Understanding the pathways to business schools’ excellence: Evidence from 48 AACSB-accredited institutions’ mission statements in mainland China

Developing a clear and applicable mission statement is essential for business schools to obtain AACSB accreditation, and it is also a core embodiment of their ability to achieve sustained excellence. By the end of 2023, a total of 48 business schools in mainland China have been accredited by AACSB, which has a positive modelling effect on the development of a larger number of business schools in the same cultural context and also seeks transformational breakthroughs. This research explores how these 48 AACSB-accredited business schools promote their own survival, growth and profitability through high-frequency word counts and textual analyses of their mission statements. It is found that these business schools have made the cultivation of social leaders and business talents their foundation; they have made continuous innovation, integration and dissemination of business knowledge their core objectives, and have promoted social progress through active participation in regional and industry development. These initiatives have been reinforced and improved by the business schools’ philosophy and practices of being ‘open to the world, rooted in China.’ While many business schools are mimetically isomorphic in the structural form of mission statements, some have begun to adapt their mission with nuanced articulations. This adaptation reflects their consideration of their development paths, though such collective shifts still require time. As one of the few studies focusing on mission statements of business schools in mainland China, this paper summarizes an ‘inverted triangle’ development model of Chinese business schools, and provides detailed information and irreplaceable cases on this topic.