World class

Archived Material - May 2007 Alex Salmond was elected as First Minister

Why? Well, predominantly because of the remarkably high standard of teaching and research. Over 80% of the Teaching Quality Assessment carried out in Scotland is rated either highly satisfactory or 'Excellent'. And over 85% of academic staff work in units rated 4 and above in the latest Research Assessment Exercises, with nearly 50% in 5 and 5* units. It's not just the calibre of the research and teaching staff either.

A significant part of today's Business Schools offering is consultancy services for public, private and voluntary sectors. So for Strathclyde Business School to have Professor Colin Eden, consultant to the top management teams of organisations such as Shell International and Reed Business Publishing, on its staff, not to mention the author of Europe's best selling strategic management text book, is a huge plus. Not to be outdone, Paisley Business School appointed Professor Alan Godfrey as new Dean of the School. His predecessor, Professor Mike Donnelly, went on to become Principal Special Adviser to First Minister, Jack McConnell, no less.

Human resources aside, Scotland's Business Schools also boast award-winning facilities, be they Aberdeen's Intranet, voted the UK's best learning environment, Paisley's and Caledonian's Blackboard industry-leading software or Strathclyde's dedicated Business Information Service, bringing knowledge to students' fingertips.

With nearly all of Scotland's Business Schools offering excellent teaching, learning and learning resources; salaried work placements with leading organisations both across the UK and internationally; the chance to study abroad for a semester in locations ranging from Europe, North America and Canada to India; and professional as well as undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, how do students choose between them? Well on top of everything else, they do each have their own merits (and distinctions for that matter).

Full marks for research

Take Paisley Business School, for example. Part of the University of Paisley, it's the first and only new university Business School in Scotland to gain top marks in the Government's Research Assessment Exercise. Awarded for research in the field of Accounting & Finance, the rating means that its excellence is recognised at both national and international level. It's also a contributing factor in the School's recent announcement of a €1.1 million financial consultancy contract. PBS beat off tough competition from a number of leading European organisations to win the 18-month contract to introduce international accounting standards to Azerbaijan in an effort to encourage inward investment and facilitate the move towards a market economy.

Big in business

From one of Scotland's newest Business Schools to its biggest. With around 4,500 students, the Caledonian Business School, which forms part of Glasgow Caledonian University, is the largest Business School in Scotland and fourth largest in the UK. Offering one of the widest ranges of courses available, its prospectus includes an MBA programme, which can be studied on either a full or part-time basis, together with a suite of new Masters programmes, including an MSc E-Business, MSc Knowledge Management and MSc Management of Information Systems. Like Paisley, the Caledonian Business School has recently introduced Blackboard, industry-leading software for e-Education that greatly enhances the student learning experience.

First for innovation

It may not be one of the 'new' universities, but the Strathclyde Business School continues to be a major innovator in education in business and management. The first UK Business School to offer a full-time one-year MBA programme (1966), it went on to offer the first part-time MBA (1976), open learning programme (1983) and DBA (Doctor of Administration). In 1988, the Strathclyde MBA was offered for study overseas via several international centres, ranging from Hong Kong and Singapore to Greece and Switzerland, earning the School the Queen's Award for Export Achievement. More recently, Strathclyde is the first and only Business School in Scotland to gain EQUIS accreditation – one of only 12 in the UK to hold this European stamp of excellence awarded by the European Foundation for Management Development. In addition to its nine subject-based departments and seven specialist units, the Strathclyde Business School incorporates the Graduate School of Business, whose MBA programme has been ranked by the Financial Times as one of the top 100 MBA programmes in the world. Its flexible learning programme, meanwhile, is ranked amongst the top 20 distance learning programmes in the world.

Top for jobs

Studying for an MBA is a means to an end, of course, to make us more attractive to potential employers. And here's an area where Aberdeen Business School scores particularly highly. Part of The Robert Gordon University, it has regularly won the award as a top university for graduate employment. Independent statistics show that over a five-year period, almost 99% of Aberdeen Business School graduates are either in employment or studying for a postgraduate degree within six months of graduating. Other notable firsts include the fact that Aberdeen was the first new university in Scotland to gain AMBA accreditation for its MBA programme and that it won the prestigious UCISA Award as the UK's best learning environment – thanks to its purpose-designed intranet where students can access on-line lecture notes, presentations and video clips. Through its Virtual Campus, the School is also a major provider of distance learning, with several programmes taught internationally. Talking of international, the School is home to students from over 20 countries and liaises extensively with organisations such as the British Council, Scottish Education and Training and the Department of Trade and Industry. It prides itself on providing the ideal environment for international students with a dedicated team to help them settle in and adapt.

Success after success

Preferring the name 'management' to 'business', the University of Edinburgh Management School has been offering an undergraduate management programme since 1918, making it a pioneer in the field. Appearing in the top ten management schools in the UK for the fourth successive year in the Financial Times 2003 Global Rankings, it's a consistently strong performer. Much like one of its celebrated Alumni. George David, Chairman of the Coca Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, has recently donated £1m to fund a new chair in Family Business at his old School.

Proof, if any were needed, that Scotland's Business Schools and MBAs get results!