Organization and Objectives

Founded in 1972, the European Foundation for Management Development (efmd) considers itself an international network of leading institutions for business education. Among the 700 members are not only nearly every renowned business school in Europe but also corporations and universities in every part of the world. Its main objectives include on the one hand the exchange of knowledge between the partner organizations via conferences, seminars, study groups and information material, and on the other hand quality assurance of the international management education. The non-profit organization, which employs 30 full-time staff members, is based in the Belgian capital Brussels.

Quality Monitor and Top-Class International Network for Business Schools and Companies

EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) is the seal of quality which is awarded to institutions for business education since 1997. The preconditions for the EQUIS accreditation are not only high quality standards in research and teaching worldwide, but also a distinct international orientation as well as close ties with management practice. Following its European coinage, the EQUIS accreditation process does not intend a worldwide standardization of education programs, but respects and supports regional and national idiosyncrasies. Hence, not individual degree courses but complete institutions are accredited. To maintain a consequent quality management, EQUIS accreditation is always given for a three or five-year period only and then has to be renewed.

The EQUIS accreditation process proceeds in five stages: Upon formal application, the basic eligibility of the institution for the application process is reviewed. If this first examination turns out positively, the university has to present itself in an extensive “Self-Assessment Report”. In the case of the University of Mannheim, it consisted of 380 pages. During the consecutive two-and-a-half-day visit, a peer review team, which includes a member from the management practice in addition to academic representatives, gets a detailed picture on location. The panel does not only verify the statements made in the “Self-Assessment Report” but also conducts interviews with University and Business School management, professors, alumni, students as well as representatives from other institutions of the university. The peer review team delivers on the basis of their gained impressions a report with a recommendation to the “Awarding Body”. This body makes the final accreditation decision.

Since 1997, several hundred educational institutions have been interested in an EQUIS accreditation, according to efmd statistics. At the moment, 128 institutions out of 36 countries are accredited. Not only top names of European management education are included in this circle, as e.g. the London Business School and the Warwick Business School in Great Britain, ESSEC, INSEAD and HEC in France or the Instituto de Empresa (IE), ESADE and IESE in Spain, but increasingly more reputable universities on other continents.