London School of Business and Finance: Difference between revisions

London School of Business and Finance
London School of Business and Finance
	alt=The London School of Business and Finance logo
Motto	Shaping Success in Business and Finance
Established	2003
Type	Private business school
Rector and CEO	Professor Dr Maurits Van Rooijen
Vice-Rector	Professor James Kirkbride
Patron	Prince Michael of Kent
Chairman	Professor Alfred Morris
Location	London, United Kingdom
Campuses	London, Birmingham, Manchester, Toronto, Singapore
Website	http://www.lsbf.org.uk
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Not to be confused with the London Business School or the London School of Economics

The London School of Business and Finance (informally LSBF) is a private for-profit^[1] business school based in London, United Kingdom.^[2] It is completely separate from and not at all affiliated with London Business School (LBS), which is the graduate business school of the University of London. LSBF offers Master's degree programmes in management, finance and marketing; bachelor degrees; executive and corporate training; and professional qualification training for the ACCA, CFA, CIM and CIMA qualifications. LSBF's programmes are currently validated by partner institutions including the University of Wales, the University of Bradford, the University of Central Lancashire, and Grenoble Graduate School of Business.

LSBF is based in Holborn, with two campuses in central London. In addition the school has campuses in Manchester and Birmingham, United Kingdom; Toronto, Canada; and Singapore. LSBF's teaching and education philosophy is based on offering students the opportunity to pursue both an academic degree and a professional qualification simultaneously.^[3]

History

The London School of Business and Finance was founded by Aaron Etingen in 2003.^[4] It began as a provider of accountancy and finance programmes and training for professional qualifications such as ACCA and CIMA, later expanding to provide undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in partnership with other higher education institutions.

LSBF opened its first campus outside of the UK in Toronto, Canada, in February 2011.^[5] In June 2011, LSBF opened an institute in Singapore, the first Asia-Pacific campus of a UK-based business school. At both international offices, the school provides accounting programmes and professional qualification training.^[6]^[7]

In March 2010 LSBF launched an MBA that students may complete in as little as eight weekends.^[8] To accomplish this, LSBF offers one of the eight required courses on campus each weekend, allowing students to acquire an MBA in a relatively short period of time compared to as long as two to three years at traditional institutions.

In October 2011, the British television channel BBC Three featured the LSBF School of English in a documentary about a group of young immigrants who went to the UK to realise their professional ambitions. One of the students was an LSBF student who enrolled for an English course to be prepared for an important job interview.^[9]

In December 2011, Prince Michael of Kent chaired the inaugural lecture of a new series of annual business lectures in partnership with the Royal Society of Arts. The guest speaker was former Director-General of the CBI and former Minister of State for Trade & Investment, Lord Digby Jones.^[10]

In April 2012, LSBF formed a partnership with London Metropolitan University, as part of which a suite of new London Metropolitan University-validated undergraduate, postgraduate and professional programmes were delivered by LSBF at its UK campuses, for both UK and international students.In December 2012 this joint partnership was ended by mutual agreement, with both LSBF and London Metropolitan University issuing the following press release "Both parties have agreed that, although much had been achieved during this period, given the basis on which the partnership had begun, and the changes in the higher education market, it would be better for each institution to take independent paths." ^[11]

In October 2012, LSBF appointed Professor Dr Maurits Van Rooijen as its new CEO and Rector.

In March 2013, LSBF teamed up with Liverpool Football Club to launch a new educational institution that will offer management and leadership training by teaching transferable skills from the football and the business worlds. ^[12] It was the first time a Premier League club and a business school have joined forces to launch an educational institution.^[13]The new programme will be branded ELITES – Education and Learning Initiative Training Entrepreneurs in Sport. ^[14] ^[15]

On 21 April 2013, LSBF was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise for its achievements in international trade.^[16]^[17]

In May 2013, LSBF announced a partnership with eCornell, the e-learning arm of Cornell University. The agreement aims to offer online executive education in the UK, Russia and South America. ^[18] ^[19]

Campuses and locations

LSBF is based in Central London. In the United Kingdom it has offices in Holborn and New Court, London, Manchester and Birmingham. LSBF currently has international offices in Singapore and Toronto, Canada, which offer preparatory courses for the ACCA professional qualification as well as Executive and Corporate Training.^[20]

LSBF has representative offices in Colombia, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.^[21]

Organisation and administration

Governance

In October 2012, LSBF appointed Professor Dr Maurits Van Rooijen as its new CEO and Rector to expand innovation and academic development. Prior to his appointment at LSBF, Prof Van Rooijen was Rector Magnificus and CEO of the triple-accredited Nyenrode Business University in the Netherlands. With a career spanning 25 years, Prof Van Rooijen is an economic historian with a PhD in Green Urbanisation from the University of Utrecht. He has held positions at several universities across the globe, including University of Leiden, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and University of Westminster.^[22]

