Launch of the Business School Impact System (BSIS) Label

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM--(Marketwired - Feb. 15, 2016) - Since its launch in 2014, BSIS - Business School Impact Survey, run as a joint venture between EFMD Global Network and FNEGE, has successfully assessed 19 business schools & 24 campuses all over the word, including SKEMA, IAE Lyon, St.Gallen and USEK Lebanon.

Thomas Bieger, President of University of St.Gallen in Switzerland said: "The University of St.Gallen is a cantonal/state school with an international role. Less than 10 percent of our students are from the region, but our university needs the support of the local citizens when, for example, it needs new buildings or other infrastructure (...) For us, the BSIS impact assessment not only helps to create a transparent scheme for impact measurement and improves our strategy by fruitful inputs and benchmarking, but it also significantly increases internal awareness of the importance of regional legitimation."

At a time when all organisations are increasingly being held accountable for their activities, there is often a need to demonstrate with well-documented evidence the impact that they have on their immediate environment.

The BSIS scheme identifies the tangible and intangible benefits that a business school brings to the community. At the heart of the BSIS measurement process is a framework of around 120 indicators covering financial, economic, societal and image dimensions of impact.

In order to formally recognise the efforts schools put into undertaking the impact assessment exercise, EFMD officially transformed BSIS - Business School Impact Survey into BSIS - Business School Impact System and agreed to confer the BSIS Label upon schools going through the impact assessment process. The decision was taken by the EFMD Board at the 2016 EFMD Deans & Director General Conference in Budapest.

The objective of the Label is to recognise business schools that are aware of the importance of measuring and assessing their impact not just within the management education community, but within society at large. The Label will be also awarded retroactively to the schools that have gone through the process since its launch.

"Demonstrating the many ways in which they add economic and social value to the environment in which they operate has become a challenge for business schools. To meet this demand for greater accountability, BSIS is an effective tool to help schools identify, measure and communicate all the positive contributions they make to the world around them," said Prof. Gordon Shenton, who, together with Prof. Michel Kalika, IAE Lyon, has been appointed one of the two co-directors of BSIS.

"I am really proud that we can now offer a tangible sign of international appreciation for the tremendous work the schools put in collecting and analysing data on their impact on the local environment. The label also raises the internal awareness within the business schools, proving their relevance, meaning and real impact on the community. It is a seal of recognition for the schools who consider their impact as vital," added Prof. Michel Kalika, BSIS co-director.

If you would like to receive further information or are interested in your school taking part, please visit www.efmdglobal.org/bsis or contact: Gordon SHENTON: gordon.shenton@efmd.org, Michel KALIKA: michel.kalika@efmd.org or bsis@efmd.org.