Siddharth Nambiar, of the Indian Institute of Planning and Management in Bangalore, India, used to give little thought to business schools in the former communist Europe.At least, not until he attended a conference in Paris this year. There, Prof Nambiar, as head of IIPM's global outreach programme, found himself at a round-table discussion listening to Danica Purg, president of the Central and East European Management Development Association (Ceeman), and nodding in agreement.The two were soon enthusiastically comparing notes on various aspects of management education.Prof Purg, dean of IEDC Bled School of Management, based in Bled, Slovenia, set up Ceeman in 1993 to address the particular needs of business schools in the former communist countries, which were then all in the early stages of transition to free market democracies.
On discovering that his Bangalore school, in spite of its vastly different heritage, had much in common with schools in Prague and St Petersburg, it seemed a natural move to Prof Nambiar for IIPM to apply for Ceeman membership."Ceeman represents business schools from a partof the world going through rapid economic growth and the resulting enormous changes," says Prof Nambiar. "India is goingthrough much the same process. Thus Ceeman's vision, created for business schools which are a part of that change, is applicable to us as well."IIPM is the first member from India to join Ceeman, but it is only one of a growing number of schools and institutions from outside the association's traditional core area that are signing up.
"Many schools in developing economies face challenges similar to those we face, and they appreciate Ceeman's efforts to find solutions. Ceeman is moving away from being a regional-based to an issue-based association," says Milenko Gudic, Ceeman director of research.The result is that today, 37 of the association's 101 school members now hail from beyond central and eastern Europe, including institutions from as far afield as Mexico, North America and even Australia.Prof Gudic has also found that the way Ceeman tackles issues - whether it be faculty development, accreditation or even the management of schools themselves - attracts universal interest.Hence the association had immediate appeal to Sabanci University's Faculty of Management, Istanbul, Turkey, which only started classes in 1999, says Nakiye Boyacigiller, the school's dean."Just look at Ceeman's activities - educating educators, strengthening managerial and leadership capabilities in business schools, [promoting] international research and case writing. We believe these activities and goals are important for all schools, especially young ones," says Prof Boyacigiller.Ceeman also offers excellent access to a region that is often overlooked by international business schools, says Chin Tiong Tan, provost and deputy president of Singapore Management University. "We believe we can learn more about the region by getting our faculty involved there.
I anticipate stronger economic relationships between Asia and central and eastern Europe," says Prof Tan.He is also a believer in broadening his school's outlook. "Our faculty can't be global if they only restrict their learning and research to Asia and the developed world. We encourage diversity," he says.These efforts to establish ties to the region have already born fruit, with a contingent of Russians, including a minister, businessmen and academics, visiting Singapore Management University as a direct result of attending last year's Ceeman annual conference.Nor is it only schools from exotic, developing countries that find value in the tiny Bled-based association."Ceeman is an excellent forum through which to understand the issues in the region. Personally, I've been keeping track since 1989 and it is terrific to see growth and development," says Kai Peters, chief executive of Ashridge management school in the UK.He finds Ceeman programmes, though designed to develop schools in the former communist bloc, are still of value to Ashridge. More value, in fact, than expensively hobnobbing with some of the great and the good in the US."There is very little that is not applicable [in Ceeman programmes]. Issues concerning the strategy and market positioning of schools is relevant world-wide."Interestingly, there is more commonality with schools that have 'to earn their living' than I feel with schools that have endowments of billions of dollars which I meet when in the US," Prof Peters says.And while he believesthat established schools have a "moral obligation" to contribute to the development of business and business school communities around the world, the bottom line is that there is a real business imperative for Ashridge in Ceeman membership."We have worked and are working on projects which have come through the broad Ceeman network. Understanding the market and building brand among colleague schools leads to business," Prof Peters says.
