“BSIS is a vital addition to the EFMD portfolio of services as it provides a process and tool to capture the value that a school brings to a defined region. It is a service for any business school anywhere in the world that is interested in collecting key statistical data on its impact. Once collected this information can then be used both internally and externally with key stakeholders to widen the debate about “the role of business schools in society” and showcase the enormous added value and impact they bring to a community, said Prof Eric Cornuel, CEO & Director General of EFMD”
The BSIS scheme identifies the tangible and intangible benefits that a business school brings to its local environment. For example, a school spends money in its impact zone; it provides jobs and pays salaries that are partially spent in the zone; and it attracts faculty and students from outside the zone whose expenditures contribute to the local economy. Beyond this measurable financial impact, a school contributes to the life of the community in numerous ways.
Its faculty generates new business creation through entrepreneurial projects and support local business needs through professional training. Its students are a source of dynamism in the life of the region and are a valuable talent resource when they graduate. A business school also provides an important intellectual forum for the introduction of new ideas in a wide variety of social, cultural and political areas of concern within a region. Last but not least, it contributes to the image of the city or region.
“Demonstrating the many ways in which they add economic and social value to the environment in which they operate has become a challenge for business schools. To meet this demand for greater accountability, BSIS is an effective tool to help schools identify, measure and communicate all the positive contributions they make to the world around them,” added Prof. Gordon Shenton, Senior Advisor, EFMD.
At a time when all organizations, public or private, are being held accountable for their activities, there is a need to demonstrate the impact that they are having on their immediate environment. This is particularly the case when they are financed or politically supported by local stakeholders.
The BSIS scheme was initially designed by FNEGE (the French National Foundation for Management Education) and is already well established in the French higher education arena. The BSIS process has been adapted for an international audience and is now offered in a joint venture between EFMD and FNEGE as a service to business schools all over the world.
If you would like further information or are interested in your school taking part you can visitwww.efmd.org/bsis or please contact: Gordon SHENTON: gordon.shenton@efmd.org, Michel KALIKA:michel.kalika@efmd.org or bsis@efmd.org
