Throughout Europe business schools are redesigning their strategies to
cope with the rapidly developing Single European Market. As the SEM e
volves as a distinct entity, so does the notion of a European manager
and a European management distinct from the American model, and even m
ore distinct from the several Asian models. Business schools are havin
g to discover how to prepare managers for Europe; how the schools will
compete in the changing market; how they will transform themselves in
order to compete effectively in future; what resources, capabilities,
and knowledge they will have to develop. This article uses the author
s' combined experience of working in European management education in
the UK, France, Germany and Spain to analyse the different strategies
being pursued by business schools, and to identify some of the key iss
ues and problem areas involved in transforming a business school from
being a local or national school to being a real European competitor.