"MBA" redirects here. For other uses, see MBA (disambiguation).

The Master of Business Administration (MBA or M.B.A.) degree originated in the United States in

the early 20th century when the country industrialized and companies sought scientific management.
[1]
 The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such
as accounting, applied statistics, human resources, business communication, business
ethics, business law, business strategy, finance, managerial
economics, management, entrepreneurship, marketing, supply-chain management, and operations
management in a manner most relevant to management analysis and strategy.
Most programs also include elective courses and concentrations for further study in a particular area,
for example accounting, finance, and marketing. MBA programs in the United States typically require
completing about forty to sixty credits (sixty to ninety in a quarter system), much higher than the
thirty credits (thirty-six to forty-five in a quarter system) typically required for degrees that cover
some of the same material such as the Master of Economics, Master of Finance, Master of
Accountancy, Master of Science in Marketing and Master of Science in Management.
The MBA is a terminal degree and a professional degree.[2][3] Accreditation bodies specifically for
MBA programs ensure consistency and quality of education. Business schools in many countries
offer programs tailored to full-time, part-time, executive (abridged coursework typically occurring on
nights or weekends) and distance learning students, many with specialized concentrations.

Contents

 1History
 2Accreditation
o 2.1United States
o 2.2Other countries
 3Programs
 4Admissions criteria
 5Content
o 5.1Exit examination
 6Honor societies
 7Careers
 8Europe
o 8.1History
o 8.2Bologna Accord
o 8.3Accreditation standards
o 8.4Austria
o 8.5Czech Republic
o 8.6France and French speaking countries
o 8.7Germany
o 8.8Italy
o 8.9Poland
o 8.10Portugal
o 8.11Spain
o 8.12Switzerland
o 8.13Ukraine
o 8.14United Kingdom
 9Africa
o 9.1Nigeria
o 9.2South Africa
o 9.3Ghana
o 9.4Kenya
 10Asia-Pacific
o 10.1Bangladesh
o 10.2India
o 10.3Malaysia
o 10.4Singapore
o 10.5Japan
o 10.6Pakistan
o 10.7Australia
o 10.8New Zealand
o 10.9South Korea
 11Program rankings
 12Criticism
 13See also
o 13.1Related graduate business degrees
 13.1.1Executive
 13.1.2Doctoral
 14References
 15Further reading
 16External links

History[edit]
The first school of business in the United States was The Wharton School of the University of
Pennsylvania established in 1881 through a donation from Joseph Wharton[4]. In 1900, the Tuck
School of Business was founded at Dartmouth College[4] conferring the first advanced degree in
business, specifically, a Master of Science in Commerce, the predecessor to the MBA.[5]
The Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration established the first MBA program in
1908, with 15 faculty members, 33 regular students and 47 special students.[6][7] Its first-year
curriculum was based on Frederick Winslow Taylor’s scientific management. The number of MBA
students at Harvard increased quickly, from 80 in 1908, over 300 in 1920, and 1,070 in 1930.[8] At
this time, only American universities offered MBAs. Other countries preferred that people learn
business on the job.[8]
Other milestones include:

 1930: First management and leadership education program for executives and mid-career
experienced managers (the Sloan Fellows Program at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology).[9][10]
 1943: First Executive MBA (EMBA) program for working professionals at the University of
Chicago Booth School of Business.[11] Chicago was also the first business school to establish
permanent campuses on three continents in Chicago (USA), Barcelona (Europe), and Singapore
(Asia). Most business schools today offer a global component to their executive MBA. Since the
program was established, the school has moved its campuses and is now based in Chicago,
London, and Hong Kong.
 1946: First MBA focused on global management at Thunderbird School of Global
Management.[12]
 1950: First MBA outside of the United States, in Canada (Ivey Business School at The
University of Western Ontario),[13] followed by the University of Pretoria in South Africa in 1951.[14]
 1955: First MBA offered at an Asian school at the Institute of Business Administration
Karachi at the University of Karachi in Pakistan, in collaboration with the Wharton School of
the University of Pennsylvania.[15]
 1957: First MBA offered at a European school (INSEAD).[16]
 1963: First MBA offered in Korea by Korea University Business School (KUBS).[17]
 1986: First MBA program requiring every student to have a laptop computer in the classroom
at the Roy E. Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College (Florida).[18] Beginning
with the 1992–1993 academic year, Columbia Business School required all incoming students to
purchase a laptop computer with standard software, becoming the first business school to do so.
[19][20]

 1994: First online executive MBA program at Athabasca University (Canada).[21]

The MBA degree has been adopted by universities worldwide in both developed and developing
countries.[22]

Accreditation[edit]
United States[edit]
Business school or MBA program accreditation by external agencies provides students and
employers with an independent view of the school or program's quality, as well as whether the
curriculum meets specific quality standards. The three major accrediting bodies in the United States
are:

 Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB),

 Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), and
 International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE).[23]
All of these groups also accredit schools outside the US. The ACBSP and the IACBE are
themselves recognized in the United States by the Council for Higher Education
Accreditation (CHEA).[24] MBA programs with specializations for students pursuing careers in
healthcare management also eligible for accreditation by the Commission on the Accreditation of
Healthcare Management Education (CAHME).
US MBA programs may also be accredited at the institutional level. Bodies that accredit institutions
as a whole include:

 Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA),

 New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC),
 Higher Learning Commission (HLC),
 Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU),
 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), and
 Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).[25]
Other countries[edit]
Accreditation agencies outside the United States include the Association of MBAs (AMBA), a UK-
based organization that accredits MBA, DBA and MBM programs worldwide, government
accreditation bodies such as the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), which accredits
MBA and Postgraduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) programs across India. Some of the
leading bodies in India that certify MBA institutions and their programs are the All India Council for
Technical Education (AICTE) and the University Grants Commission (UGC). A distance MBA
program needs to be accredited by the Distance Education Council (DEC) in India. The Council on
Higher Education (CHE) in South Africa, the European Foundation for Management
Development operates the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) for mostly European,
Australian, New Zealand and Asian schools, the Foundation for International Business
Administration Accreditation (FIBAA), and Central and East European Management Development
Association (CEEMAN) in Europe.