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The
McColl School of Business www.queens.edu
Contents
8
14
Corporate Social Citizenship Matters: Being Responsible can Lead to Profitability Emad Rahim
8
10 14
MBA Rankings CEO Magazine
Innovation Management for Managers The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
16
Harnessing Excellence in the Queen City Ronald Shiffler, Nancy McNelis, Will Sparks, Bob Mobley, Chuck Bamford, and Linda Christopherson
22 16
The Value-Centred Approach Joseph Ugras and Paul Brazina
22
1
Contents
27 27
Reaching New Heights in The Hill City Joe Turek and Atul Gupta
32
Focusing on Student Success
38
New Horizons: Capitalism 2.0
Greg Haddock
Richard Straub
32
2
38
Contents
43 43
The Practical Business School Australian Institute of Business
49
More than Just Education Elizabeth More, Grant Jones, Peter Steane and Donald Ross
49
54
Bringing out the Best in Employees Julian Birkinshaw, Vyla Rollins and Stefano Turconi
59
Top Ten Reasons to Attend an Executive MBA Programme Jason Price
4
59
THEPROF?
CHICAGO BOOTH CHICAGO HAS BEENBOOTH CALLED HAS BEENBUSINESS CALLED THE TOP THE TOP IN BUSINESS SCHOOL THE SCHOOL WORLD. IN WETHE ASKED WORLD. WE ASKED WHY? WHAT’S WHY?PROOF? WHAT’S THE THE PROOF?
The fact that we question every answer and test every result is what put us in this position in the first place. Our rigorous approach and free market thinking teach people how to think, not what to think. It’s an approach that has led to some pretty amazing results, including our consistent presence among the world’s most highly ranked The fact that we question everywe answer test every what business schools. Of course, intendand to stay at the result top of isthe field, put us in this position in the first place. Our rigorous approach and but our more serious commitment is to our unrivaled philosophy of free market thinking teach people how to think, not what to think. It’s stimulating and educating the next generation of innovative minds. an approach that has led some pretty amazing including Chicago Booth—more thantojust a business school, results, a business force. our consistent presence among the world’s most highly ranked business schools. Of course, we intend to stay at the top of the field, but our more serious commitment is to our unrivaled philosophy of stimulating and educating the next generation of innovative minds. Chicago Booth—more than just a business school, a business force.
CHICAGO LONDON SINGAPORE CHICAGOBOOTH.EDU
CHICAGO LONDON SINGAPORE CHICAGOBOOTH.EDU Booth_BusForce_proof_8-375x10-875.indd 1
2/18/10 10:47:16 AM
Contents
61
61
MBA: The Luxury Experience
65
Helping Students to be the Best
70
Captaining Flexibility on the Solent
70
Alexandra Skinner
Kai Peters
Timothy Jackson and Georgina Andrews
65
6
Contents
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Corporate Social Citizenship
Corporate Social Citizenship Matters: Being Responsible can Lead to Profitability Emad Rahim »
Business organizations that currently do not use social responsibility initiatives don’t have a clear understanding of how social responsibility can be beneficial to a company’s success. However, this perspective is not common.
A
enhance a firm’s competitive advantage, leading to stakeholder and stockholder gain. The firms identified as socially responsible and ethical have greater returns than S&P 500 companies, hence confirming it pays to be ethical.
ccording to Bowen, corporate social
these actions are also expected of organiza-
CSR in Action
responsibility (CSR) began as a field
tions. Advocates of the corporate citizenship
Starbucks Corporation is an organization that
of study in 1946 when Fortune maga-
theory employ the same themes and concepts
has an official CSR statement in which they
zine published an article in which the editors
as corporate social responsibility. These advo-
refer to it as a global responsibility, or the
suggested that the term CSR meant that
cates believe that maintaining a positive image
“shared planet” initiative. The program is a
businessmen were responsible for the con-
or good reputation as responsible citizens
major component of Starbucks’ franchise objec-
sequences of their actions in a sphere some-
would greatly enhance an organization’s long-
tives. As part of their global responsibility
what wider than that covered by their profit
term success.
initiatives, Starbucks emphasizes the following
and loss statements. The phenomenon gained
activities; coffee purchasing practices, growth
traction in later years as evidenced by the
Leveraging Responsibility
establishment of business communities, such
A trend in contemporary literature emphasizes
as Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) in
the use of corporate social responsibility as a
Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Holdings, Inc. is
1992 and Ethical Corporations in 2001.
public relations and marketing strategy. Many
another organization known for its extensive
research studies have found that consumers do
CSR program. To demonstrate the practice
care and are paying attention to corporations
and value of CSR, consider that Ben & Jerry’s
contributing to the betterment of society. Con-
hosted a Social Mission Summit, held in Burl-
There has been a global consensus that sus-
sumers care deeply about societal problems
ington, Vermont, home of the organization’s
tainable development should encompass at
such as cancer, the environment, child labor,
headquarters, which included company leaders
least economic growth, social progress, and
and human rights, and will make purchasing
from around the world. The goal of the “Social
stewardship of the environment. Sustainability
decisions based on corporate social responsi-
Mission Summit” was to present the CSR and
is often considered in terms of three pillars;
bility. Business leaders should take note.
social initiatives that the company had under-
Corporate Citizenship vs. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
and expansion, environmental impacts, health and wellness, and workplace practices.
