Over six premier Indian B-schools have applied to international accreditation bodies for a quality certification.
These include Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, which has applied for AACSB International; S P Jain Institute of Management Studies for Association of MBAs; Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies for AACSB International; MDI Gurgaon for EQUIS and AACSB International; Xaviers Institute of Management, Bhubaneshwar for AMDISA; Xavier's Institute of Labour Relations for SAQAS and EQUIS and ICFAI has applied for AACSB International and EQUIS.
Accreditation has multiple benefits. It helps schools notch up global placements and tie-ups with international management schools and student exchange programmes. Students, on the other hand, can mine for the right B-school by logging on to the website of the accrediting bodies.
Accreditation certificate to management schools is given at two levels for the two-year MBA programme and for the campuses. AMBA, a UK-based body, accredits schools for management programmes.
Other global accreditation systems are the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International in the US and European Foundation for Management Development in Europe. Getting accreditation from AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB is considered the ultimate goal.
AACSB, for instance, has granted accreditation to 527 B-schools in 30 countries, which is less than 15 per cent of the world's B-schools.
The Association of Management Development Institutions in South Asia is another accrediting body based in Hyderabad. AMDISA has formulated the South Asian Quality Accreditation System, Asia's first global accreditation system.
Gurgaon-based Management Development Institute has already received an accreditation from Association of MBAs for its two-year MBA programme.
Pritam Singh, director, MDI Gurgaon, says: "Accreditation is a powerful way of knowing your strengths and weaknesses. More than an idea of brand building and getting a reputed stamp, it is about knowing how to build a world-class B-school."
Harsh Mohan, professor, international business, SPJIMR says, "Global recognition provides assurance to an applicant about the academic standards of the institute, its study procedures and infrastructure. Also, the accreditation gives you an international certificate and you get potential applicants, recruiters, faculty and research scholars."
A few B-schools like MDI, SPJIMR, XLRI and ICFAI, which have already set shops abroad, feel international certification is crucial to compete globally.
"Since we have spread our campuses globally, we thought we should start preparing ourselves for the competition earlier than other B-schools start it and international accreditation will strengthen our brand," says Mohan.