A revolution in education occurred in 1988 when Dr. Dick Gerdzen led a group of Dutch senior consultants and managers allied with European Business Schools to review the link between what people learnt in business schools and what happened in the work place. Dissatisfied, they decided it was necessary to link learning to action, to the realities of the workplace.

Business School Netherlands was thus born with its flagship Action Learning MBA Programme.

Business School Netherlands is one of the leading MBA schools in the Netherlands. BSN offers fully accredited English taught MBA programmes. Business School Netherlands aims to turn international students into the business leaders of tomorrow by means of a high impact curriculum.

Business School Netherlands has its main campus in the serene and scenic city of Buren - Holland, as well as in several locations across the world. The international partners of Business School Netherlands throughout the world are Algeria, Asia, Czech Republic, Ghana, Greece, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Suriname, and Tanzania.

Through the Action Learning paradigm at Business School Netherlands, managers learn by putting knowledge into practice, by experimenting and by taking action.

In 2013, Business School Netherlands would mark its Silver Jubilee. To celebrate our 25^th Anniversary, Business School Netherlands will offer from this year an Entrepreneurial MBA for a mixed and diverse group and organise industry-specific Master classes.

Business School Netherlands is registered as a Private Business School within the Dutch Educational System. It has the University of Applied Sciences status, without the aid of governmental funding. Through University status and by the Dutch Ministry of Education, BSN has been granted the authority to issue degrees including the Post Initial (professional) Masters like DBA.

The Executive MBA and the Distance Learning MBA programmes offered by BSN are listed with the Dutch Central Register of Higher Education Study Programmes (CROHO) and are accredited by the NVAo, the official Dutch governmental accreditation body.

Best MBA Provider in the Netherlands

In 2012, ahead of the 25^th Anniversary, Business School Netherlands emerged from a survey as the Best MBA provider in the Netherlands. This was a fitting recognition of the fact that BSN is the only institution that runs a professional modular MBA. This is a reflection of the quality of education offered by BSN, which exceeds organizations’ expectations.

That survey of the Top 5 showed Business School Netherlands with the highest scores.

Rating of Top 5 training providers in the Netherlands

BSN 8.17

Nyenrode 8.12

TSM 8,05

RSM Rotterdam 8,00

TiasNimbas 7,95

Business School Netherlands ranked top on the list that includes such notable schools as the Rotterdam School of Management of Erasmus University, Nyenrode Business Universiteit, the first private university in Netherlands, TSM Business School of the University of Twente and TiasNimbas, the business School of Tilburg University.

Business School Netherlands in Nigeria

We are the Nigerian affiliate of Business School Netherlands. Business School Netherlands started recruitment of students in Nigeria in 2003. We offer executive education to carefully screened senior managers who require knowledge more than certification.

Nigeria is the third biggest BSN location in the world, and the school has enrolled over 600 MBA students who have received or are receiving tuition in the experiential action-learning paradigm pioneered by Business School Netherlands for MBA programme.

Business School Netherlands Nigeria commenced operations in Otta in 2003 and we now have our administrative office in a more central location in the heart of Lagos with liaison offices in Abuja-FCT, Port Harcourt, Jos, and Kano. BSN has produced 160 Executive MBAs graduates from out of Nigeria.

The BSN difference and approach

Business School Netherlands is an intelligent cutting-edge MBA provider that produces MBA graduates that organisations want. Our graduates are humble, innovative with a passion for what they do. They have an uncompromising focus on the best, are reliable, eloquent and visionary while maintaining operational excellence.

These characteristics of a BSN MBA holder are based on research over the years. Organisations want products that are far ahead of competition in intelligence and value. They get such from the rigorous training our MBA students receive.

The MBA at Business School Netherlands offers value for money to students as well as a high return on investment to both the student and the organisations that either sponsor or support their studies. It is important to note that because our students are usually managers with scope and responsibility at upper middle and senior managerial levels, the time they invest in studies positively affects their organisations within 3 months of enrolling.

We offer a flexible 2-year modular MBA Executive Programme. Our desire to exceed the needs of organisations for high quality MBAs with skills to take positive action to drive transformations is responsible for our passion for excellence. The Action Learning Executive MBA® of Business School Netherlands consists of three phases:

Phase 1 provides basic foundational knowledge regarding phase 2. It creates a common conceptual framework and understanding of the relevant leadership skills and competencies. Students complete the all-important Organisational Analysis and gain insights into how and how well the different business disciplines interface with their particular business.

Phase 2 consists of six core courses of Action Learning Projects (ALP) taken in modular phases covering Human Resources, Marketing, Operations, Financial, Information, and Strategic Management.

Phase 3 sees students completing a Masters Project. The Masters project builds upon the Action Learning projects by addressing a topic of strategic value to the particular student’s organisation.

The Action Learning Executive MBA focuses on results rather than examinations; real life results in the work place from acquired learning. The Action Learning MBA trains problem solvers and potential CEOs.

Digitised courses and study in Netherlands

During this year, Executive MBA students of Business School Netherlands would receive as part of their registration package digitised course content on a specially packaged iPad. Each student’s iPad would contain all MBA Courses in electronic form. Students would now receive their coursework pre-loaded on customised iPads to keep them on the same pedestal with network of students, alumni, and faculty members in other outreaches worldwide.

The iPads would contain coursework, study notes, as well as real life studies to enable the executives on the programme have easy access to referral materials. We are putting in the hands of each student, over 20 million electronic publications in e-library as it is connected to a global library of reference materials.

The iPads would place at the disposal of students a lifetime of study tools and reference materials that would support career transformation as is often required of MBA graduates.

In addition, our MBA students are required to spend a period in the Netherlands as part of the graduation requirement; where they would interact with other students from across the world, and familiarise themselves with everything about Action Learning and the school.

•Excerpted from an address by the Chief Executive of Business School Netherlands, Mr. Lere Baale (shown in photo), at a recent Media Briefing/Facility Tour of BSN’s Nigeria offices.