economic, social, and environmental considera-
Research reveals that by engaging in CSR
taken. They outlined their major initiatives
tions. The three pillars could also equate into
activities, private firms can increase earnings
including; furthering the cause of peace and justice, harmonizing their global supply chain
what is known as the triple bottom line (TBL), measuring a company’s ROI based on its impact on the people/community, planet and profit/ economy. Both corporate citizenship and corporate social responsibility encompass all three of these pillars when we consider the terms and meaning of these two topics under the umbrella of being sustainable. Corporate citizenship uses the same themes and concepts
as
corporate
social
responsibility. A corporation is regarded as a legal entity that possesses many of the rights, duties, and powers, and also assumes some of the same obligations, as those of the individual citizen. Just as there are expectations that individuals will act as responsible citizens by performing duties that contribute to the common good and welfare of the community at large,
8
growth in the long-run. In addition, CSR can
and leading global sustainable practices. Southwest Airlines (SWA) found
the relationship of social responsibility and economic performance enviable, positive and a performing strategy that has sustained both internal and external stakeholders and surrounding communities inclusively. SWA stakeholders have enjoyed significant dividends based on the corporate strategic planning and strategic implementation that ties down to the vision, mission, value and culture of the organization. The company has outperformed all of their competitors in the airline industry for decades. Many attribute their success to their CSR mission and vision. Although Starbucks and Ben & Jerry’s are smaller in scale than organizations such as Ford, IBM, or
Consumers care deeply about societal problems such as cancer, the environment, child labor, and human rights, and will make purchasing decisions based on corporate social responsibility. Business leaders should take note. Microsoft, these companies are good exam-
of what is an effective and viable approach.
aforementioned, a corporation’s vision should
ples of what organizations are doing in terms
In addition, business effectiveness is measured
be to have a sustainable future that balances
of their social responsibilities. As mentioned
in other intangible factors beyond financial and
the business model between their employees,
before, the efforts displayed by these pioneers
individualistic emphases. Business behavior
the community, the environment and, primar-
are huge leaps on from 50 or 60 years ago when
has both economic and non-economic impact.
ily, their financial viability.
the concept of corporate social responsibility
As Ben Cohen – author and co-founder of Ben
was emerging.
& Jerry’s – indicates, once consumers see
A study completed by Pederson outlined the
examples of prosperous companies integrating
current business environment relative to CSR.
social concerns into their business practices,
Pederson discovered that corporate activities
they are emboldened to demand the same of
have broad impacts on society, but the findings
other businesses.
from the analysis indicate that managers still
The
strategic
management
tools
and
have a relatively narrow perception of societal
models that organizations implore in the driv-
responsibilities, which can be summarized as
ing wheels of their core activities help in the
taking care of their workers, and making prod-
determination of the sustainability solution of
ucts and services that customers want in an
an organization. These strategic elements, if
environment-friendly way. According to Peder-
developed well with considerable understand-
son, this perception is narrow as a result of the
ing of environmental, political, economic and
traditional line of thought that an organization
social factors, give an organization the desired
is running soundly if profit margins remain
competitive advantage necessary to dominate
high and stakeholders are satisfied.
their market and the industry as a whole.
Implications
that have sustained the company in economic
Corporations looking for sustainability solu-
performance and in their environmental stew-
tions must engage their business both in
ardship. Its core values, goals, mission, vision
economic performance and social responsibil-
and culture have to be sustained regardless.
ity, both of which have a direct relationship
Corporations stand for so many things, such
despite
environmental
as the environmental stewardship across
differences. The current dilemma, with more
their system, and they want to provide their
organizations adopting corporate social respon-
employees with a stable working environ-
sibility initiatives similar to Starbucks and Ben
ment that provides equal opportunity for
and Jerry’s, is that they often lack a clarity
learning and personal growth. Apart from the
organizational
BIOGRAPHY ★ Emad Rahim, DM, PMP is Dean of Business and Management at Colorado Technical University..
Corporations should maintain the strategies
and
EMAD RAHIM
9
MBA Review
B
ased upon data readily available in the public domain from various benchmarking sources, the International Graduate Forum (IGF) has developed a Global MBA Table of leading business schools.
T
hese are schools which attain, on a regular basis, very high scores in numerous ranking tables. Indeed, CEO
KPIs criteria weighting
Magazine has identified many of these schools over the
years as being some of the very best, and with good reason. Typically, they boast high quality faculty, their reputation, over
Male-to-Female Ratio
the years, has opened many a door for graduates, and their
38%
Range of Programmes
track-record speaks for itself.
Faculty
However, as corporate funding declines, return on investment Price
and recovery of opportunity cost become increasingly important
4%
considerations. This, coupled with the need for greater flexibility, 6%
ready access to faculty, smaller class sizes, career services, and faculty with real-world business experience, has led many
8%
recognisable” global providers. With this in mind, the IGF
12%
set about identifying business schools capable of meeting the
Faculty with PhDs
expectations of hungry applicants – the results were impressive. Schools which were selected for inclusion into the European,
14% Faculty with Business Backgrounds
Accreditation
MBA applicants, and the IGF, to look beyond the “instantly
4%
Study Abroad Option
8%
North American, and Australian MBA ranking tables not only
12%
demonstrated the qualities today’s MBA applicants look for, they
Teacher-toStudent Ratio
were, and are, capable of challenging the established, globally
10%
recognised MBA providers (Global MBA Table). In keeping with the IGF’s commitment to greater transparency, and in line with the changes that have been made to the IGF’s
International Diversity
10%
12%
ranking process this year, schools listed in the European, North American, and Australian MBA tables have been ranked numerically. Several schools, and their scores, from the Global MBA Table have been included in the aforementioned regional tables for the sake of comparison.
