MIB EPAS Consortium to Deepen its Cooperation
The Faculty of International Relations (FIR) is a founding member of the MIB-Master’s in International Business EPAS Consortium. Only those schools which have obtained the prestigious EPAS accreditation from the EFMD, as well as offering a follow-up Master’s degree programme in International Business, can become members of this association.
The aim of the consortium is to develop the programme, exchange experience, as well as the implementation of innovative international cooperation projects. The consortium members’ meeting was held on 22nd August, 2017 in Vaasa, Finland. Josef Taušer, Dean of the FIR took part in the meeting. The International Business – Central European Realities programme was represented by its Academic Director Ludmila Štěrbová. The Rector of the University of Economics, Prague, Prof. Hana Machková; who signed a double-degree contract for IB with another Finnish college, Lappeenrate University of Technology, School of Business and Management; was also in attendance.
EPAS accreditation is granted by the European Foundation for Management Development under strict conditions, usually for 3 years. The main goal of the EPAS professional accreditation was to create an international quality standard for those courses of study which are focused on “business education”. The International Business programme, in both Czech and English versions, was accredited for the first time in 2012, and successfully defended in 2015. It is now preparing intensively for its re-accreditation. The peer review visit is scheduled for 28th – 30th November, 2017.
“The activities within the consortium are very beneficial for the FIR,” says Dean Taušer. “The International Business programme is a leading one at our Faculty. In order to make it more attractive, we have adjusted the study plan since this academic year, and students from the post-graduate Master’s degree must first obtain authentic foreign experience. One option is the double degree study programme in International Business at the FIR, and International Management at the iaelyon School of Management. By combining an annual study programme in Prague with an annual exchange experience in France, graduates will receive a Master’s degree from both universities. At the meeting in Finland, I negotiated another double degree with the Faculty of Business Studies of the University of Vaasa, Finland. At the beginning of January, we will send four students to a three-day extra-semestral course in Lyon, focusing on the practical solution of a case study, and by the end of November we will nominate a diploma thesis which will represent the FIR in the competition for the best diploma thesis from the MIB EPAS Consortium.”
Consortium members are: the iaelyon School of Management (France), Riseba University of Business, Arts and Technology (Lithuania), the Sheffield Business School of the Sheffield Hallam University (UK), the Faculty of Business Studies of the University of Vaasa (Finland) and the FIR of the University of Economics, Prague. More information can be found at http://mib-epas-consortium.com/