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| Global Business School Network | |
|---|---|
| Name | Global Business School Network |
| Formation | 1999 |
| Type | Non-profit organization |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Region served | Worldwide |
| Leader title | President |
Global Business School Network is an international non-profit organization that connects business schools, corporate partners, and development institutions to advance leadership and entrepreneurship in low- and middle-income regions. Founded at the cusp of the 21st century, the organization engages with academic institutions, multilateral organizations, corporate foundations, and philanthropic donors to strengthen management education across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. It operates through regional hubs and programmatic partnerships with universities, ministries, and private-sector actors.
The organization emerged in the late 1990s amid dialogues involving World Bank, IMF, United Nations Development Programme, Ford Foundation, and leading business schools such as Harvard Business School, INSEAD, Stanford Graduate School of Business, London Business School, and Kellogg School of Management. Early initiatives drew on networks associated with Manchester Business School, HEC Paris, Columbia Business School, Wharton School, and Rotman School of Management. Throughout the 2000s it expanded partnerships with regional institutions including University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, CEIBS, Universidad de los Andes (Colombia), and Fundação Getulio Vargas. Donor engagement included projects with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Mastercard Foundation, and USAID. Strategic convenings took place alongside forums such as World Economic Forum, G20 Summit, UN General Assembly, and regional gatherings like the African Union meetings.
The organization's mission centers on strengthening leadership education through capacity building, research dissemination, and networked learning with institutions such as Aga Khan University, Ashridge Business School, IE Business School, IESE Business School, and ESADE. Activities include faculty development reminiscent of programs at MIT Sloan School of Management, curriculum co-creation modeled after collaborations at University of Michigan Ross School of Business, and executive education partnerships similar to offerings at Thunderbird School of Global Management and IMD. The network promotes entrepreneurship ecosystems involving partners like Y Combinator, Endeavor Global, Ashoka, Skoll Foundation, and regional accelerators such as MEST Africa and Nairobi Garage. Advocacy and policy dialogues have intersected with entities like Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, African Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and Asian Development Bank.
Membership spans accredited institutions including AACSB International, EFMD, AMBA-accredited schools and national associations like Association of African Business Schools, Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, European Foundation for Management Development, and Latin American Council of MBA Schools. Corporate members have included firms such as Microsoft, Google, Unilever, Citigroup, HSBC, and Shell. Governance models mirror boards and advisory councils seen at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Brookings Institution, and Council on Foreign Relations, with governance input from former officials from United States Agency for International Development, executives from Accenture, PwC, Deloitte, and academics affiliated with Yale School of Management, Princeton University, Oxford University Said Business School, and Cambridge Judge Business School.
Programmatic offerings encompass leadership academies similar to initiatives at Clinton Global Initiative, women’s leadership programs aligned with Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, social enterprise curricula in partnership with Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, and health-sector management training akin to collaborations with World Health Organization programs. Capacity-building projects have been implemented with national ministries such as Ministry of Education (India), Ministry of Health (Kenya), and municipal authorities like City of Bogotá and Government of Ghana. Regional initiatives have engaged networks including African Union Commission, ASEAN Secretariat, and Caribbean Community. Scholarship and fellowship programs reflect approaches used by Rhodes Scholarship, Chevening, and Fulbright Program.
Collaborations include academic consortia formed with University of Cape Town, Makerere University Business School, University of the West Indies, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and Shanghai Jiao Tong University Antai College of Economics and Management. Multilateral and philanthropic partners include UNICEF, United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, European Commission, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Corporate alliances have involved Mastercard Foundation, Citi Foundation, Google.org, IBM, and SAP. Event partnerships have aligned with Forbes, The Economist, Financial Times, Bloomberg, and regional media such as ThisDay (Nigeria) and El Tiempo (Colombia).
Impact assessments draw on evaluation frameworks used by USAID, OECD Development Assistance Committee, and researchers from London School of Economics, Harvard Kennedy School, Stanford Center for Social Innovation, and Brookings Institution. Reported outcomes include faculty development metrics, graduate entrepreneurship rates benchmarked against studies from Kauffman Foundation and Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, and institutional strengthening indicators similar to those promoted by UNESCO. Independent evaluations have been commissioned from institutes such as RAND Corporation, McKinsey & Company, Deloitte Insights, and academic reviewers at IESE Business School and ESADE Business School.
The organization’s funding model combines grants from foundations like Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, and Mastercard Foundation; contracts with development agencies including USAID, DFID, European Commission; membership dues from institutions; and corporate sponsorships from firms such as Microsoft, Google, and Unilever. Financial oversight practices are comparable to those of International Rescue Committee, Oxfam International, and CARE International, with audits conducted by firms like KPMG, Ernst & Young, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Category:International educational organizations