10
Class Size
Average Experience in Cohort
MBA Review
IGF GLOBAL MBA RANKINGS
GLOBAL MBA TABLE (BENCHMARK)
Ranking
Columbia Business School Cornell University: Johnson
School
1
ESADE Business School
Score 87
2
ENPC School of International Management
Dartmouth College: Tuck
3
La Salle University
82
Duke University: Fuqua
4
Ashridge Business School
81
Harvard Business School
5
University of Wollongong Sydney Business School
79
HEC Paris
6
IE Business School
78
IE Business School
7
Rochester-Bern
77
83.5
IESE Business School
=8
Copenhagen Business School
76
IMD
=8
Macquarie University Graduate School of Management
76
INSEAD
10
Australian Institute of Business
75
= 11
Lynchburg College
74
= 11
IESE
74
Lancaster Management School
73
= 14
Paris School of Business
72
= 14
The University of Queensland Business School
72
= 14
University of Sydney Business School
72
London Business School MIT: Sloan
13
New York University: Stern Northwestern University: Kellogg Stanford Graduate School of Business University of California at Berkeley: Haas
= 14
Melbourne Business School
72
University of Cambridge: Judge
= 14
Fordham University Gabelli School of Business
72
University of Chicago: Booth
= 14
Porto Business School
72
University of Pennsylvania: Wharton
= 20
CEU Business School
71
Yale School of Management
= 20
Australian Catholic University
71
EUROPEAN MBA RANKINGS
...the IGF set about identifying business schools capable of meeting the expectations of hungry applicants – the results were impressive...
Ranking
PORTUGAL – SPOTLIGHT MBA RANKINGS Ranking
School
School
Score
1
ESADE Business School
2
ENPC School of International Management
3
Ashridge Business School
81
4
IE Business School
78
5
Rochester-Bern
77
6
Copenhagen Business School
76
7
IESE
74
8
Lancaster Management School
73
=9
Paris School of Business
72
=9
Porto Business School
72
11
CEU Business School
71
12
Reykjavik University
69.5
13
EIPM
68.5
87 83.5
= 14
Lorange Institute of Business Zurich
66
Score
= 14
SBS Swiss Business School
66
87
= 14
ISEG
66
83.5
1
Porto Business School
2
ISEG
17
Reims Management School
64
3
The Lisbon MBA (Nova and Católica-Lisbon)
81*
18
*The Lisbon MBA (Nova and Católica-Lisbon)
61
4
ISCTE
78
19
ISCTE
60
20
Hochschule Darmstadt
60
*Incomplete data
11
MBA Review
NORTH AMERICAN MBA RANKINGS Ranking
School
AUSTRALIAN MBA RANKINGS Score
Ranking
1
La Salle University
82
1
University of Wollongong Sydney Business School
79
2
Lynchburg College
74
2
Macquarie University Graduate School of Management
76
3
Fordham University Gabelli School of Business
72
Willamette University Atkinson School of Graduate Management
70
University of Rochester Simon School of Business
66
=5
Colorado Technical University
66
=5
Queens University of Charlotte McColl School of Business
66
8
Northwest Missouri State University Booth College of Business
64
9
Georgetown University McDonough School of Business
63
= 11
Wake Forest University Schools of Business
62
= 11
Kent State University
62
13
UCI Merage School of Business
60
14
University of Washington Foster School of Business
15
Washington University in St. Louis
16
4 =5
= 17
3 =4
School
Score
Australian Institute of Business
75
The University of Queensland Business School
72
=4
University of Sydney Business School
72
=4
Melbourne Business School
72
7
Australian Catholic University
71
8
The University of Adelaide
69
9
Queensland University of Technology Graduate School of Business
68
10
University of Ballarat
11
University of Western Australia Graduate School of Management
66
12
Swinburn University of Technology Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship
65
59
13
RMIT University Graduate School of Business and law
63
57*
14
Monash University
61
Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business
56
15
Victoria University Graduate School of Business
60
The Rady School of Management at UC San Diego
55
16
University of Technology Sydney
59
17
Deakin University
57
18
University of Western Sydney
56
= 17
University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business
55*
18
Boston College Carroll School of Management
53*
19
Murdoch University Business School
19
University of Denver Daniels College of Business
51
20
Southern Cross University
20
McNeese State University College of Business
50
65.5
53.5 37*
*Incomplete data
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13
North American MBA Review
Innovation Management for Managers The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business »
T
and personnel oversight, have expanded to
(Merriam-Webster, 2012) The late Steve Jobs,
include innovation management. As an idea
the creative mind behind Apple, has said that
can only be as effective as its implementation
“Innovation has nothing to do with how many
allows it to be, a manager is inextricably tied
R&D dollars you have . . . It’s not about money.
to the innovation process. This role is critically
It’s about the people you have, how you’re led,
important, for the reason that the innovation
and how much you get it.” (Kirkpatrick, 1998)
process has the capacity to end recessions and
While research and development does consti-
promote sustainable growth. Due to the impor-
tute an aspect of innovation, these are only
tance of this process, AACSB International,
pieces of the greater puzzle. Innovation can
Managers possess specific, hard-totransfer knowledge (about human capital, manufacturing processes, distribution chains, and consumer behaviors, for example) that is essential to the implementation of breakthrough ideas. They act as organizational architects and build the capacity of organizations to innovate in dynamic environments. Managers are also inventors; they develop new ways of making and distributing products and providing services. Finally, managers participate in the boundary-spanning networks that foster and enable innovation. For all of these reasons, managers are an essential part of the innovation process . . .
the leading accrediting body of business
include incremental improvement to processes
(Task Force on Business Schools and Innovation, 2010)
schools, has taken an active role in research-
and products, as emphasized in the practice
ing innovation. AACSB International’s report,
of Kaizen, Japanese for change for the better.
