Title: Who are they: a study about Communication of brand personality by business schools inan online environmentCourse: 4FE02E, Master Programme Degree Thesis, 15 ECTSAuthors: Arber TahiriSamira YoukhannaTutor: Dr. Rana MostaghelExaminer: Dr. Sarah PhilipsonIntroduction: MBA programs have increased from having 3200 awarded degrees during the50‟s to 1695 business schools offering different types of MBA. Researchers claim that thegrowth of MBA programs may have changed human perception of the offered program, thatMBAs have gone from being a first class ticket to a successful career to a more accommodatedservice. Brand and brand personality is another discussed aspect. Researchers suggest thatorganizations should implement more strategic communication based on brand personality, ontheir websites to attract a large audience and clearly communicate what and who they are as anorganization.Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the brand personality communication ofEuropean business schools MBA Programs in an online environment.Methodology: The study includes a comparative study were a correspondence analysis wasconducted. Aakers (1997) model of brand personality dimension was used as an inspirationaltool and randomly selected two samples; Cluster one, consisting of five Top European businessschools according to Financial Times, and Cluster two, five general European schools.Conclusion: According to findings, there are some areas such as the usage of Aaker‟s brandpersonality dimensions and their synonyms that are different between top ranked Europeanbusiness schools and other business schools in Europe. Also, top European business schoolsappear not to be closely associated to Aaker‟s brand personality traits whilst other Europeanschools are closely knitted and communicated clear brand personality dimensions.

Submitted by Gisele Isaura Hannickel (gisele.hannickel@fgv.br) on 2011-09-01T12:55:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 LEHMANN_J_vf.pdf: 876500 bytes, checksum: b2813019831a669ad9cd12f01bd3b039 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Gisele Isaura Hannickel (gisele.hannickel@fgv.br) on 2011-09-01T12:56:16Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 LEHMANN_J_vf.pdf: 876500 bytes, checksum: b2813019831a669ad9cd12f01bd3b039 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Gisele Isaura Hannickel (gisele.hannickel@fgv.br) on 2011-09-01T12:57:12Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 LEHMANN_J_vf.pdf: 876500 bytes, checksum: b2813019831a669ad9cd12f01bd3b039 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2011-09-01T13:01:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LEHMANN_J_vf.pdf: 876500 bytes, checksum: b2813019831a669ad9cd12f01bd3b039 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-07-18 / The increase of internationally operating companies requires the development of global leaders to put strategies into practice. Although this development process is important to the corporate world, many future executives are graduates from top business schools which are closely linked to the business world and therefore play an important role in the process. This research examines whether the top European 'Master in Management' programs ranked by Financial Times in 2010 select those candidates that are best suited for global leadership development. Therefore, three previous meta-studies are synthesized to yield a profile of categorized competencies of a global leader. Then, information on admission criteria of the master programs is gathered and compared to this profile. Results show that six competencies are measured by more than half of the programs: English language proficiency, analytical ability (logical reasoning and quantitative), communication ability, global business knowledge, determination to achieve, motivation/drive and interpersonal ability. Furthermore, applicant skills are non-significant in the admission process and focus is on the analytical abilities. Comparison of the results to the previously developed comprehensive profile of a global leader indicates that a significant amount of programs might underestimate the meaning of personal abilities and traits for the development of global leaders. / O aumento de empresas que operam internacionalmente requer o desenvolvimento de líderes mundiais para colocar as estratégias em prática. Embora este processo de desenvolvimento é importante para o mundo corporativo, muitos futuros executivos são graduados de escolas de administração de empresas que estão intimamente ligados ao mundo de negócios e, portanto, desempenhão um papel importante no processo. Esta pesquisa examina se os programas europeus 'Master in Management' classificado pelo Financial Times em 2010 selecionam aqueles candidatos que são mais adequados para o desenvolvimento de liderança global. Portanto, três anteriores meta-estudos são sintetizados para produzir um perfil de competências classificadas de um líder global. Então, informações sobre os critérios de admissão dos programas de mestrado são coletadas e comparadas com este perfil. Os resultados mostram que seis competências são medidas por mais da metade dos programas: proficiência em Inglês, capacidade analítica (racionamento lógico e quantitativo), capacidade de comunicação, conhecimento do negócio global, determinação para alcançar, motivação e capacidade interpessoal. Além disso, as habilidades operacionais requerentes pelos líderes globais não são significativas no processo de admissão e o foco é sobre as habilidades analíticas. Comparação dos resultados com o perfil anteriormente desenvolvido abrangente indica que uma quantidade significativa de programas pode subestimar o significado de habilidades pessoais e características para o desenvolvimento de líderes globais.