statement in the preliminaries of the negotiations.

Bologna Process | - To follow an inspirational pragmatist.

Santiago Iñiguez, Dean of Instituto de Empresa Business School.

The implementation of the Bologna process needs political leadership and determination. The style of leadership required for multilateral initiatives, such as this one, was exemplified in Jean Monnet (1888-1979), considered as one of the fathers of the European Union (EU). It is a leadership model that may inspire other multinational projects where the interests of many different parties, each with its own agenda, have to be combined to produce a win-win situation.

Mark Leonard, Director of Foreign Policy at the London-based Centre for European Reform, refers to Jean Monnet, in his book “Why Europe Will Run the 21st Century”, as the model of leadership to imitate in multinational institutions. Monnet had a very different profile to that of war heroes such as Churchill or De Gaulle and could have almost been described as a civil servant due to the low profile he tended to keep on the political scene. He was intelligent, a great team builder, a tireless worker and a consensus maker. However, with his distinctive style of leadership, he played a decisive role in the construction of the EU. The great insight of Monnet was to understand that a diverse community of nations, with both common and divergent interests, could not be accomplished in just one go according to a general plan, but rather through consecutive and concrete achievements that could create a solidarity among the members. Paradoxically, his vision was to avoid a great vision. Pragmatism and gradual change were the key elements for the success of the project, implying iterative stages of integration and cooperation until the creation of the admirable EU of today.

We need a similar approach and leadership style in the implementation of the Bologna process, where initiative is delegated to the member countries with the participation of a wide panoply of stakeholders: representatives from universities, quality-assessment agencies, teachers, students, employers and administrations, amongst others. Given the need of several Monnets to orchestrate the implementation of Bologna, I took the opportunity of a recent visit of Klaus Schwab to Instituto de Empresa (IE) to suggest to him that at the next Davos summit he should organise a panel to discuss Bologna Process issues.

(Klaus Schwab (left), President of Davos World Economic Forum, speaking with Diego Alcázar (right), President of IE)