To what extent are business schools and professional bodies influencing business history and practice, and to a degree determining them, are their staff observing from the sidelines, monitoring developments and trying to make sense of what is going on in the business and market environment around them? Are business schools making history or endeavoring to understand selected aspects of it? Do professional qualifications reflect developments or influence them? Are communities of professionals vibrant workshops or protective closed shops?

For some senior managers, business education might seem synonymous with the graduate schools of business which many of them and their peers attended. Yet within their organizations, those with MBAs might be outnumbered by holders of various forms of professional qualification. The contribution of professional bodies to business practice, development and history should not be taken for granted. Nor should their continuing relevance be assumed.

Business schools based at universities, or associated with them, have long been significant players in the business education marketplace, but many professional bodies also have a long pedigree. Established professions in the developed countries can trace their origins back to the 19th century or earlier.

Effective Executive Magazine, Business Education, Professional Bodies and Supporting Communities, Business and market environment, Transforming Knowledge Management.