1. The Peer Review Results
The scope of accreditation is appropriate. The School has done a comprehensive and appropriate SWOT analysis and identified relevant strategies for improvement. The School’s effort to promote internationalization is commendable. The educational and research activities of the School meet most of the accreditation standards. Improvement issues are clearly identified. However, there are rooms for improvement, mainly concerning the Mission statement, as well as few interconnections between “Improvement Initiatives” and “Action Plans”.
With these reviews combined, we conclude our evaluation as follows.
“ABEST21 hereby certifies that Lomonosov Moscow State University Business School, Lomonossov Moscow State University, Russia has met all or most ABEST21 Management Accreditation Standards and the quality maintenance and improvement of education and research in the School qualify for quality assurance. The School’s Quality Improvement plans and quality maintenance and prospects for the improvement of education and research are promising and excellent. Accreditation commences April 1, 2016 for a five-year period.”
2. The Period of Quality Assurance
Accreditation commences from April 1, 2016 to March 31, 2021 for a five-year period.
3. Good Practices in Management Education
Uniqueness:
All of MSU BS’s programmes have the following unique features:
- A focus on the practical application of knowledge and skills gained during the course of study through either internships or through development of a company under management.
- Quality as a key focus. The School’s quality-assurance system involves the four interrelated elements of the PDCA (plan, do, check and act) cycle as well as the principles of the Kaizen methodology.
- The substantial impact of alumni on programme development through participation in various academic and extracurricular activities.
The alumni community grows from year to year to become a powerful association of business professionals with a similar mindset developed at MSU BS. The association contributes greatly to the Schools` development through advising and participating in the implementation of undergraduate and graduate programmes. Alumni take an active part in delivering master classes, organising company visits and internships as well as sitting on the jury for the defence of the final students’ papers presentations. Starting with the 2015/16 academic year, the association has established three bursaries aimed to provide financial support to the best students newly enrolled in the Master’s program. In addition, each programme possesses a set of unique characteristics.
Undergraduate programme: Bachelor of Management
The distinctive features of the bachelor’s programme are:
- High level of internationalisation;
- Company-based internship included in the Practice of Business course, which is integrated into the second- and third-year curricula and provided by MSU BS’s corporate partners (about 115 companies and organisations);
- Opportunities built into the curriculum to test newly acquired management knowledge in field studies and research projects;
- “Action-reflection-learning” teaching methodology;
- Intensive English language training and opportunities to study other foreign languages, including French, Italian, Spanish, German and Japanese;
- set of financial courses that are accredited by CIMA (Charted Institute of Management Accountants); and
- EPAS accreditation from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) (one of the three bachelor programmes in Russia to hold this accreditation).
Graduate pre-experience programme: Master in International Business and Strategy
The distinctive characteristics of the master’s programme are:
- Flexible delivery mode, which enables students to combine study and work (evening and Saturday classes);
- International student and faculty bodies;
- Significant contribution from corporate partners, which ensures the inclusion of the latest innovations and changes in the business world in the curriculum and courses;
- “Student research and consulting projects;
- Personal-development curriculum component, which is realised through management and leadership training, and opportunities to apply these skills in the implementation of the individual research project that is undertaken for the master’s thesis;
- An opportunity to receive an additional certificate in commercial real-estate management from an international leader in real-estate management, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL);
- Integration of computer-stimulated business games as well as interactive and reflective teaching methods into the study process; and
- Dual degree provided through the School’s cooperation with the School of Management at the University of St. Andrews (Scotland).
The uniqueness of a recently developed Master in IT Management programme is in its fundamental reference to the competencies and requirements stipulated in the “Professional Standard for IT Manager”. The programme’s graduates receive not only a degree of Moscow State University but also a certificate confirming the compliance of the graduates’ professional competences with the requirements of the professional standards. The certificate will be issued by an official certification body, consisting of representatives of the professional community only. Thus graduates’ knowledge and skills will be confirmed by an independent expert assessment, which ensures a high level of employers’ recognition of the resulting master in IT management qualification.
Graduate post-experience programme: Master of Business Administration (MBA)
The uniqueness of the MBA programme is defined by its mission. It is expressed in MSU BS’s desire not only to provide students with new knowledge but also to develop a new systematic and strategic vision, as well as a responsible and ethical business-leader mind-set in each student.
The distinctive features of the MBA programme are:
Graduate post-experience programme: Master of Business Administration (MBA)
The uniqueness of the MBA programme is defined by its mission. It is expressed in MSU BS’s desire not only to provide students with new knowledge but also to develop a new systematic and strategic vision, as well as a responsible and ethical business-leader mind-set in each student.
The distinctive features of the MBA programme are:
- A wide range of unique teaching methods that include inputs from leading professors. These teaching methods include master classes held by successful professionals, case studies, group projects and in-class discussions. To ensure that students can engage in continuous learning without interrupting their careers, MSU BS supplements in-class sessions within a study module (5-6 days) that includes elements of distance learning.
- he programme’s design, which centres on real business-world problems found in written cases and examples of the best international management and business practices; real companies that are prepared to host study visits; and extensive discussions of situations that might be encountered during the students’ professional careers.
- A strong alumni community that contributes to the programme’s development through a discussion club and company visits. The alumni organisation also invites well-known charismatic leaders to chair seminars. In this respect, the programme allows students to create their own social capital, which lays a foundation for their future professional and personal development.
Graduate post-experience programme: EMBA
The Executive MBA programme’s distinctive features are:
- Teaching methods that seek to build knowledge around extensive peer-to-peer, professor-student and student-student discussions focused on re-evaluating and sharing diverse experiences, uncovering new and innovative approaches, finding solutions for real organisational challenges, and establishing a valuable professional network;
- Visits to companies from the School’s partners list and companies at which students work;
- Study tours to partner business schools in Italy, Japan and the US;
- “The ultimate study outcome in the form of improvements or changes in companies in which students work, or the establishment of a new company by students;
- A strong alumni community that contributes to the development of the programme.
Through the educational and social events organised by the School in cooperation with the alumni community, a life-long learning process is integrated into the students’ lives.
Good Practices:
“Responsible and integrated management education program”
The School has demonstrated its efforts to offer quality educational program to its students, at the same time being responsive to market needs. Master in International Business and Strategy was developed as a response to increasing demand for new types of managers (academic + practical training) with international experience in the labor market. The program emphasizes action-oriented methods which provide students with an opportunity to solve real business challenges; it has established close cooperation with the corporations which provides students with the unique opportunities to interact with the industry; the program also exposes students to globalized environment through its close partnership with international community and efforts to internationalize its curriculum.
4. Matters to be noted
The School is making good efforts to internationalize its educational programs, attract more international students and faculty members, ensure high quality of education, enhance research and collaborations with the business world. To certain extent, these actions may contradict the existing conditions in the School as well as external limitations that include the governmental legislation, the parent university restrictions, geopolitical situation and limited infrastructure resources. These factors impose extra challenges for the School to achieve its targets, and should be highlighted in the SER. The Action Plan should address key improvement issues and initiatives in a consistent manner to ensure KAIZEN can be conducted smoothly for the purposes of continuous improvement.