Even with the positive impact that innova-
Business Schools on an Innovation Mission,
This practice focuses on the removal of waste-
tion can have on today’s businesses, some
described innovation as, “the most important
ful business processes and is “a disciplined
managers are hesitant to support it for a vari-
opportunity for our world, and the reason why
process of systematic exploration, controlled
ety of reasons. For one, managers are busy.
every institution should take proactive steps
experimentation and then painstaking adop-
With other responsibilities, it may be difficult
to foster more to solve current and future chal-
tion of the new procedures.” (Varian, 2007)
to fit innovation management into an already
lenges.” (Task Force on Business Schools and
Innovation, in this sense, involves both techno-
crowded day. Authors have written that “top
Innovation, 2010).
logical and managerial aspects.
management positions are often accompanied
he management of people and their innovations is a complex and often misunderstood
challenge
that
all
managers face at some point in their careers. The traditional scope of a manager’s duties —
14
decision-making,
strategic
planning,
The definition of innovation can be a con-
Innovation management would be con-
by extremely intense job demands and stress.
tentious subject, typically associated with
siderably easier if it required only financial
As such, ‘To the extent that creativity requires
scientific
technological
investment. Instead, it involves managers
some amount of available time and cogni-
advancements. But, for the purposes of this
as they assist in bringing innovative ideas to
tive resources, extremely high levels of job
article, innovation will take on a much broader
fruition. In AACSB International’s report on
demands may squeeze out novelty and fresh
definition. At its core, innovation can be defined
innovation, the importance of the manager was
thinking.’” (Yadav, 2012) Additionally, there
as “the introduction of something new” or
highlighted as an integral part of the innova-
can also be a sense of apathy when it comes
“a new idea, method, or device: novelty.”
tion process:
to tried-and-true processes. The phrases, “this
breakthroughs
or
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
is how we’ve always done it” and “if it’s not
environment, needing to be “aware of the cur-
Innovation management is challenging. It
broken, don’t fix it” are common place, and can
rent facts and conditions prevailing in his or
requires the balancing of numerous factors,
stifle creativity.
her own industry. While this point may appear
both inside and outside a manager’s direct
Despite the challenges that managers may
obvious, the slowness to innovate of some U.S.
control and oversight. The impediments to
face in supporting innovation, there is still
computer makers and of the U.S. automakers
successful innovation can be daunting, but are
room for optimism. Innovation management
had major negative impacts on their financial
not insurmountable. The increase in research
has until recently been a relatively under-
performance.” (Gilbert, 1996)
on the topic should enable managers to more
developed topic. However,
successfully
business schools are lead-
associated trials, and help
ing the way in innovation
Business schools are leading the way in innovation research and support, equipping students with skills that should help them make an impact upon reaching the workforce.
research and support, equipping students with skills that should help them make an impact upon reaching the workforce.
The
University
of Portland, Clarkson University, and the University of San Francisco all offer an Entrepreneurship and InnoAACSB-accredited
effective
the
innova-
tion among direct reports. The Business Schools on an Innovation explores
Mission AACSB
report Interna-
tional’s focus on bringing innovation into the limelight at
business
growing
the
schools,
and
necessity
of
focus that the subject of
vation major, as do many other
increase
navigate
innovation requires. For addischools.
Other
Managers must also be mindful of innova-
tional resources on the subject of innovation
schools promote the formation of incubators
tion in their own company, division or team and
and business schools, AACSB offers an online
focused on innovation and entrepreneurship,
inspire an organizational culture that is accept-
resource center focused solely on the topic at:
such as the Darden School of Business at the
ing of innovation. There should be a shared
www.aacsb.edu/resources/innovation.
University of Virginia and the Harvard School
belief that both adaptation and advancement
of Business. Harvard’s President, Drew Gilpin
lead to a more efficient, effective workplace and
Faust, said about their incubator, “For the
final output. Google has been successful at this,
University as well as for the economy and our
soliciting feedback and encouraging an environ-
nation, the importance of innovation cannot be
ment where employees feel safe to share their
overstated . . . This lab will foster team-based
ideas. To do this, Google hosts a weekly forum
activities and deepen interactions among both
on Fridays, aptly named TGIF, or Thank Good-
aspiring and experienced innovators across
ness it’s Friday. Employees can discuss Google
the schools of Harvard.” (Harvard Launches
products, internal affairs, and other issues with
Innovation Incubator, 2010)
the company’s top executives. Google also
Recent research, both at business schools
has weekly problem solving sessions called
and elsewhere, has helped define the role
“Fixits” where employees submit “fixes” to
of the manager in the innovation process,
various problems which are then voted on
which can help identify the best means for
by the employees. The best ideas are then
supporting changes for a particular business.
