Following the meeting of the advisory board for the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program, Dr. José de la Torre, a board member since March 2011, spoke about the significance of AMBA accreditation and the next steps the program should take.
De la Torre was Dean of the Florida International University, Professor Emeritus at that university, Director of the UCLA’s Center for International Business Education and Research, a researcher at the Harvard Business School, and professor of INSEAD in France.
-What do you think of the School of Graduate Studies' MBA program being accredited by AMBA?
-I think it’s a great achievement and a well-deserved one. This program has everything it takes to be considered among the best in the world, and this recognition from AMBA confirms that.
-Only about 6% of the world’s MBA programs are accredited to international standards of this kind. How does receiving AMBA accreditation position the school?
-The faculty members at ORT must be very proud of this recognition. As I mentioned earlier, MBAs have become almost a commodity, with thousands of programs scattered across the globe, many of which are of highly questionable quality. In order to stand out, our program must be recognized as something unique and of great value. AMBA accreditation, as may be the case with other accreditations in the future, provides individuals considering graduate studies in business administration with a guarantee of the quality of the program they are enrolling in. Of course, there are other indicators of quality, such as international rankings (where ORT’s MBA is very well-positioned—see the América Economía and Eduniversal rankings—and in very good company) or peer evaluations and reputation among MBA employers, but without these signs of quality, students would have no way to evaluate the programs on offer. With this accreditation, ORT’s MBA was evaluated using the same criteria as the world’s best programs.
-From a student's perspective, how does attending an accredited institution make a difference?
-I’ll return to the problem students face in evaluating one program and comparing it to another. It’s impossible to assess an MBA program beforehand, since students don’t have the necessary information. They would have to complete the entire program to understand its value. That’s why accreditations serve to fill that need and offer students a seal of approval for the institution they’re considering.
-What are the next steps the university's MBA program should take, and how does international accreditation influence those steps?
-I think there are several possible steps to take. The first is not to rest on our laurels. This is a process of continuous improvement, and accreditation is merely a signal to keep investing in the program’s quality and innovation. Accreditations are granted for a specific period, and in a few years, we’ll have to renew it. In other words, the next review is just around the corner. The second step would be to expand enrollment and grow the program. Not because numbers are a panacea, but because a larger program allows for greater specialization and the amortization of significant investments in more electives, special programs, more visiting professors, etc. Furthermore, it is very important for Uruguay’s economic growth that companies have directors and managers with internationally accredited MBA training. Third, accreditation facilitates international cooperation with other top-tier universities, as they also view the seal of approval granted by AMBA as an additional incentive to collaborate with ORT on joint programs, dual-degree programs (which the MBA already offers), or exchange programs with high-quality institutions. Finally, I believe that the university’s research mission remains fundamental. Having an accredited program can even influence this aspect by facilitating access to companies and colleagues at other institutions with whom cooperative research and development programs can be optimized.