Henley Management College

Henley Management College was an English triple accredited business school based at Greenlands, near Henley-on-Thames in Buckinghamshire. As of August 2008, it merged with the business school of the University of Reading, in order to create the new "Henley Business School at the University of Reading".

It was the first business school to be established in the UK,Fact|date=January 2007 the college was set up by business leaders in 1945, largely to deliver executive education, a focus which continues to this day. However, it was also a considerable force on the MBA scene—particularly through its distance-learning programme which has registered students from 110 countries, making it one of the world’s largest providers of MBAs. It was incorporated as the Administrative Staff College in 1945, founded in 1946, and opened in March 1948. It had a large number of local owned or affiliated colleges, under the same name, throughout the world.

Origin

The Administrative Staff College title reflects its original philosophy, which was to establish a civilian equivalent of the military Staff Colleges.

The original thinking of the College owed something to the management consultant and writer Lyndall Urwick, but also to the academic Hector Hetherington and the businessman Geoffrey Heyworth (later Baron Heyworth). Its curriculum was designed by its first Principal, Noel Hall. From the first, its intention was to bring together executives from the civil service, private business and nationalised industries to help develop their skills for promotion to senior management.

The success of the College led to the establishment of other administrative staff colleges in other parts of the world. In 1981, the College changed its name from its original title to Henley - The Management College. This was changed again to its modern form when the College received its Royal Charter ten years later in 1991.

In January 2008 the college announced it was merging with the University of Reading and changing its name to Henley Business School at the University of Reading to reflect this. The University of Reading announced to staff this process was expected to be completed by 1st August 2008.

Activities

It was known mostly, but not only, for its MBA program. It also offered a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) program. The college was accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), Equis and AMBA. In 2002, the college was also granted AACSB International accreditation. In 2006 it was awarded The Queen's Award for Enterprise in recognition of its international activities.

The 2007 Economist (EIU) MBA ranking places the Henley MBA in the Top 10 in the world. [http://mba.eiu.com/index.asp?layout=2007rankings] . The Financial Times (FT) 2007 rankings place the Henley Executive MBA in the Top 30 in the world. [http://rankings.ft.com/emba-rankings/henley-management-college] .

It was established in 1945 as the Administrative Staff College and is currently the world's third-largest supplier of MBA education. [http://www.prleap.com/pr/66697/]

Meredith Belbin's well known research on team roles was originally conducted at the College upon students attending courses there.

Dr D Rundle has recently written a book about the College's history and its role in the development of management education globally, entitled "Henley and the Unfinished Management Education Revolution".

Locations

Greenlands

The UK campus head office was situated at the country house of Greenlands sited on the Thames next to Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. This was formerly the home of a family connected with the W H Smith business empire, and is now a campus of the University of Reading.

Owned or affiliated colleges

Each local campus could vary in what it offered, with each having some local customization. A number of countries had a full local campus, with local teaching staff and local accreditation. A number of others, that Henley lists as countries they serve, have an office without local instructors. Students in those countries must either travel abroad or use instruction over the internet.

The following is a partial list of physical campuses with local instructors and separate local accreditation:

* Henley Management College, South Africa — Serves Africa as a whole
* Henley Management College, Cyprus — Most students at the Henley Regional Centre for the Eastern Mediterranean are distance learners from other countries, but physical campus with educational staff is provided

See also

* See [http://www.henleymc.ac.uk/henleymc03/assocweb03.nsf/homepage Henley's official list of all countries served] .
* The Henley College, a sixth form college
* University of Reading

External links

* [http://www.henleymc.ac.uk/ Henley Management College official UK website]
* [http://www.reading.ac.uk/ University of Reading website]
* [http://www.which-mba.com/index.asp?layout=2002rankings Which MBA online 2006 rankings]