implemented. (The Staff of the Corporate Exec-
A manager must consider three key factors
utive Board, 2009) This approach has increased
in their support of innovation — the external
employee engagement at Google, helping it to
environment, the company, and the individual
become more innovative as a company.
innovation. (Gilbert, 1996) These three factors,
Finally, a manager must also be able to
written about at length by Joseph Gilbert,
oversee individual innovations. When exemplar
an Assistant Professor at the University of
ideas come through internal sources, these
Nevada’s College of Business and Economics,
ideas should be listened to and, if appropri-
when looked at collectively can give managers
ate, acted upon. While Google is very good at
the knowledge necessary to properly cultivate
soliciting ideas, if it didn’t act on any, employee
and implement innovation.
enthusiasm would likely fizzle. Thought should
Innovation
management
varies
dra-
also be paid to the prioritization of feedback and
matically from one business to another, with
the subsequent evaluation of that feedback. In
diverse industrial frameworks providing their
a recent Wall Street Journal report, Ethan Bur-
own unique challenges. Because of this, a
ris wrote that “[t]here needs to be a thoughtful
manager must first consider the external envi-
follow-up process for all ideas submitted. The
ronment for the industry. A model developed
employees cared enough about the organiza-
by Michael Porter, a professor at Harvard Busi-
tion (or their jobs) to offer their suggestions in
ness School and Director for the Institute of
the first place. The company should try to keep
Strategy and Competitiveness, urges manag-
them engaged enough to speak up again.” (Bur-
ers to consider all competitors, both present
ris, 2012) When employees are being heard,
and potential (competitors who may later enter
recognized by management, and responded
into the industry). (Porter, 1980) A manager
to, managers are encouraging an environment
should be well-informed about the external
where innovation can flourish.
Bibliography Burris, E. (2012, October 26). Great Ideas Bosses Never Hear: Employees have a lot to say. But they rarely say them. Retrieved November 09, 2012, from The Wall Street Journal. Gilbert, J. T. (1996). Managing Innovation: The Role Of The General Manager. Review Of Business, 12. Harvard Launches Innovation Incubator. (2010, October 14). Retrieved November 12, 2012, from Harvard Business School. Kirkpatrick, D. (1998, November 9). The Second Coming of Apple. Fortune. Merriam-Webster. (2012, November 09). Retrieved November 09, 2012, from Merriam-Webster. Porter, M. (1980). Competitive Strategy. New York: The Free Press. Task Force on Business Schools and Innovation. (2010). Business Schools on an Innovation Mission. Tampa: AACSB International. The Staff of the Corporate Executive Board. (2009, December 11). “Involve Your Employees,” Says Google, CEB. Retrieved November 09, 2012, from Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Varian, H. R. (2007, February 08). Kaizen, That Continuous Improvement Strategy, Finds Ideal Environment. Retrieved November 09, 2012, from The New York Times. Yadav, M. S. (2012). Managing The Future: CEO Attention And Innovation Outcomes. Journal of Marketing, 84-101.
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North American MBA Review
Harnessing Excellence in The Queen City Alexandra Skinner speaks to Ronald Shiffler, Nancy McNelis, Will Sparks, Bob Mobley, Chuck Bamford and Linda Christopherson »
Q
The Queens University of Charlotte McColl School of Business offers a variety of graduate programmes, centering around
three key elements: competence, character and commitment to the community. Kindly expand further on the school’s philosophy.
Within all McColl School programmes we emphasise leadership development for each student through classroom exercises, seminars, off-site retreats, and capstone projects. Our goal is to stretch the critical thinking abilities of students with transformational experiences that build leadership skills. Although there are many attributes that define successful leaders, we focus on three critical success factors – competence, character and commitment to community – our “three Cs”. Competence means having the requisite knowledge from each discipline subject matter. Character is built through skill-based exercises, projects, and mentoring. Finally, global citizenship today means leaders must have a commitment to the communities in which they live and work. When we are successful in modeling these behaviors, our students will be prepared to step into leadership roles within their organizations.
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Competence
Character
McColl School of Business
“Three Cs” Commitment to Community
Queens University of Charlotte MBA
Q
The McColl School MBA offering consists of an Executive MBA and a
Professional MBA. Can you please tell us a little bit more about each programme in terms of audience and key outcomes? What do you think makes your MBA offering stand out from the crowd?
The Executive MBA (EMBA) programme provides an integrated educational experience that capitalises on participant’s existing leadership skills and experiences. It is wholly focused on personal and professional growth for experienced managers in a highly integrated and experiential environment. The 20-month programme meets on alternating Fridays and Saturdays and is the only EMBA programme in the Charlotte area. It’s designed for mid- to senior-level managers with an average of 15 years work experience. Key advantages include a cross-disciplinary curriculum using case studies that encourage dialogue and debate; collaborative study teams; a vast network of contacts in the corporate community; a high-level consulting project for a local not-for-profit; and an international study experience that broadens students’ understanding of the global economy and business environment. The EMBA has one intake of students annually; each group progresses through the
DOWNTOWN CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA
programme in a cohort. Our alumni network of EMBA graduates is extensive with many graduates from the same class still connecting on a regular basis more than 10 years after graduation. In fact, the McColl School Alumni Association was formed by EMBA alumni many years ago and is still incredibly active and engaged in the McColl School. The Professional MBA (PMBA) is designed to meet the needs of early- to mid-career professionals. It provides a solid grounding in the functional/technical areas of business, stressing the need to develop communication and writing skills, international and cultural awareness, and a comprehensive managerial perspective. The curriculum underscores the complexity and diversity of managerial decisions in national and international economies. Our PMBA curriculum parallels a standard MBA programme in terms of topical coverage. However, we diverge from many MBA programmes in that our electives are packaged into six different concentrations: finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, executive coaching, international perspectives, and healthcare leadership. The PMBA programme has built-in flexibility, with nine hours of electives from these six concentrations. For example, students
Regardless of the programme, the McColl School difference is our dedication to leadership development that enables graduates to tackle any workplace challenge with confidence and competence.
