Accreditations and the bodies that award them play a vital role in maintaining and enhancing the quality of business schools. They provide a trusted, independent benchmark of academic excellence, ensuring programmes and schools meet certain standards in curriculum design, faculty expertise, student support, and graduate outcomes.

One such network in this space is The Association of MBAs & Business Graduates Association (AMBA & BGA): AMBA is a leading authority on MBA education, offering accreditation for leading business schools, while BGA is a whole-school membership and accreditation body focused on the importance of positive impact and responsible management practices.

Both accreditation bodies publish their own official magazines; Ambition for AMBA and Business Impact for BGA. These offer thought leadership from business schools sharing views on management education and insights from deans, faculty, students, and graduates.

We spoke with Colette Doyle, Head of Editorial for AMBA & BGA, to find out more about her role, her plans for editorial content moving forward, and more. Here’s what she said:

Please tell us about yourself and your background

CD: I’ve been working on magazines for longer than I care to recall – put it this way, I remember the hot metal press, which preceded desktop and then digital publishing. My very first role was on a global pharmaceutical industry title; I had done a Spanish Literature degree at Glasgow University and they wanted to hire someone who spoke the language.

When they asked me to go on an assignment, I imagined it might be to Barcelona or Madrid – in fact, it was a trip to Acapulco. The job combined my three great loves: foreign languages, international travel, and creative writing – I knew then I had found my niche.

What’s your role at AMBA & BGA?

CD: I’m the Head of Editorial across both associations. The work mainly comprises putting together 12 issues a year of our print titles, Ambition for AMBA-accredited schools and Business Impact for BGA members; given that there are only two of us in the department, that makes for a packed schedule.

However, I also contribute to and oversee content on our website, plus I get involved in other projects, such as compiling our annual company report, sitting on the judging panel for our Excellence Awards, chairing roundtables, and speaking at our international events.

What’s your favourite part of the job?

CD: Nothing beats the thrill of seeing the latest issues come out each month. Obviously, digital has superseded print to a certain extent, but – for me – print has a cachet to it that websites will never be able to match.

I love the whole process: from sourcing the stories, copy-editing content from our contributors, and writing my own articles, to working with our freelance designer and sub-editor during production week to pull the whole thing together.

I also enjoy providing editorial assistance to in-house communications teams who are keen to have an article published, but who are not quite sure how to go about it.

What’s top of your agenda for the upcoming months?

CD: I’m excited by the prospect of convening a roundtable on the career outlook for business school graduates with six deans of top global institutions in September. Not only do these events generate insightful, original content for publication, they are always so appreciated by the participants as a great networking opportunity.

After that, it will be time to start work again on our annual report; I collaborate with the various departments, e.g., accreditation, marketing, research and commercial, on their contributions, but I leave the financial side of it to our auditors – numbers really aren’t my thing at all.

Lastly, I’m very much looking forward to attending our Asia Pacific conference in November, which this year will be held in Bali.

Are there any upcoming changes or additions to AMBA & BGA’s editorial content that readers should look out for?

CD: We're planning on having a guest editor on Ambition in the near future; this will be our recently appointed country manager for India, something that will enable us to put together an India-themed edition of the magazine. We made the decision to appoint a full-time person to look after our membership in India because it is such a huge and fast-growing market for us.

In the current issue of Business Impact, we’re running a new regular column (it will also appear in Ambition from September) called “In Focus”, where we’ve partnered with media company BlackRook. They have filmed a series of video profiles with a number of leading international business schools that shows how they’re shaping the future of business education and leadership.

Another thing that's on the cards is a readership survey – as an editor, you get so engrossed in your work that you imagine you know what the readers want but you're never really sure, so this is the best way to go about it.

How do you like to communicate best with business schools?

CD: The majority of my communication is via email, but I'm always keen to get out there and network whenever I can. This could be during our annual calendar of activities around the world (we host conferences in Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific, as well as an annual award ceremony) or at press events, or even informal catch-ups when school representatives visit London.

Is there anything else you’d like business schools to know about you or your work?

CD: We don’t commission anything from paid professional writers on either magazine – all the content is either written in-house by me and my colleague or contributed by our member schools. So, I guess what I'd like to say is our door is always open; we would be delighted to hear from you if you have an idea for an article – I'm always happy to work with a business school to bring that to fruition.

This insight from the Head of Editorial for AMBA & BGA shines a light on the future development of Ambition and Business Impact; both valuable publications for those aiming to reach individuals interested in the business education sector.

Author: Kyle Grizzell

Kyle is experienced in working with leading institutions in far-flung corners of the globe, from London to Kazakhstan. His client list features the likes of the London School of Economics’ Department of Management, ESMT Berlin, BI Norwegian Business School, Nazarbayev University, and many more around the globe.