The impact of business schools in transforming the society case: AUC School of Business

Purpose - Business schools are becoming invaluable platforms linking academia, business and industry. The constantly changing nature of markets requires a continuous and iterative dialog between business schools and other constituents including the government, the private sector and the civil society to guarantee that business and management education is catering for local and global market needs. The purpose of this paper is to address the growing role of business schools in transforming the society, building on the experience of the school of business of the American University in Cairo, and its impact in preparing the business leaders and entrepreneurs who can make a difference in society through rigorous and adaptive business and management education while addressing the elements of governance, accreditation, internationalization, and relevance, creativity and innovation in research. Design/methodology/approach - In this study, desk research is coupled with sharing of the development of the accreditation journey of American University in Cairo (AUC) School of Business and the lessons learned over the last 15 years. Findings - While undergoing multiple accreditations, the school should effectively and efficiently manage the timeline, otherwise the maintenance of all accreditations could end up in one year, and that could be really challenging, a situation faced by the school during the academic year 2016–2017. While having a task force or a committee is mandatory, for the long-term development and sustainability of a continuous improvement culture, an office for academic assessment and accreditation is a must. For the school, the office helps create and embed the culture that accreditation is a journey and not a destination. Accreditation as a process should involve all school stakeholders on and off campus including faculty, staff, students, alumni, advisory boards, employers and the university administration; they should all be engaged and their buy-in through creating a sense of ownership and empowerment is invaluable. Throughout the accreditation journey, nothing is more important than communication, a school can never have enough of it. While the accreditation process needs a strong, transparent, effective leadership style, a bottom-up approach aligning and motivating the school’s different constituents is essential. For accreditation and continuous improvement to be sustainable, it should be driven and guided by a unified school-wide strategy addressing and catering to its different objectives. Accreditation is all about an invaluable triangle of building blocks, including an informed human capital, a respected and well-thought process and a timely, accurate and efficient wealth of data and knowledge about the school. Research limitations/implications - The limitations are primarily the focus on the case of Egypt and AUC School of Business. Obviously, there is no one size that fits all, but there are lessons learned that could be replicated and tested in business schools located in similar environments. Practical implications - The study presents the experience of the governance model at AUC School of Business with both internal council of the school of business and external board of advisors. Social implications - The study presents the implications of the school on the society and the role, directions, guidelines that accreditation and continuous improvement introduce to the curriculum. Originality/value - Historical background of business and management education at large in Egypt and Middle East North Africa is coupled with the overview of the school of business, sharing the challenges and opportunities of accreditation and continuous improvement.