What happens if a business school disappears? The intellectual foundations of BSIS

Purpose – The FNEGE and then EFMD have been interested in defining a methodology that would make it possible to highlight the impact of a business school on its home territory. This has led to the development of the “Business School Impact System” (BSIS), which is introduced in this paper. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is structured as follows. The authors first present the methodological issues of the work that led us to develop the “BSIS” (EFMD, 2014). In a second section, the authors present BSIS in more detail. Findings – Based on the exploratory interviews and the literature review, the authors could first identify three main categories of impact: the financial impact; the impact on the regional community; and the impact on attractiveness and image. Originality/value – The first benefit of BSIS is linked to the creation of an information system on impact. Second, the BSIS process increases the awareness inside the business school regarding the significance of this issue. Third, the authors observe that for numerous members of the business school the question of the impact of their activity gives them a better image of their job, of what they are doing and why they are doing it. Fourth, the BSIS report constitutes a powerful tool for communication with the stakeholders. The final benefit lies in the reviewers’ recommendations on how to improve the impact of the business school.