Who we are

We are Business School Netherlands (BSN), founded in the Netherlands in 1988, a university of applied sciences recognised by the Minister of Education. We call ourselves a business school because our main courses, such as the Master in Business Administration (MBA), are usually offered at a business school abroad.

In the Netherlands, we are one of the oldest MBA providers and the first to offer a fully Dutch-language programme. In fact, we were the pioneer for many other providers. In addition, BSN has established a global network with 12 partner schools in countries such as China, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt and Surinam.

As a business school, we have one ultimate goal: to help managers, professionals and entrepreneurs excel in their daily work, making employees, colleagues, companies, organisations and ultimately customers better for it.

BSN pioneered the use of Action Learning in MBA programmes, a method of learning that ensures what you learn sticks because it is tested and applied directly in practice. Our premises are located in the centre of the beautifully situated royal town of Buren, in the heart of the Betuwe. This location is a deliberate choice. This is where we take managers out of their daily practice to make learning truly possible.

The exponential growth of knowledge and access to knowledge is currently out of all proportion. Even an enthusiastic MBA student cannot absorb it all in a lifetime. That is why BSN organises its MBA and Executive Education differently.

The starting point for learning should not be knowledge, but the need to solve a problem that is important to your organisation, now and in the future. We teach participants how to acquire, select and use knowledge when faced with a question or problem, and how to arrive at an acceptable solution. But it doesn’t stop there. Action Learning is based on the premise that you only really learn when you implement a solution and see the real results. This is an integral part of our learning process: implementation and reflection. We follow the ancient wisdom of Confucius:

We believe that learning to learn is the most important part of a management education. If you develop the skills to analyse a problem properly, to look at it from all angles and to know where to find the best ideas and solutions, you will be better equipped than people who can reproduce the theories of the past. We recognise that this is what sets us apart, and we are proud of it. What we offer is far from traditional, but we believe it best meets the needs of managers who want to learn.

We are delighted to share our strong belief in Action Learning with many leading organisations such as Shell, Unilever, General Electric and Alcoa. These companies have achieved amazing results and have become true learning organisations. More than 10,000 students and trainees from literally all over the world have participated in our courses and we continue to grow this network every year. In doing so, we are absolutely true to our mission and purpose.

How do alumni, students and teachers experience Action Learning?

In the booklet ‘7 x more return from your MBA‘ and the ‘MBA projects‘ page, alumni, students and teachers from different backgrounds describe how they have experienced and are still experiencing Action Learning. They talk about what Action Learning means for their organisation, but also for them personally.