North-West University Business School receives maximum term of AABS accreditation

The Business School at the North-West University (NWU) is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a five-year accreditation by the Association of African Business Schools (AABS). This is the maximum term of accreditation offered by the AABS. What makes this achievement exceptional, is the fact that the NWU Business School is one of only three business schools in South Africa to have received this prestigious accolade.

This follows the recent virtual visit to the NWU Business School by committee members of the AABS. The purpose of their visit was to evaluate the school with the aim of granting it this accreditation.

Accreditation by the AABS is a uniquely African honour, underpinned by African values and contexts. It is a system to commend the provision of high-quality business and management education in Africa.

Furthermore, the quality benchmarking of the AABS focuses on the relevance and quality of what a business school does (research, teaching and student experience) to provide first-rate management education and the consequent meaningful impact it has on its environment.

According to the chairperson of the AABS accreditation committee, Johnathan Foster-Pedley, one purpose of the accreditation review is to recognise initiatives that support an environment of relevance, impact and sustainability. “As is noted in the team’s report, the NWU Business School is to be commended on the following strengths, unique features and effective practices:

· Relationships with the ecosystems

· Access to education for people who did not plan to study in a business school

· Anti-corruption focus”

Why does it matter?

Students and graduates, business schools and employers alike all recognise the AABS as the top standard. The rigorous accreditation criteria and assessment process ensure that only the best programmes achieve accreditation. The accreditation bodies look at programmes that demonstrate the highest standards in teaching, learning and curriculum design, career development and employability, and student, alumni and employer interaction.

Employers looking to attract game-changing managers and future business leaders know that graduates from accredited programmes have received the best quality, most relevant management education. To recruit a graduate from an AABS-accredited programme is to recruit top talent.

Prof Anet Smit, acting chief director of the NWU Business School, says that, like the accreditation of the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the Business Graduates Association recently received, the AABS accreditation is another bright feather in the school’s cap that demonstrates its uniqueness.

“In a fast-changing world and country, business schools must remain relevant by providing business education that critically unpacks their socio-economic environment for successful business strategies. We are proud to be rewarded for our offerings. We have proven that our

overall approach towards management education is sustainable through its governance structure, relationships with stakeholders, our portfolio of offerings, and how relevant and impactful it is to the African continent,” she says.