AACSB APAC: Strengthening Regional Business School Partnerships

It is said that by 2040, more than half of Global GDP will come from the Asia Pacific region. Is this a huge opportunity for business schools based in Asia to develop the leaders today with the skills necessary for managing the financial and service flows twenty years from now? In a region built on geographically and culturally diverse societies, the link shared between cities and countries is AACSB International accreditation. Sharing best practices, learning from each other and building win-win partnerships are necessary to maximize the rise of Asia as the center of global business.

In one of the first concurrent sessions during the conference, Dean of the University of Malaya, Faculty of Business and Accountancy Che Ruhana Isa and Dean of the Korea University Business School Soo Young Kwon discussed strategies to facilitate meaningful collaborations in the Asia Pacific Region. Schools like the University of Malaya has been rising fast and impressively as they race to catch-up to the more established business schools in terms of education quality and reach. The first key point for business schools is to understand yourself and external environment – including market size, political, social, economics and technological factors. Once that is realized and defined, it becomes possible to identify where the key strategic partnership may exist. At the other end of the spectrum, Korea University Dean Kwon discussed how the schools at the top of the list within their own country compete and leverage partnerships to offer unique value to their students. All ships rise in the tide of global growth in the Asia Pacific region.

The AACSB International Asia Pacific Conference was held in Nagoya, Japan from Oct. 29 – 31 and was hosted at the NUCB Business School Nagoya Marunouchi Tower Campus. The city of Nagoya has long been the manufacturing heart of Japan and continues to experience explosive growth as a business hub for all of Japan. AACSB, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, is one of the three most respected and valued global accreditation bodies that signals the highest level of quality assurance to students, employers, and other business schools around the world. The NUCB Business School is only one of four schools in Japan with AACSB accreditation and the only one with AACSB and AMBA dual accreditation.