Smart moves: The A-Z of Business Schools - University of Edinburgh Management School

Age: Old

History: Management taught since 1918 (this is Scotland, you understand) when Department of Organisation of Industry was founded at Edinburgh University. MBA offered since 1970s. Dedicated building for postgraduates put up in 1991. Was the first UK university to establish a chair of international business.

Address: In the throbbing heart of Edinburgh close to the medical school and the museum. Handy for shopping and the university library. Just as well since there's no business school library.

Ambience: Modern, purpose-built building which will shortly receive a facelift. So, bland pink-and-blue management 1980s look will give way to something befitting the Millennium - "a congenial, wired environment", according to the Dean, Prof James Fleck. Design consultant is being hired. Students have 24-hour access - good news for workaholics but computer lab gets congested. Refurbishment will provide more space for students to plug in their own laptops.

Vital statistics: Fairly academic. Aims to give students thorough grounding in the fundamentals of management thinking. "We teach people to think,"says Fleck. Strengths lie in innovation, marketing and finance. Stresses team- work rather than individual, macho aggression. Offers full and part-time MBAs, each of which have 100 students a year.

Added value: Boasts various research centres - for public sector accounting, financial markets, and for credit. An organisation called Connect is based at the school, set up to encourage hi-tech start-up companies and growth. Almost all Scottish universities have signed up to it.

Easy to get into? Good degree or equivalent, plus a minimum of two years' work experience.

Association of MBA's accreditation: Yes.

Glittering alumni: Brian Stewart, chief executive, Scottish and Newcastle Group; Ken Scislaw, found of Scislaw Capital Management, Alabama; Mike Connolly, finance director of Explore International, which licenses documentary programming rights; Sandy Duncan and Claire McCool, founders of Drummond Park, makers of novel board games.

Visiting professors: Sir Alex Trotman, Edinburgh-born chairman of Ford motor company; Joseph McCue, member of the New York bar, former president of Barclays US retail division.

Teaching: Rated highly satisfactory by Scottish higher education funding council in 1994-95.

Research: Awarded a 4 (top grade is 5) in the research assessment exercise.

Industry links: Strong. Has teaching company schemes and runs training courses worldwide for Schlumberger field engineers on general management concepts.

International connections: Students on full-time MBA come from 30 different countries. Foreigners come in groups e.g. this year there are four students from Iceland, six from China, six from Latin America.

Student profile: Average on full-time MBA is 31, on part-time 33. Approximately two men to every woman on both courses.

Cost: Full-time MBA is pounds 9,300 for EU students; pounds 9,900 for overseas. Part- time MBA is pounds 8,500 over two years.

Return on investment: The usual - better job and promotion prospects, more money.

Who's the boss? Dynamic Prof James Fleck, an expert on industrial robots, now working with the Design Council on smart products e.g. intelligent central heating.

Next week: University of Glasgow Business School.