EQUIS

European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) is a global, non-profit institution, dedicated to the development of quality standards in education. It was founded in 1972 and has since been globally recognized as a leading and independent accreditation body for faculties, business schools and universities in the field of economics and business economics. EFMD currently (April 2022) has 972 members (universities, faculties, business schools) from 90 countries around the world (all the details can be found on https://www.efmdglobal.org/).

EFMD is the leading accreditation body on the world level that enables independent and professional external evaluation of the quality of selected study programmes (EFMD Programme Acccreditation) or the entire institution (EQUIS accreditation) in the field of economics and business economics.

EFMD also offers other services for business schools and companies/corporations (BSIS – Business School Impact System, CLIP – Corporate Learning Improvement Process, EOCCS – EFMD Online Course Certification System, EDAF – EFMD Deans Accros Frontiers, Management Innovation Certification, all the details can be found on https://www.efmdglobal.org/).

Reaching the very rigorous EQUIS criteria is often the only objective evidence of excellence and affiliation with the best educational institutions in the world.

EQUIS accreditation currently (April 2022) boasts 206 public or private faculties or higher education institutions on 5 continents with very diverse practices and a wide portfolio of study programs (the full list of EQUIS accredited institutions is at the link https://www.efmdglobal.org/accreditations/business-schools/equis/, in April 2022 there were 109 EQUIS accredited faculties from Europe, 44 from Asia, 18 from Australia and Oceania, 14 from North America, 11 from South America, 4 from Africa, and 4 from the Middle East).

'The accreditation history' of the Faculty of Economics & Business in Zagreb is quite intense: since 2011 Bachelor Degree in Business study program was the first internationally accredited study program in the Republic of Croatia (EPAS accreditation of the selected study program, today EFMD Programme Accreditation, the only ones in Croatia that have been awarded twice for a maximum of 5 years), from 2019 the Faculty of Economics & Business Zagreb is the only university institution in the country accredited the institutional AACSB accreditation, and the 'icing on the cake' is EQUIS – the world's most prestigious accreditation in the field of economics and business economy that we received on 01.03.2022, as the only institution in Croatia and one of the few in this part of the world.

The EQUIS accreditation process is conducted by the EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development) and after a rigid procedure only some institutions reach the required criteria of excellence and have the honor of obtaining the EQUIS accreditation. In the wider region, EQUIS institutional accreditation has been obtained only by the School of Economics and Business, University of Ljubljana, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, SDA Bocconi University, Politecnico di Milano, LUISS Business School and Bologna University Business School.

Obtaining EQUIS accreditation is the result of many years of effort and work of all employees, students and stakeholders of the Faculty of Economics & Business, University of Zagreb and continuous commitment to achieving the most rigorous international quality standards. EQUIS accreditation (an abbreviation of EFMD Quality Improvements Systems, details on https://www.efmdglobal.org/accreditations/business-schools/equis/) is, along with the US AACSB, the most prestigious international accreditation of higher education institutions in the field of economics and business economics, and refers to the accreditation of the entire institution and all its processes and activities. Only about 100 faculties, business schools or higher education institutions in the whole world have both accreditations, which opens all the doors to cooperation, mobility and employability for students and professors of the Faculty of Economics & Business in Zagreb. EQUIS covers a fairly broad set of criteria relating to the functioning of the entire institution and includes quality verification in the following 10 areas: 1. Context, Governance and Strategy, 2. Programmes, 3. Students, 4. Faculty, 5. Research and Development, 6. Executive Education, 7. Resources and Administration, 8. Internationalisation, 9. Ethics, Responsibility and Sustainability and 10. Corporate Connections.