Program Goal / Need: The USAID Mission in Sarajevo identified a demand for western style business education in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), along with an opportunity to replace expats in management positions in the country with national staff.
Program Description: From February 2004 – June 2008 the University of Delaware (UD) provided its AACSB accredited MBA degree in USAID’s Graduate Business Education Project (GBEP) through partnering with the Faculty of Economics (FES) at Sarajevo University. The resulting entity was the Sarajevo Graduate School of Business (SGSB). FLAG served in an administrative and management role.
Additionally, in January 2005 SGSB launched an executive education program. This component offered courses lasting from one day to nine months in both English and the local languages. Topics covered included Accounting, Finance, Management, Marketing, Human Resources Management, Business Planning, and Strategic Planning.
In 2008 USAID’s four year program ended and funding stopped. Earlier that year UD and FES each decided to withdraw from SGSB. FLAG, the remaining interested party, did not want to give up on the program and put effort into seeking new partners to continue.
Program Results: FLAG successfully initiated a Joint Venture with Texas A&M University-Commerce (TAMU-C) and SGSB is now a sustainable and viable program ran out of the International University of Sarajevo (IUS). Students of SGSB graduating from the MBA program receive a dual MBA, one from IUS and one from TAMU-C, an AACBS accredited university.