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North American MBA Review
wanting to delve deeper into leadership may take all their electives in executive coaching classes, or students with a penchant for entrepreneurship have a variety of electives to choose from in that area. Finally, the capstone experience requires students to complete a community-based project, consistent with our commitment to community. Regardless of the programme, the McColl School difference is our dedication to leadership development that enables graduates to tackle any workplace challenge with confidence and competence.
Q
Both the PMBA and EMBA programmes offer international study trips. Which
destinations have you visited in the past, and what have you planned for 2013?
INSIDE THE SYKES BUILDING
Student Perspective MBA Student I decided to study at the McColl School after meeting the staff and learning about the curriculum. At a lot of other schools I felt like ‘just another student’. But at the McColl School, from my first contact with the school and since then, I have enjoyed a personalized experience with the staff. This level of interaction allows me to freely ask questions and get one-on-one assistance when I need it.
an emphasis on leadership and personal growth that I did not find in other schools and cannot be taught with a textbook. An example of this is the year-long leadership course. In this course I learned more about myself than I could have ever imagined. This allowed me to understand who I am and how I interact with others, so that I could be a better leader and step outside of my comfort zone to take on new challenges I never thought I
Students are not rushed along for the sake of time, rather our curiosity is nurtured and priority is placed on the student. This extends to the classroom as well. The class sizes are small, so staff have the ability to answer questions as they come and discussion is much more dynamic. Students are not rushed along for the sake of time, rather our curiosity is nurtured and priority is placed on the student. Outside of the classroom, I have enjoyed a strong network of alumni who are always willing to meet or introduce you to people. Something in particular stands out to me about the McColl School. The McColl School puts
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could have. I can feel and see the growth; that I am a stronger leader now, because of my experience at the McColl School. So, to a prospective student, the bottom line is this: The McColl School is more than just textbooks and exams; there are plenty of schools that offer only that. The McColl School is an experience. Mandeep Gill, McColl School Masters of Business Administration ’13.
Building international business acumen is a critical component of our MBA programmes. Each year our students travel to a new region of the world, giving them a first-hand view of issues related to global commerce, international business and emerging economic trends. Led by our faculty, the students meet with business, government and community leaders who shed light on the particular economic, cultural and political issues of their regions. In prior years we’ve traveled to South Africa, Germany, Dubai, Poland, Egypt, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Italy and Switzerland. During the summer of 2013 our group will travel to Argentina and Brazil.
Q
Students at the McColl School benefit from the knowledge of highly
qualified faculty, both in terms of real world experience and academic achievement. How does your faculty bring that ‘real world’ experience into the classroom?
Our faculty are phenomenal! They’ve all had full-time work experience in the corporate world before joining the McColl School. For some, their careers spanned 20 or 30 years and included senior level responsibilities at the vice president or C-suite level. As a result, we have a strong reputation as a hands-on business school with a robust network of business leaders—both inside and outside of the classroom—who support the school. Our faculty tap into their networks to bring top level executives to campus for special lectures or guest appearances in class. A number of national leaders have spoken to our students, including Ms Carly Fiorina, former CEO of the Hewlett-Packard Company, Ms Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State, and Mr Hugh McColl, Jr., former CEO of Bank of America (and the namesake of our business school). Our McColl Board of Advisors is also very active. Advisory board members help
Queens University of Charlotte MBA
recruit speakers, they open doors for companyspecific research for student projects and for executive education programmes, and they offer internships for students and career placement opportunities for graduates. Finally, our Executive Leadership Institute (ELI) is the McColl School’s executive education arm, which designs and delivers unique leadership programmes to business clients. Our best faculty teach in ELI programmes and then bring those lessons learned back into the classroom. A clear measure of our success in this area is the 42% revenue growth ELI has experienced over the past five years, as well as the high level of repeat business from very satisfied executive education client companies.
Q
All McColl School students have the opportunity to participate in the BB&T
Leadership Challenge. What does the experience involve and what benefits does it bring to students?
The BB&T Leadership Challenge is truly a challenge. Ayn Rand’s book “Atlas Shrugged” is used as context for a full weekend experience, where students are encouraged to debate the morality of capitalism. They consider questions related to philosophy (such as the nature of reality) as well as business (such as the optimal economic system) in order to gain clarity around their personal assumptions on productivity and citizenship. As Socrates said, “the unexamined life is not worth living” and this experience provides a unique opportunity for our students to examine their lives. We are grateful for BB&T’s support in funding this exceptional part of our programme.
Q
Our faculty are phenomenal! They’ve all had full-time work experience in the corporate world before joining the McColl School.
Q
The development and nurturing of behavioural and personal skills
continues to be important to both potential applicants and businesses that employ MBAs. How much emphasis do you place on these dynamics, and what efforts do you have in place to further support students to this end?
