[photopress:mba_belgian.jpg,full,alignright]Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School (not a phrase that runs trippingly off the tongue) is to take over the joint running and management of the Beijing International MBA.
Bimba is currently managed by Peking University’s China Center for Economic Research and a consortium of US schools. But from September, Vlerick will take over the responsibilities of the US arm.
Bimba is a one-year, full-time and two-year, part-time English language MBA.
The partnership will run initially for five years but both sides emphasize that they see this as a long-term commitment.
Justin Yifu Lin, dean of CCER and the instigator of Bimba, says Vlerick in Belgium was selected because of its strong brand and reputation for quality, international programs, as well as its proximity to Brussels.
Bimba was established in 1998 as the first joint international MBA program in Beijing approved by the Chinese government. It has been managed for the past 10 years by CCER and a consortium of American Jesuit US schools, with the degree issued by Fordham University in New York.
Vlerick is no stranger to international alliances. It collaborates in educational ventures with, among others, Cranfield School of Management in the UK and Esade in Spain. But the Bimba alliance could certainly be considered its most ambitious partnership.
Source: Financial Times