Kran, Detlev: MBA-Guide 2002, Luchterhandverlag, December 2001, ISBN 3-472-03836-5, EURO 29,--

In Austria, Germany and Switzerland the Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA) is experiencing a growing interest from the public, from enterprises, as well as private and public suppliers in Master of Business Administration (MBA) education. For the first time the MBA-Guide 2002 gives an overview of the MBA-Market in Austrian, Germany and Switzerland and of about 120 providers and 150 programmes. The main focus of this book is on Parttime and Distance Learning Programmes.

Austrian, German and Swiss corporate life in the last decade has been deeply influenced by the internationalisation processes. The demand for managerial skills, including language skills which will support internationally oriented German firms is clearly relevant. This "international" aspect has also emerged in debate over the essential qualities of MBA programmes offered in Germany, with some arguing that study with a number of different nationalities is an essential ingredient of the learning experience and that teaching should be conducted in the lingua franca of international

business - English.

The range of Master of Business Administration Programmes (MBA) in Austria Germany and Switzerland is extensive. It begins with the "junior MBA" for students who have just graduated from university. The "Executive MBA" on the other end of the scale is for managers most of whom have up to ten years of practical business experience. There are full-time, part-time and distance-learning programmes or modular programmes that enable the student to do any of the three. The fees for most MBA-programmes range from EURO 10.000,-- to EURO 40.000,--. In the late eighties there were only 10 MBA-providers in Austria, Switzerland and Germany, mostly from abroad. Between 1990 and 1995 this number had increased to 35 providers. Today students can choose among 120 providers with 150 programmes in those three countries.

The number of students in Germany has risen from 500 (1985) to about 3000 (2001), about 70 % - 80 % of those students study abroad or as part of joint ventures from abroad. A lot of the MBA-programmes on offer in Austria, Germany and Switzerland, are the result of co-operations with American or British programmes. 70% of all German MBA-programmes were founded in 1998 - 2001, especially since the German Parliament has officially approved Bachelor and Master Programmes as part of university education. In 1998 a Federal law in Germany was enacted (Framework Act for Higher Education (HRG)) which allowed German Universities to offer bachelor and masters programmes.

Significantly, the introduction of Bachelors and Masters courses was accompanied by an innovation on the German education scene - that of accreditation. Accreditation agencies, the establishment of an Akkreditierungsrat and the adoption of a credit points' system lead to greater transparency and comparison of quality. A similar goal but different methods of quality improvement in Higher Education can be seen in Austria and Switzerland. In anticipation of this development, universities, enterprises and industrial associations established FIBAA in 1994 in order to make the ever-growing market of MBA-programmes and providers more transparent. In 2000 FIBAA got the recognition of the German Accreditation Council, as the independent professional accreditation body for business related courses of study.