In the McColl School our focus is on leadership and leader development, so we place a great deal of emphasis on the “softer” skills. To that end, all of our graduate students experience a rich and powerful learning environment that is grounded on increasing the student’s
self-awareness. Each student works with his or her own executive coach, and students are encouraged both inside and outside the classroom to refine their interpersonal, teamwork, and communication skills. In two of our programmes specifically, the MS in Organization Development and the MS in Executive Coaching, we spend a great deal of time developing change management, leadership, and coaching skills. Students are encouraged to get out of their “comfort zones” in a variety of activities in order to experience the growth and confidence that comes from greater understanding, risk, and skill mastery.
In addition to several entrepreneurship modules, the McColl School has also
established the Entrepreneurial Leadership Circle and the Carolinas Entrepreneur Hall of Fame. Please can you tell our readers more about your focus on entrepreneurship?
Innovation and entrepreneurship are a critical part of Charlotte’s business community. We’re very proud of our Entrepreneurial Leadership Circle, which is made up of 60 company founders who provide resources (more than $450,000 in scholarships over the past eight years), offer advice to students (through our Entrepreneurs in Residence programme), serve as judges for business plan competitions, speak in classes and, in general, offer support and insight into the growing entrepreneurial effort at the university. The ELC founded the Carolinas Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, which has inducted 15 of North and South Carolina’s most influential and impactful entrepreneurs. The annual Hall of Fame induction event at the famous Quail Hollow Country Club is a highlight of the year.
MCCOLL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
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North American MBA Review
Q
Location is often a part of the decision making process for those considering an
MBA, particularly in the case of international students. What can potential students expect to enjoy from living and/or studying in Charlotte?
Charlotte is an incredibly dynamic, up-andcoming city with strong financial services, energy and healthcare industries at its core. It also has a thriving entrepreneurial community. The business community in Charlotte makes their executives available to our students through our Leaders in Action lecture series, as Executives in Residence and Entrepreneurs in Residence, and through mentoring and coaching.
Our MBA students are virtually all working professionals and executives in the Charlotte area. For our students, one of the critical benefits of a McColl School MBA is the opportunity to learn from and leverage our extensive network of business leaders. Not only do they see these leaders on campus but also they have the opportunity to engage in small group and individual conversations in a personal way that is unusual in MBA schools.
reference letters, GMAT or GRE (plus some additional items from international applicants) and an interview. We consider the total application package in making an admissions decision. Enrollment is based on a strong belief that readiness for graduate business education is judged not by any one item in the application but that it is the accumulation of both academic and real-world experience that prepares a student for graduate education.
Q
Q
Application processes vary from school to school. Please can you give an overview
School of Business over the next 12 to
of the McColl School application process?
18 months?
We require the traditional materials and steps: application form and essays, school transcripts,
You’ll see us leverage our strong regional reputation beyond the boundaries of Charlotte and the Southeast U.S. We hope to attract the next generation of business leaders and pioneers who are looking for a distinctive programme, delivered in a nurturing environment from a university and a city about to burst upon the international scene. The next big initiative for the McColl School is to design an online MBA programme that captures the distinctiveness of our face-toface programmes without sacrificing quality or the personal relationships for which we are known.
Student Perspective
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What can we expect from the McColl
Executive MBA Student
The cohort style provides opportunities to connect
Returning to school was not an easy decision for me. My undergraduate experience took many turns, and in my professional career I tried to find stability in small calculated steps. My husband mentioned pursuing an MBA a few times; but, I just shrugged him off and plodded along. I applied for Leadership Charlotte and through that experience was introduced to Queens University. At one of the campus visits, I picked up the McColl School MBA information packets out of curiosity. When I was not accepted into Leadership Charlotte, I returned to the information packets with serious consideration. With my husband’s encouragement, I began pursuing MBA options. I contacted my alma mater, and was less than impressed with their response. I was treated generically; like a number to a large university. I reached out to another university and again was left with the impression that I did not matter to them as a potential student. My selfdoubt was beginning to rise. I attended an information session at Queens and immediately was met with warmth from the staff and professors. I felt genuine interest in my contemplation to pursue an MBA. I wasn’t sure at first whether the EMBA program or the PMBA program was the best fit for me. Riley Clark, EMBA Co-ordinator, approached me and said he thought I would be “great” in the EMBA program. Later, Bob Mobley, Director of Graduate Admissions, connected me with a recent EMBA graduate whose employment circumstances were similar to mine. Bob’s effort to connect me, and Riley’s faith, proved that Queens really cared about me. I was “Mary”; not a number, and the faculty were the same. I experienced Queens and it fit me. In the EMBA program, the faculty and staff are committed to helping students learn. The relaxed style of teaching advances conversations rather than lecturing to a point. The notion of “there is no right or wrong answer” in many of the classes allows students to explore opposing sides to issues and learning unveils itself in the process.
with people that might never cross paths otherwise. I have met people from all facets of industry, from regulatory entities to healthcare. I never thought I would broaden my network so much by returning to school. As we have grown together, we see the tremendous value in learning from each other. I know I would not have had this experience if I had attended a larger institution. The network at Queens is not only important to help students grow; it grows a better university.
