Spanish Business Schools paradox and the accreditation system expiry: when the success becomes a risk

Abstract

This paper is an analytical-empirical review of the evolution of Spanish Business Schools and how they have been affected by the accreditation system. This system has made it possible for the Spanish Business Schools to rank among the best (10 of them are in the World top-25 and 4 have been accredited with the triple crown, which is the highest distinction). However, it has also led to the denaturalization of the Business Schools (B-Schools), which have been “devoured” by the Schools of Economics and Business at universities. In addition, the accreditation system has entailed an increase in costs (opportunity, marginal, sunk costs and so on). An explanation of the Spanish B-Schools paradox is offered in the article: the more accreditations achieved, the more difficult it is to maintain them, due to contradictions in the compliance regulation and to the difficulty in updating academic programmes since their success and assimilation into the welfare state economy is a risk for B-Schools and their adaptation to digital economy. Finally, the paper gives some keys to correct the problem detected and thus to adapt B-Schools to the emerging wellbeing economics, a new stage of the digital economy.