Name That School

By Dan LeClair

How many "named" business schools can you list?

Most higher education institutions (universities) have at least one academic unit within them that principally deliver business programs. Sometimes these business schools are "named," such as the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania or the Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration at Tel Aviv University. Other times the unit carries a "generic" name such as the College of Business or School of Business Administration. In between these two cases are academic units that do not carry the names of people, but specifically and distinctively apply the names of their institutions ("institution sub-brands"), such as Harvard Business School or Rotterdam School of Management.

We use "stand-alone" to describe business schools that do not reside within a larger university. INSEAD and Thunderbird are examples of stand-alone business schools.

For another project we took a look at business school names at AACSB accredited institutions in 1991, 2001, and 2011. The break down by category is shown in Table 1 below.

Table 1. Business School Names by Category

Category	1991		2001		2011
Named	54	19.6%	137	33.7%	219	36.1%
Institution Sub-Brand	1	0.4%	4	1.0%	38	6.3%
Stand-Alone	1	0.4%	8	2.0%	35	5.8%
Generic	220	79.7%	258	63.4%	315	51.9%
Total	276	100.0%	407	100.0%	607	100.0%
% Branded	20.3%		36.6%		48.1%

Source: AACSB International

 

I was surprised that nearly half (48.1%) of currently accredited institutions are either stand-alone or have academic units delivering business programs under a distinctive name or institution sub-brand.

 

We also analyzed changes over the last two decades. The corresponding percentage (of named, sub-branded, or stand-alone schools) was 20.3% in 1991. The increase is explained primarily by "unnamed" schools moving to one of the branded categories. Although it is not shown in the table, 85 "generic" schools that were accredited in 1991 became "named" or "sub-branded" by 2011. Interestingly, there were five "named" schools in 1991 that became "generic" by 2011.

 

The percentage of stand-alone business schools also increased. However, this shift was due primarily to the expansion of AACSB accreditation beyond the United States to Europe and other regions where stand-alone business schools are more common.

 

This analysis suggests several questions. First, what has caused the shift from "generic" to "named" business schools? Fundraising has become more important to business school deans as they diversify revenue sources, and naming opportunities strengthen the pitch for major gifts. However, today's business schools are also more interested in reputation and brand differentiation, so money is not the only driver.

 

Second, are there implications for the way we handle and promote accreditation? AACSB currently promotes accreditation at this institutional level, including all business and management degree programs. But more and more deans are asking AACSB to draw attention to the business school rather than university in which it sits.

 

Third, to what extent has the shift from generic to named business schools impacted the relationship between the business school and institution, and other academic units in it? While the trend towards named schools may suggest loosening connections, intra-university partnerships are becoming more important.