Partner business schools

The idea of creating a European Executive MBA programme in Moscow on the base of the Institute of Business Studies arose as a result of cooperation of representatives of IBS-Moscow and AMS (Antwerp Management School) in European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) and in the Central and Eastern Europe Management Association (CEEMAN) in 1996. Both universities are leaders of business education in their countries.

• The Antwerp University Management School (AMS) is a first-rate business school in Belgium with a 150 years of experience of business education (the University of Antwerp originated from a Jesuit school of commerce in 1852). The elite Executive MBA programme of the Antwerp Management School (a predecessor of the Moscow programme) exists more than 40 years and many of its graduates hold key positions in European and US companies.
• A European Executive MBA programme is actual for the Moscow market of business education. Europe is the largest trade partner of Russia. Belgium is not only the geographical but an ideological centre of European integration. Flanders (the northern part of Belgium) for ages lies at the crossing of European trade roads. The Flemings speak 3-4 languages. More than 70% of high quality Belgium production is exported.

The Institute of Business Studies (IBS-Moscow) which was earlier called the International Business School - is one of the first business schools in Russia, it was based in 1989. During the whole period of its existence IBS emphasized international cooperation and was always ranked one of the first Russian business schools. In 1994 IBS joined the Academy of National Economy under the government of RF. The experience of ANE in the fields of retraining managers helped IBS to gain unique competence necessary for conducting an international Executive MBA programme.

The Babcock Graduate School of Management, NC, USA), one of the first-rated business schools of the USA, can be called an unofficial partner of Antwerp Management School and IBS. The Executive MBA programme provided a constant base for cooperation between IBS and the Babcock Graduate School of Management.

During more than 12 years of existence of the programme, as a result of informal contacts between Russian, Belgium and American professors, a unique team of professors was created, incarnating the ideas of globalization of business education.