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Race Top to the schools must do all they can to make sure their programs stay ahead of their fiercest competition. providers, greater student mobility, and raised expectations mean that business More H BY TRICIA BISOUX ow has competition changed for business schools? This story from the UCLA Anderson School of Management in Los Angeles may be one indication. The school's dean, Judy Olian, tells of an Anderson alum who has three sons. "His first two sons attended Anderson," she says. "His third son attended Tsinghua University in Beijing." That third son's choice shows just how global competition is changing pat- terns of enrollment, Olian says. "Ten years ago, schools like Tsinghua, London Business School, and INSEAD were outliers in our market. Today, they're in the mainstream. I imagine in a few years that list will include new schools in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other Middle Eastern countries," she says. Globalization is just one force intensifying the competi- tion among b-school programs. The presence of for-profit providers is growing, online programs are flourishing, and consultancy firms, design schools, and engineering schools are beginning to offer their own brands of business training. To learn more about how business schools are respond- ing to these competitive pressures, BizEd queried partici- pants on AACSB Exchange, AACSB's online community. Administrators from around the world responded, sharing the challenges they face and the strategies they've designed to have maximum impact for minimal cost. 32 September/October 2012 BizEd ILLUSTRATION BY DAVE CUTLER