Professor James Kirkbride has been Vice-Rector of LSBF since September 2010 and Professor Alfred Morris has been Chairman of the Board of Governors since 2011. LSBF's patron is Prince Michael of Kent.^[23]^[24]

Ownership

LSBF is a company limited by guarantee and part of the LSBF Group, which also includes the London College of Contemporary Arts (LCCA), the e-learning platform InterActive, Finance Business Training (FBT), School of Fashion and Design (SFDLondon), LSBF School of English and St Patrick’s College London.^[25]

Academics

Programmes

LSBF collaborates with Grenoble Graduate School of Business to provide two year Master’s degree programmes including MBA, MSc in Finance, and Master of International Business (MIB) and MSc Fashion and Luxury Management in addition to one undergraduate degree, the Bachelor in International Business. The school also provides dual MBA programs, which combine an MBA degree with another program, such as ACCA, CFA or CIMA.^[25]

LSBF offers a range of undergraduate, postgraduate and professional programmes, including MBA Global, MSc Finance & Investment, BSc Business Management and Diplomas in Accounting & Finance and Strategic & Financial Management.^[26]

With the University Of Central Lancashire (UCLAN), LSBF delivers a range of undergraduate programmes including Bachelors in Business Administration, Bachelors in Accounting & Financial Studies and LLB Law.^[27]

LSBF offers an LLM in International Business Law in association with Bradford University.^[28]

LSBF is also certified by the ACCA for tuition for the Diploma in Financial Management^[29]

Online programmes

LSBF delivers a wide range of programmes through the e-learning platform InterActive. This includes MBA, MSc in Finance, MSc in Marketing, ACCA, CIMA, CFA and a range of over 20 online Postgraduate Certificates. Through InterActive, students have access to online classrooms, discussion forums and a range of resources including live and recorded video lectures, 24-hour technical support service, online library and Harvard Business School 'Case in Point' publications to support their learning activities.^[30]

In 2010 LSBF developed two applications using the social media platform Facebook: The LSBF Prep Centre for ACCA, a comprehensive study resource for students of ACCA, and the LSBF Global MBA, the world's first Master’s degree that is delivered entirely on Facebook, in a ‘try before you buy’ manner. Both applications offer study material that is available for all to view, free of charge.^[31]

Students of the LSBF Global MBA have an additional option to opt in for evaluation and pay for their qualification.

QAA assessments

In 2012, LSBF and its sister school, the Birmingham-based Finance Business Training (FBT), have gone through a series of assessments made by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). The first report, published on August 2012, followed inspections at FBT concluding that the former partnership between FBT and the University of Wales (terminated in 2011) presented several issues, including over-recruitment and problems in the admissions process, leading to the acceptance of students that, at the time, did not meet the requirements.^[32] ^[33] ^[34]

Most recently, the above issues were reassessed in a review carried out by the QAA in September 2012, which concluded that LSBF has put in place measures to strengthen its quality management arrangements.^[35] The Review for Educational Oversight, published on 12 December 2012, concluded that “London School of Business & Finance is fulfilling its responsibilities for managing and enhancing the quality of the intended learning opportunities it provides for students”. Furthermore, it gave LSBF a qualified confidence judgement ^[36] on its academic standards and on the awards offered at the school.^[37]

Controversy: fraud and deception

Many LSBF students have complained that the college colludes in academic deception ^[38] and operates a system of financial fraud ^[39]. One particular consumer website accuses LSBF of being a 'Giant Ripoff', and includes evidence to back up the claim. ^[40] The college is usually swift to cover up such accusations, and YouTube videos of LSBF students protesting outside the premises have been blocked, presumably because the negative publicity would be harmful to the college (rather than because the students were all mistaken in protesting). ^[41]

Scholarships and bursaries

LSBF's patron, Prince Michael of Kent, sponsors a scholarship scheme at the LSBF for students from emerging markets countries. LSBF's other scholarship programmes include a Corporate scholarship, with a focus on connecting students directly with corporate employers via the LSBF Corporate Division, and The Women in Business Scholarship, intended to help more females to become corporate leaders. There are also scholarships sponsored by LSBF's Principal and Vice Rector.

LSBF offers bursaries to Singaporean students who have completed the ACCA to pursue Master's degrees online, or in the UK.^[42]

External lectures

David Blunkett, the former UK Home Secretary and Education Secretary, was appointed as a visiting lecturer at LSBF in 2011. Mr Blunkett’s first lecture, delivered at LSBF's London campus, focused on the key aspects of leadership, and the qualities needed to be an effective leader in both business and in politics.^[43]