BI NORWEGIAN SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT has become one of the larger Higher Education Institutions in Norway and one of the largest business school in Europe.

BI Norwegian School of Management received, under the auspices of European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), the European Quality Label Equis in 1999. (European Quality Improvement System). BI is eligible for participation in programs authorized by the US Higher Education Act of 1965. The School is a member of the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD). BI Norwegian School of Management employs over 800 people and has about 340 faculty members. Over 80 of Norway''s major enterprises within industry, trade and services are linked with The Norwegian School of Management BI through various co-operation agreements. Today the total number of full-time and part-time students exceeds 18 447. Mostly Norwegians and other Scandinavians, but with a growing number of international students from all corners of the world.

The BI faculty holds degrees from American universities such as Wharton, Yale, M.I.T., Harvard, Case Western and Stanford, from Swedish schools such as the University of Lund and the Stockholm School of Economics, and from many European schools such as INSEAD in France, Hochschule St.Gallen in Switzerland, UniversitAt Stuttgart in Germany and the London School of Economics and Political Science in the UK.
Strategic Programme 2007 a 2010

VISION
Academic strength and relevance makes BI a leading European business school.

VALUES
For the benefit of students, business and industry, the public sector, and a positive social development BI bases its research, teaching and dissemination of knowledge on academic quality and independence.

BI is an independent, future-oriented, research-based, business-oriented and international business school. Through its activities BI can be identified with quality, integrity, relevance and the ability to change. BI provides academically strong programmes by coordinating its resources across the organization. BIas leaders and staff are aware of ethical dilemmas and challenges and feel individually responsible for dealing with them.

MISSION
BI is a business school, which creates research-based, lifelong learning both nationally and internationally in close interaction with students, industry and the public sector in a way which gives BI the financial strength to further develop its academic strength for the benefit of its users.

BI is a business school
a BIas activities concentrate on economic and administrative subjects.
a Other subjects are included where they are of considerable relevance to economic/administrative subjects or the application of such subjects in a professional context.

BIas activities are both national and international
a BI distributes lifelong learning through a network of study centres.
a BI shall meet regional variations in the need for competence among students, business and industry and the public sector in Norway.
a BI shall meet learning needs in the international marked for individual and corporate education.
a BI contributes to internationalisation through global exchange and recruitment of students, joint educational programmes with foreign academic institutions, and study centres abroad and educational programmes in collaboration with international businesses.

BIas core activity is lifelong learning
a BI offers educational programmes adapted to the various phases of life.
a BI has an equally strong presence in the markets for individual and corporate education.
a The content and structure of the educational programmes vary as to whether they give formal competence or not.
a BI offers both standardised and customized educational programmes.
a The research carried out by BI is relevant to BIas educational programmes.
a BI collaborates with businesses and participates in regional development programmes where this is relevant to BIas education and research activity.



BIas teaching is research-based
a The teaching is based on cutting-edge research
a The teaching is organized as a part of the academic and research environment at BIas study centres and is linked to BIas network of research and academic resources.
a All the teachers do not necessarily possess research qualifications or conduct research themselves.
a A certain degree of research centralization is necessary to create a strong research environment.

Students, business, industry and the public sector
a Students, business, industry and the public sector are target groups for and partners in BIas activities.
a BI creates value to the extent that BIas products trigger a willingness to pay amongst students, business, industry and the public sector.
a BIas research and educational activities are developed and implemented in close dialogue with students, business, industry and the public sector.
a BI contributes to the public debate.

Financial and academic sustainability
a BI is a non-profit foundation and has no private owners.
a All value creation within BI is aimed at strengthening academic activities that meet the learning needs of students, industry and the public sector.
a BI shall create a positive financial result with the aim of strengthening the academic basis for its activity.
a A positive financial result is necessary in order to have the freedom to finance activities and investments which do not trigger a willingness to pay among the target groups until they have had an opportunity to observe and experience the activities.
a Financial strength is necessary to bear the risks associated with internal research and development.
a Each individual study centre must create a positive financial result, and this is an essential, if not a sufficient condition for establishment/viability.
a The long-term absence of contributions from a delivery centre to a positive financial result reflects the fact that BI is committing resources to activities that used differently could have been of greater benefit to society.

