Business Schools

The importance of business schools:

The modern entrepreneur embarks on a business task better armed than his predecessor. Now, he is better informed and prepared for the various demands that the business makes on his time and effort at different times. His preparatory period, prior to taking over the existing family business or initiating one, is tutored and supported with the information he gathers at business school. There are a number of business school operative all over the world; both the brick and mortar types and online. A business school is an institution that confers a degree in Business Administration on the completion of a university-level course. The young entrepreneur is taught how to deal with departments like accounts, marketing, human resource etc. He is also taught to analyze and take informed decisions on organizational behavior, quantitative methods to be adopted at various levels of the business and even the application of the apt information systems.

Types of business schools:

There are colleges and universities that offer exclusive business enhancing courses on campus, while some include business management as another course extended for those interested. The degrees offered are recognized all over the world and empower the young entrepreneur to take informed steps within the highly volatile business environs. The different types of business schools include those dedicated to business administration and those that specialize in imparting knowledge on business management. One of the principal forms of business school includes the university business school. Here the faculty, college and associated departments function from within the university. The main directive in such an institution is to predominantly impart business courses.

Another type of business school is the university-graduate business school. These offer a degree equivalent to a Master of Business Administration or an MBA. Some institutions are two-year school courses that grant the students an Associate Degree on completion of the course chosen. The subjects offered by these schools are various business related subjects like secretarial practice, expanded accounting and extensive bookkeeping and other business oriented subjects. In fact, it is interesting to note that these institutions actually operate like businesses, more than what they really are - institutions of higher learning!

The pioneers:

Set up in 1759, the Aula do Comércio is credited with being the world's first institution to impart dedicated knowledge in trade and commerce. This Lisbon university provided a base for the development of other business schools. The still existent Ecole Superieure de Commerce of Paris is acknowledged as the oldest business school, set up in 1819! The University of California College of Commerce or the Haas School of Business was the first school ever to function as a business school within a public university in 1898, while the Tuck School of Business was the first graduate school of business. In 1900, it offered its students the first ever Master's Degree in Business Administration or as it was called then, the Master of Commercial Science.

The curriculum:

Business schools typically offer a business related education. Many of the business schools focus on the use of specific and related case studies in graduate and undergraduate business education. These are usually designed to offer the students a better understanding about the importance and effective application of financial structure within and beyond the business, business management strategies, market analysis etc. The curriculum also includes cases with historical descriptions of actual business situations revolving around handling of products, competition, sales volumes, employees and the various other factors that are known to affect the success of a business venture.

Business schools expect the students to scrutinize the case study and prepare in detail to effectively discuss questioned and innovate designed strategies and business tactics. There are different methods adopted to impart this knowledge. In the case of the prepared case-specific questions, the underlying concept is to ensure the correct application of the specific guidance to be able to analyze the case studies, while in the case of problem-solving analysis, initiated by the Harvard Business School, the underlying concept is ‘extensive practice develops intuitive analytical skills’, for analyzing and resolving complex business situations.