The Contribution of the UK Business Schools to Developing Managers and Leaders

Report of the Business Schools Advisory Group

The Business Schools Advisory Group of the Council for Excellence in Management and Leadership (CEML) was convened to examine the quality, relevance and accessibility of all forms of management and leadership education delivered by UK Business Schools, and to identify any gaps between what the Business Schools currently supply and what is needed.

The Advisory Group represented both employers and Business Schools. The term 'Business School' covers all those institutions in higher education - over a hundred - which offer programmes in Business and Management.

The goal: improving performance in a changing world. The group focused on how Business Schools can increase the management and leadership capability of the whole management population in the UK, and thereby improve individual and organisational performance and national productivity.

Business Schools already make a very large contribution to the teaching of management in the UK, and have played a major role in increasing access to higher education. The strong demand for degree programmes in Business and Management is evidence of considerable success.

However, the Business Schools face important challenges. These mainly stem from changing views both about the nature of management and about how it is best learned.