STRATEGIC FOCUS
In order to fulfil its vision, object and mission BI has a strategic focus on four areas:
a Individual programmes
a Corporate programmes
a Research and dissemination
a Quality

Individual programmes
Graduates from BI possess high competence that is relevant to the needs of business and industry.
a The teaching provided by BI is based on cutting-edge research in the relevant fields.
a BIas academic programmes are designed and conducted in a dialogue with business and industry and the public sector.
a BI is further developing its dominant position as a provider of quality education for individual students in accordance with 3 + 2 academic degree model with differentiated programme offerings to first-time students and to students taking further and continuing education both at home and abroad.
BI offers an innovative and exciting learning environment with varied forms of teaching and assessment that secure excellent learning outcomes and a good completion rate.
a BIas learning environment is developed through broad student participation.
a BI is maintaining its position in the market for Bacheloras Programmes and is strengthening its position in the market for Masteras Programmes.
a Through flexible and degree-awarding quality programmes BI reinforces its presence in the market for further and continuing education.
BI participates in international cooperation in education of high quality, which contributes to increased educational quality and provides qualified graduates both for business and industry and the public sector
a Through goal-oriented exchange agreements, strategic alliances and branches abroad BI increases the number of places for student exchange, conducts an increased number of international study programmes and makes it more attractive for international students to study at BI in Norway.

Corporate Programmes
BI strengthens its position as a provider of flexible and custom-made quality programmes for the public sector and enterprises at home and abroad.

a To be responsible for the design and implementation of corporate programmes BI further develops a focused marketing system and academic competence relevant to business and industry.
a BI offers programmes to enterprises and the public sector that vary as to whether they provide formal qualifications or not.
a Individually or through strategic alliances, BI develops new programmes that support and are integrated in individual and organizational development processes in enterprises
a Individually or through alliances with leading international educational institutions, BI increases the number of custom-made leadership programmes with a global focus.
a BI develops more corporate programmes that combine teaching with research and development work.

Research and the Dissemination of Knowledge
BI achieves results of high international quality in its research and has a special responsibility for basic research and the education of researchers in the economic-administrative academic fields.

a BI strives to strengthen its academic leadership, to organize activities in good and suitable academic environments, and to provide the individual researcher with sufficient continuous time for research activities.
a Through their research BIas scientific staff meet the highest international quality standards by publishing in recognized scientific channels and by participating in central international research networks.
a Through national and international cooperation BI offers research education of high quality and thereby attracts graduates that contribute to renewing the academic environments.

BI conducts industry-related and applied research and development work in its specific academic fields.
a Through their research BIas academic staff contribute to creating better practices in business and industry and the public sector.
a Through innovation and value creation BI contributes to development in society and in business.
a Through its network of study centres BI contributes to research, development work, competence development and entrepreneurship activities in the regions.

BI participates in spreading and disseminating the results from research and academic development work and contributes to innovation and value creation based on these results.

a BI Provides opportunities for students and staff to participate in the general social debate.
a BIas research and development work are translated into educational programmes contributing to innovation and value creation in business and industry and in public administration.
a BI makes research results readily available for society and the general public.

Quality
BI conducts all its courses and study programmes with the same high academic and pedagogical quality, and the same high administrative service, at all its study centres.

a BI offers education of high international quality based on cutting-edge research and academic development work.
a By rooting the quality related work among managers at all levels, and through quality assurance of course supervision, course-related seminars, lecturers and learning environments, BI aims at providing the same high quality at all the study centres.
a BIas quality assurance system secures systematic feedback from all the users and students and uses evaluation data and educational plans for academic, pedagogical and administrative improvement.
a In connection with appointment and promotion, BI attaches decisive importance to pedagogical quality without reducing the requirements related to scientific qualifications.
The history of BI Norwegian School of Management tells something about the character of the school. BI was founded in 1943 as a consultancy that offered evening classes in accounting. Since then the business school has grown into a fully-fledged, internationally recognized academic institution in the area of Business and Management. In size, BI has become one of the largest business school in Europe and the second largest academic institution in Norway. This is an amazing achievement for a private institution charging tuition fees in an egalitarian country like Norway where higher education is provided for by public universities. An achievement that could only be accomplished through constant innovation and by maintaining uncompromising high standards in research and teaching.

BI is a strong player on the international arena as well: through its operations in China, Lithuania and Australia, through its exchange agreement with a more than 140 universities all over the world, and through its international programmes taught entirely in English in Norway.

