THE ALLIANCE ON BUSINESS EDUCATION AND SCHOLARSHIP FOR TOMORROW, a 21st century organization (ABEST21)

1.Consignment Research Project on Accreditation of Business Schools in 2008 　

We are 　pleased to inform that ABEST21 begins to develop reliable global model system of accreditation of business school as well as both gathering and providing cases from multiple and various perspectives. We will promote the development, to be supported by MEXT, on the basis of three research findings in 2007, i.e., Research Project-1, which is fact-finding survey on accreditation system of business schools in Asian regions, Research Project-2 which is questionnaire research on Company Needs for management education in business schools in Asian regions., and Research Project-3 is gathering and analyzing of cases on accreditation based on ABEST21 Accreditation Standards.

2.The First PreAccreditation Committee on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 　

We will hold the first PreAccreditation Committee on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at ABEST21 office, Tokyo Japan. The committee is composed of 35-40 numbers of committee members, who are professors of business schools in not only Japan but also foreign countries and business leaders of Japanese companies. The PreAccreditation Committee will review the Self-Evaluation Reports of four business schools in Japan as second step of ABEST21 accreditation process. Prior to the committee, peer review teams, who report to the PreAccreditation Committee, will visit their sites and examine the Self Evaluation Reports.

 3.Research Presentation on Company Needs for Management Education in Business

　We had a Session on Company Needs for Management Education in Business, held on Thursday, September 4, 2008 at the ABEST21 office, Tokyo Japan. At the session, University of Tsukuba made a presentation on their survey results of Japan. The presentation showed that more than half of companies responded was expected from MBA graduates in the field of Leadership Skills, Problem-solving skills, Strategic Thinking Skills, Quantitative Skills, and Analytical Thinking Skills. The skills what companies responded looked forward to most in MBA graduates, 71% of responded, was Strategic Thinking Skills. About 41% of these responses said MBA graduates presented the Strategic Thinking Skills. Also most desired technical expertise for MBA graduates, about 69% of responses, was Strategy. About 33% of them stated that MBA graduates actually have that.  

4.News from fellow-ABEST21 member, Multimedia University, Malaysia

Regional Development International Conference and Exhibition 2008(REDICE'08) will be held on November 5-7, 2008; with the theme of Local Development, Global Edge; at Multimedia University, Cyberjaya, Malaysia. For further more information, please visit following website.

http://www.mmu.edu.my/cctd/redice/index.html