SBM ITB was finally accredited by AACSB. Of course this is a huge achievement considering that only 6% of business schools in the world get this accreditation. Many struggles were given to get this accreditation, which came from all ITB and SBM ITB civitas. Check out the story behind the hard work to get accreditation which is shared by the SBM ITB CORE Team only on YouTube and Spotify SBM ITB.
School of Business and Management Institut Teknologi Bandung is accredited with AACSB International. This is a great achievement considering that less than six percent of business schools in the world have successfully obtained accreditation from the AACSB.
Many struggles were given to get this accreditation, which came from the entire ITB community and SBM ITB. On this occasion, the SBM reporter interviewed the Core Team who will share the story behind the hard work of getting AACSB accreditation.
“Core Team” is a special team mandated by SBM ITB to represent the process of obtaining AACSB accreditation. This team was led directly by Achmad Ghazali, a lecturer at SBM ITB along with other lecturers, namely Aria Bayu Pangestu, Atik Aprianingsih, Isti Raafaldini M, Nur Arief R.P, Shimaditya Nuraeni, Mandra Lazuardi Kitri, and Yuanita Handayati.
“We need a different name, that’s why we named this team the Core Team,” said Achmad.
Talking about the motivation for getting this accreditation, Aria Bayu Pangestu explained that SBM ITB wants to become a world-class institution that is in line with the vision of the founder of SBM ITB, namely Dermawan Wibisono.
“Having AACSB accreditation will be our step to prepare ourselves to compete at the international level,” said Bayu. He added that by getting this accreditation, he hopes that SBM ITB graduates will feel more confident because they have been recognized internationally.
“The process of getting this accreditation is also quite long, we started from 2014 with a team consisting of only 10 people,” said Mandra. Mandra added that over time, the team members were increasing as well as the documents that had to be prepared until finally, SBM ITB was able to get this accreditation.
This long process certainly requires a high fighting spirit and a solid team.
“Of course, there are a lot of things being done at AACSB, even the process takes a long time, so the way we can do that is by first discussing everything that has to be done, what data to look for, then we are given the flexibility of time to do it ourselves first. then later it will be discussed together”, said Isti Raafaldini M
“One thing that unites us in this team is that we all like to eat, hahaha, so every time we go to a meeting the first thing we discuss is what we want to eat. I think that’s what makes this team solid too,” added Yuanita Handayati.
After the food is available, then the Core Team will start the discussion. Yuanita also said that the most important part of this team is the leader. “Ka Ahmad can really unite all of us, for example, one has very high expectations, the other has no expectations, but it can all be balanced hahaha”, she said.
The whole process certainly cannot run smoothly without the challenges experienced.
“One of our biggest real struggles is unifying goals because we coordinate multi-stakeholders, each of whom has their own goals,” said Atik Aprianingsih when asked about the difficulties faced.
Similar to Atik, Achmad also agrees that equating vision and mission is also the biggest challenge. “The most difficult job is managing smart people because they already have their own way of thinking and how to make them follow the rules and follow the standards is really challenging,” he said.
With a long process and of course it takes a big struggle, the Core Team shares several important points that we can use as lessons learned.
“The first is to unite the vision and mission by having good leadership,” said Achmad.
The second lesson learned is maintaining stamina. “Because 7 years is the time needed for an accredited project, of course, this is like an organizational transformation, and this requires great motivation, not only from the internal core team, but from SBM as a whole, both students, professional staff, and colleagues lecturer” added Achmad. Achmad also added that the spirit of the entire community is what makes SBM unique because all SBM residents are very united.
The third lesson learned is that we must be able to have our own abilities and not only rely on big names. “SBM ITB by having AACSB accreditation proves that we really try and show that we have the best quality that doesn’t just rely on ITB’s big names,” said Achmad.
“If you want to run fast, run alone, but if you want to run far, then run together,” added Bayu.
At the end of the interview session, the CORE Team had several messages for the entire SBM ITB community. First, “let’s maintain the good name of SBM ITB, which already has this accreditation, in a responsible way and shows that our quality is indeed worthy on an international scale,” said Atik.
Second, “Don’t let your spirit slacken, because this is a new beginning to get even better opportunities. So that this accreditation is not just a logo but can have a real impact on the ITB community and even for Indonesia,” Bayu said.
Similar to Bayu, Yuanita also advised that “This AACSB accreditation makes SBM ITB go up a grade, meaning that there will be more new opportunities and challenges so that the value of SBM ITB that remains enthusiastic must be maintained”.
The third is to keep doing continuous improvement. “This accreditation is our medium to become an internationally recognized standard, so this should not stop us but become a spirit to always innovate and make continuous improvement,” said Isti.
Finally, Achmad advised us not to be complacent, but we still have a day one mentality, so we should not feel the best. “SBM is unique, not the best, there are things we need to take care of and we will give color not only on a national scale but also on a global scale, for the greater good,” he said.