Ashridge Business School

Infobox_University
name =Ashridge Business School
native_name =
latin_name =


motto =
established =1959
type =Business school
endowment =
staff = 400 +
faculty =
president =
principal =
rector =
chancellor =
vice_chancellor =
dean =
head_label =
head =
students =
undergrad =
postgrad =
doctoral =
city =Hertfordshire
state =
country =United Kingdom
campus =
free_label =
free =
colors =
colours =
mascot =
affiliations =
website = [http://www.ashridge.org.uk www.ashridge.org.uk]

Ashridge Business School is an independent, not for profit organisation, near Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, England. Its activities include open and tailored executive education programmes, MBA, MSc and Diploma qualifications, organisation consulting, applied research and online learning. Ashridge works with private and public organisations from around the world. It is based at Ashridge House, one of the largest Gothic Revival country houses in England.

Academic performance

In the latest "Financial Times" rankings (May 2008), Ashridge was ranked number one in the UK for its customised executive education programmes for the second year running. It is ranked 11th in the world. [ [http://www.ft.com/businesseducation/executiveeducation2008 Executive Education] ] It is 5th in the UK for its open executive education programmes and 42nd in the world. It is 31st in the world in the combined business school ranking.

In the latest "Financial Times" rankings for Executive MBAs (May 2007), it is 70th in the world and 10th in the UK. [ [http://www.ft.com/businesseducation/emba2007 FT.com - Business Education] ]

In the latest "Which MBA/Economist" rankings (2007) it is 19th in the world and 5th in the UK. It is number one in the world for salary growth for the third year running. [ [http://mba.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=2002rankings Economist rankings] ]

Ashridge is one of a handful of business schools in the world to be triple accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), The European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) and The Association of MBAs (AMBA).

History of the building

The 7th Earl of Bridgewater commissioned James Wyatt to build the present neo-gothic building as his home: it was completed in 1813. [Sanecki, K.A., pg 30] The boundary between Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire originally passed through the dining room, though the house is now entirely in Hertfordshire.

In 1921 the house was acquired by a trust established by Andrew Bonar Law, a former Prime Minister and in 1929 it became a "College of Citizenship" established to help the Conservative Party develop its intellectual forces in struggles with left-wing organisations such as the Fabian Society. [ [http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~content=a713999515~db=all A glimpse at the archives of a Conservative intellectual project] ] It became a cross between a think-tank and a training centre and had Arthur Bryant as its educational adviser. During World War II, the building and the lawn in front of it was used as a secondary site for Charing Cross Hospital. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/37/a1993737.shtml WW2 People's War] ]

After the war, the College of Citizenship was briefly re-launched. In 1959 it was re-launched again to provide management training, and is now a business school.

The building is now a Grade 1 listed building. [ [http://www.hha.org.uk/HHA/Property.aspx?id=923&vw=0 Historic Houses Association] ]

Constitution

Ashridge Business School is constituted as a registered charity, formally named The Ashridge (Bonar Law Memorial) Trust, and is one of the 150 largest UK charitable organisations ranked by annual expenditure. [ [http://www.charitiesdirect.com/CharitiesSearchTop500.asp?sortby=E Charities Direct: Top 500 Charities - Expenditure] ]

ee also

* Ashridge
* Ashridge Priory

Further reading

* Sanecki, K.A., "Ashridge - A Living History", Phillimore & Co, 1996, ISBN 1 86077 020 7

References

External links

* [http://www.ashridge.org.uk Ashridge Business School]
*UK charity|311096|The Ashridge (Bonar Law Memorial) Trust