La Salle best business school in the Philippines

“In a big company, the department heads are from UP, the managers are from Ateneo, and the owners are from La Salle.” Or so the running joke goes. As it turns out, La Sallians do more managing than what the statement says. At least that’s what a study of this author discovered. This may be a disappointment for students of Ateneo who think they’re studying in the best business school.

The study drew from the following criteria to evaluate the undergraduate business programs of 7 universities:

- Does the university have a bachelor’s degree holder working as a CEO of a company in the Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi)?
- Did the CEO major in business management or a related field?
- Was the company or the CEO recognized recently for management excellence by Finance Asia?
- Has the CHED designated the university as a Center of Excellence in business administration, entrepreneurship or accountancy?
- Among the 7 universities, does its passing percentage fall in the top 3 in the accounting licensure exams?

Here are the 3 universities with the best business management programs in the Philippines.

#1 DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY
With 14.50 points, De La Salle University towers above the rest. Under the leadership of Enrique K. Razon, Jr. of the International Container Terminal Services Inc.(ICTSI), La Salle alumni control BDO Unibank, Globe, Manila Water and SM Investments Corporation. Razon, who majored in Business Administration, has also been recognized as one of the three Best CEOs of the Philippines. In addition, ICTSI, which he leads, was awarded as one of the Best Managed Companies by Finance Asia. Industrial Management Engineering alumnus Ernest L. Cu also leads a Best Managed Company in Globe Telecom. To top it off, the business-minded Green Archers also hold an impressive 100% passing rate in the two latest licensure exams in accounting.

#2 ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY
Ateneo alumni Manuel V. Pangilinan of MERALCO ,among others, and Aurelio R. Montinola III of BPI make Ateneo the second best business school. Earning 8.42 points, the Ateneans also manage Ayala Land, Philex Mining and Metro Pacific Investments. Montinola is probably the most illustrious product of Ateneo’s Management Engineering Program as BPI was honored as one of the Philippines’ Best Managed Companies. Ateneo is also the only CHED Center of Excellence in Business Administration and Entrepreneurship.

#3 UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES
A very distant third is the premier state university UP, with 2.75 points. Among UP’s pride in business are Antonio M. Cailao of the Energy Development Corporation and Isidro A. Consunji of DMCI Holdings. A respectable 98.89% of UP accounting graduates passed the recent CPA board exams.