The establishment of this new academic program, Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Strategic Human Resource Management, is a result of an educational partnership between Indiana University’s (IU) Kelley School of Business in the USA and the Faculty of Economics at Saints Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, North Macedonia. This academic partnership which includes curriculum development, collaborative research, professional development, and faculty exchanges with U.S. counterparts, is enabled under the auspices of the U.S. Embassy in Skopje.

The Faculty of Economics-Skopje has partnered with Indiana University’s (IU) Kelley School of Business to develop and implement an M.B.A. in Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM). The Faculty of Economics – Skopje will work with human resource management experts from the Kelly School of Business to update the current second-cycle SHRM curriculum so that it can reflect state-of-the-art, U.S.-based enriched course content, pedagogical practices (including interactive classrooms, case studies, and online and pedagogical techniques), and experiential opportunities for faculty and students.

High-performing organizations recognize that their workforce’s individual and collective talent is their competitive differentiator. When they look to local universities for talent, these organizations expect the same level of education and proficiency in their local and regional employees as they see in those educated in the U.S. and other western-styled business schools. Companies want employees who demonstrate the capacity for higher levels of leadership and critical thinking. Local universities must reassess their business education frameworks to meet these current needs. The Faculty of Economics, the leading institution in business and economics in the Republic of North Macedonia, is well positioned to take a leadership role in achieving this goal.

The partnership with the Kelley School aims to rebuild the faculty’s masters-level degree in SHRM to offer top-level management education drawing from U.S. business practices with enriched course content, pedagogical practices, and experiential opportunities for students and faculties. The ultimate deliverable from this partnership will be М.B.A. which successfully mixes the qualities of a U.S.-based business degree with the cultural knowledge and considerations of the Balkan region. This project sets out to rebuild the existing course structure of the current SHRM program and M.B.A. and to deliver an M.B.A. for local and regional professionals interested in successfully entering a career within the growing global business community.

The Faculty of Economics looks for ways to build a bridge to support a long-term collaboration of peers. In light of this, the Kelly School of Business is a suitable partner enabling a fruitful partnership that would foster further growth and development. Academic relationships and collaborations are born out of commonality and knowledge. Sustaining a relationship after a development project depends upon the relationships developed by the beneficiary faculty and staff. The Faculty of Economics and the Kelly School of Business support these relationships through the organic evolution of engagement between the faculty of the two institutions.