Teaching, Intellectual Contributions, or Service? A Brief Comparison of Academic Missions at AACSB Member Schools.

Share |

Each business school has its own mission and strategic plan, and develops its focus and courses based on the needs of its students, and of the business world at large. As a result, each institution places a different level of focus on its business-unit priorities as it relates to teaching, intellectual contributions, and service requirements for faculty.

Within the annual AACSB International Business School Questionnaire (BSQ), member schools are asked to choose the priority code that most closely matches their school’s general orientation. This provides a quick glance at the mission of the business school, and how it perceives its goals as an institution.

In this data visualization, AACSB examines where member schools in the Asia, Oceania, Europe, United States, and overall participant categories have listed that they focus their priorities, and compare those responses to other worldwide member participants. The three items included within these codes are:

Teaching—The delivery of learning experiences through student-faculty interaction to prepare students for a successful
career in a branch of business.
Intellectual Contributions—The production of intellectual contributions intended to advance the knowledge of business
and management theory, practice, and/or learning/pedagogy and broaden the boundaries of business education through
research and publications.
Service—Service to the school, professional organization(s) and/or the community through initiatives such as educational
programs, volunteerism, and joint programs with local businesses.

For the 2010–11 BSQ, we received 701 responses from the AACSB membership to this question. In the chart below, each emphasis type is listed and colored separately for visual comparison. As seen, the largest number of schools reporting was from the United States (506), but statistically speaking, Oceania (19), Europe (80) and Asia (52) also had a good amount of participation for this survey.

Based on the information submitted by respondents, the most common general orientation for all AACSB member schools (38.5 percent) and schools within the United States (47.4 percent) ranked the emphasis of teaching, then intellectual contributions, followed by service. While this category was common for the other regions, the more popular emphasis for Asia (32.7 percent), Europe (35.0 percent), and Oceana (63.2 percent) was an equal emphasis on teaching and intellectual contributions, followed by service.

No one would argue that any of these categories are unimportant, but looking at the weight given to each is a fascinating way to think about which format of education member schools across different world regions choose to emphasize. There is a need for schools with each of these foci, and AACSB International will continue to work with schools of business worldwide to help them achieve their goals.

Looking for Vital Business School Data?

With Data Direct, AACSB members can access specific, customizable business school data that is vital to everyday decision-making.

DataDirect doesn’t just show you the data, it allows you to find exactly what you need in the format that you prefer—whether it’s a customized report, customized comparison group, table, chart, or percentile.

Subscription Information
AACSB members can access the data within DataDirect on a basic or enhanced level. The basic level of access is complimentary to all members.

The enhanced level of access is available through a three-month or one-year subscription. With a subscription, you and your entire school or organization will have unlimited access to detailed business school data, custom comparison groups, custom and specific variables, multiple format reports, and annual and special survey reports.

Login Today!
Every member school or organization is provided with a basic-level login. Schools and organizations that subscribe are upgraded and have access to the full features of the database, such as the custom reports and benchmarking tools.

For more information on how to login or for subscription help, please email datadirect@aacsb.edu.