BI is inspired by the Scandinavian tradition of management. Scandinavia is perhaps the closest you can come to a postindustrial knowledge economy. Scandinavian companies are also the innovators of participatory management techniques and network forms of organization. BI adds its focus on ethics and corporate social responsibility to these qualities.

BI has now taken the next step in its development. The school has moved to a brand new campus in Oslo. This campus is centrally located in an emerging and pulsating business area in Oslo. All the schoolas international programmes are taught here.

In short, BI Norwegian School of Management is innovative and maintains high standards in research and teaching. It is international, rooted in the Scandinavian tradition of management, and it is future-oriented. If these qualities appeal to you, I look forward to welcoming you to our school.

Erasmus Policy Statement (EPS)
The mission of BI Norwegian School of Management is to be a business school that both nationally and internationally carries out research-based, lifelong learning in collaboration with individual students, business and industry and the public sector. This intended to strengthen BI financially so as to enable the institution to further develop its academic strength for the benefit of its users.

The mission statement places a strong emphasis on internationalization, and in this context the activities comprised by Erasmus and the lifelong Learning Programme will constitute a very important element.

BI is experiencing a fairly strong increase in student mobility. In order to further increase this mobility to Erasmus partners, the school will focus on providing better information about mobility opportunities within the Erasmus Programme and encourage both students and staff to avail themselves of these opportunities. The school is also in the process of reviewing its different programmes and their structure, particularly at Bacheloras level, focusing on facilitating mobility and making it easier for students to spend a semester or a year abroad.

The school has also just recently entered into agreements with Erasmus partner institutions for awarding a double degree in finance and economics. This will also result in increased mobility of both students and staff. The partners in this co-operation are the University of Amsterdam, Pompeau Fabra in Barcelona and University of Ljubljana. This agreement will take effect this year. BI will also target other relevant partners to form consortia for the development of joint programmes. Already, we offer joint programmes with Erasmus partners both at Bacheloras and Masteras level in international marketing (Bachelor) and International Marketing and Management (Master) where the students spend one year abroad, where we aim at increasing the number of students in the years to come. For the Master of Science in International Marketing and Management where our partners are the University of Bath, the University of Mannheim and ESCP-EAP, the goal is to make this mobility reciprocal. BI is also interested in entering into agreements for Erasmus Mundus Programmes in relevant fields provided that the conditions for such collaboration are conducive to having such programmes approved.

BI is an equal opportunities organization that offers the same opportunities to all students. Overall, slightly more than half of the students (51%) are female. All the campuses, and particularly the new campus in Oslo, have been designed to provide full integration of disabled students and staff. The school focuses on integrating all students, Norwegian and international students alike, in the campus community. Information is provided both in Norwegian and English, and to an increasing degree student associations are being involved in this work. The EPS will be published on our website, as will information about the EUC.
II Quality of academic mobility activities

BI has an International Relations Office with a staff of seven that is responsible for all exchange agreements with both European and other partners. BI has fully implemented the Bologna degree structure. This also applies to the ECTS system both with respect to credits and grades and learning agreements. All courses taken at the partner institution will be recognized as part of the studentas degree. Students are required to take 30 ECTS, which is equivalent to a full semester at BI.

The school has prepared exchange handbooks, which are updated annually, and published on the website, both for outgoing and incoming students. The handbook for outgoing students contains information on the partners with direct links to the partnersa websites, including information on courses and programmes, previous student reports, the application process and other practical information. We also organize information meetings for all students, as well as an international day where we involve students from our partner institutions and own students who have been abroad as exchange students. A study abroad seminar is also offered. All written information to students is published on the website.

Incoming students are required to participate in the induction week and are offered information meetings, an intercultural workshop and various social events at the start of the semester. Individual counselling is provided for both outgoing and incoming students. In collaboration with SiO (the Student Welfare Organization) and BSN (housing facility) BI guarantees accommodation for all incoming international students, as well as pick-up service upon arrival. An introductory course in Norwegian is provided at a reasonable charge.

We provide health services and student Social Counselling free of charge, and we have a system for IT support. There is a fitness centre at the school and all students have access to extended sports facilities. The student union is responsible to help integrate the international students into Norwegian Student environment.
Both incoming and outgoing exchange students are covered by an emergency plan.

The school also has a department for careers services that is available to all students.

Contact:
Study info: + 47 810 00 500
E-mail: study@bi.no
Address: Nydalsveien 37,
0484 Oslo
Phone: + 47 06600
E-mail: info@bi.no
Website: BI Norvegian School of Management