Dutch University business schools have a proud tradition of contributing to the development of outstanding leaders and managers for the local, regional and international market.  As individual schools they have taken the traditions of wealth generation within the context of an equitable and just society core to the country’s ethos, into the realms of business research and human capital development. Early in 2007, an initiative was taken to bring the still sporadic and mainly bilateral contacts between Dutch university-based business schools to a higher level as a means of stimulating even greater quality. This initiative led to the formation of The Dutch Association of Business Schools Foundation on 18 June 2007.  The six founding business schools established the guiding charter to promote the interests of post-initial management and business education through quality improvements driven by appropriate research and through enhanced connectivity with and amongst their national and international networks of alumni.

Members

The association consists of eight leading Dutch business schools: RSM Erasmus University (RSM), TiasNimbas Business School, Academische Opleidingen Groningen (AOG), University Maastricht Business School (UMBS), TSM Business School, Nyenrode Business University, the University of Amsterdam Business School and Academie voor Management. The members are represented by their boards.

Why the need for an association?

Member schools are well-established in the Netherlands and abroad, and several already have strong links with international management development agencies and accrediting bodies. These include AACSB International, the Association of MBAs, and the European Foundation for Management Development with its accrediting arm, EQUIS. The newly founded Association will provide an ideal platform for increased multi-lateral linkages between the business schools themselves with the express purpose of accelerating and enhancing the transfer of best practice in reseach, teaching, and corporate and societal outreach. It is expected that multi-lateral sharing will facilitate enhancements and developments to the benefit of all members, and to the benefit of their parent universities and the markets they serve.

Of particular importance to the Association is that it provides a platform to effectively leverage the benefits inherent in the smaller scale business schools (related to customized learning and collaboration for individual learners) through facilitating a collaborative network oriented to increasing the international footprint of its members. This will be done by encouraging further joint research of primary, applied or pedagogical nature to better serve a business community focussed more and more on the challenges of internationalization. Employers are undoubtedly demanding increased levels of international orientation from their employees, and placing pressure on business schools to respond through expanding offerings that focus on European and global issues. The Association will support its members in their efforts to respond individually and collectively to this demand.

A creative collaboration

The Dutch Association of Business Schools is a creative collaboration formed to facilitate innovative thinking about leadership and management development in its widest possible context. All participating schools have endorsed the Association’s goal of ensuring its members remain attractive partners to participants and organisations, both nationally and internationally, and that they do so through continued innovation as a mutually supporting network of learning research oriented business schools.

Network

Recognising the importance of networking, the Dutch Association of Business Schools will also endeavour to work with other national and international associations. As illustration, the Association aims to work with the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) by providing a platform for interested business schools and companies to discuss the local and regional implications of propositions and ideas raised by the EFMD at its larger network events held throughout Europe.

Alumni

The importance of their alumni to participating schools is unquestioned. Alumni are the main ambassadors of our business schools and they represent an impressive pool of talent and qualities. The Association and its member schools feel that encouraging further collaboration between alumni can only lead to positive consequences. Alumni will benefit from an expanded network of loose ties and member schools will benefit from the increased international presence that Dutch business schools in aggregate will achieve on the world stage.

Allied with building alumni networks and in response to the expressed wishes of the Dutch business community, the Association will also devote its resources to supporting the further development of management- and career service for member school students and alumni.

EFMD

The EFMD fully supports the initiative of the Dutch business schools and encourages the creative collaboration.

Research

The Dutch Association of University Business Schools wants to be a strategic sparring partner with regards to common interests of both the public services and the business community.

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