Queens really cared about me. I was “Mary”; not a number, and the faculty were the same. I experienced Queens and it fit me. I thought I was a descent writer. However, Professor Charlie Reed corrected my thought. His famous, “Omit needless words!” still rings in my head as I sit down to write. Charlie made a lasting impression on me of the power in the written word. He taught me how to take 15 pages of information and condense it into one. I will never forget him for helping me learn the importance of concise clarity. Of the numerous options for graduate school, the key piece Queens consistently offers is personal attention. At the information session, staff saw something in me that I couldn’t see at that time in myself. As I have moved through the EMBA program, I have grown as a person, a professional, and a leader. For some students, all it takes is for someone to believe in them. Queens believed in me. Mary Ward, McColl School of Business Executive Masters of Business Administration ’13.
BIOGRAPHIES ★ Dr Ronald E. Shiffler is Dean of the McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina. ★ Ms Nancy McNelis is Director of the EMBA program, McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina. ★ Dr Will Sparks is Director of the MS in Organization Development Program, McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina. ★ Mr Bob Mobley is Director of the PMBA Program, McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina. ★ Dr Chuck Bamford is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina. ★ Ms Linda Christopherson is Director of the Executive Leadership Institute, McColl School of Business at Queens University of Charlotte, North Carolina.
The best MBA program Lynchburg College MBA A U.S. Top 20 MBA program* Ranked #22 in Leadership Development in U.S.** Internationally accredited Finish in 14 months Small classes, accessible faculty Affordable Proximity to Washington, DC
* CEO Magazine (Winter 2012) ** Leadership Excellence Magazine
North American MBA Review
The Value-Centred Approach Alexandra Skinner speaks to Paul Brazina and Joseph Ugras » Introduction
Q
La Salle University aims to provide an appropriate blend of contemporary
business theory and practice, placing paramount importance on teaching and learning enriched by scholarly research and professional activity. Please can you further expand upon this?
We are celebrating our 150th anniversary, so this is a very special year for us. The university’s founder, John Baptiste de La Salle, was French. He founded the organisation to educate those individuals that didn’t have access to education. He wanted to use education as a means to provide economic and intellectual salvation. Today, our approach is indeed to give practical education that uses theory, case studies, our alumni and companies that we collaborate with. In the MBA classroom our faculty and students bring real business cases back to the classroom to enhance the business theories and models that are being explored. This blended learning is very important to us at La Salle; you cannot just give students a text book and then sit them in a
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lecture – they have to interact, particularly when you are talking about MBAs with experience and those in managerial roles. Our faculty are encouraged to go beyond the theory and what they were taught in their PhD programmes, to open relations with organisations and to stay current within their profession. Students who come to MBA programmes today are looking for progression in their careers, or to transition to a new career. This means that MBA programmes must be outcome-focussed and provide an economic transformation for students. The MBA degree cannot simply be a piece of paper that hangs on the wall of the alum; it must provide the student with a real transformation.
Q
The School of Business Administration (SBA) takes a value-centred approach
to teaching. What does this mean for your students?
There are two sides to being a value-centred organisation. Firstly, we encourage faculty to use ethics across all of the school’s courses, and to
integrate it into the subjects that they teach. I teach management accounting, and we examine ethical dilemmas in a management accounting scenario, and look at how one would go about addressing and resolving them. Secondly, we have a dedicated capstone course where students look at the business environment and examine legal, social and ethical issues in the environment of organisations. In that regard, this is very much focussed on a value-centred approach. They learn about how companies address social responsibility and what the emerging issues in the field are. A good example here is emerging market countries; when we enter emerging markets, a range of ethical and social dilemmas come up. We spend time with students trying to understand how a company and an individual might deal with circumstances where the culture is different, and what happens when a company such as HSBC, Starbucks or Coca-Cola tries to undertake a new venture in an emerging market country, and how they must integrate their approach to be sensitive to these locations.
La Salle University MBA
In relation to teaching these topics to graduates, there are two ideologies; some say that you must have a dedicated course, and others believe that you should integrate the topics throughout the curriculum. This integration is very important, and is something that we do in addition to offering a dedicated course where we look at the ethical, legal environment of business.
The La Salle University MBA Value Proposition
Q
The La Salle MBA offering consists of a full-time and part-time MBA option.
PAUL BRAZINA
Please can you tell us a little bit more about each programme in terms of for whom each is designed for and the learning objectives and outcomes?
The key differences between the programmes are in the participants’ backgrounds; someone entering the full-time MBA programme is likely to be younger, transitioning into a new career and will have different needs compared to a student who is working and has some managerial experience. We recognise and understand the differing needs of the students. The interaction between the faculty members and the younger students is quite different,
PHILADELPHIA CITY, PENNSYLVANIA
JOSEPH UGRAS
The Basel MBA has our most experienced students. These students have significant managerial experience and, in most circumstances, they have some experience in the corporate world. Many work in companies where they are making the transition into leadership, and are making decisions around conflict resolution, leading teams, handling projects, having business related dialogue with each other and evaluating performance of individuals. These are not skills that you would gain through a PhD in chemistry, nor if you were in IT or a very accomplished accountant.
The MBA degree cannot simply be a piece of paper that hangs on the wall of the alum; it must provide the student with a real transformation. and teaching tends to be more lecture than interaction focused, though, of course, interaction has to be evident in all of the programmes. The part-time MBA students and the students in our Basel MBA bring a wealth of experience that we take advantage of. A professor that teaches a course in one of these programmes has to be able to be more of a moderator of that conversation. Students with work experience require professors with the skills to take advantage of their backgrounds and dialogue, and bring that out from them. There are also a few differences in the core curriculum between the programmes. In the full-time MBA, there are courses that are aimed at preparing students for a new career, and we recognise the missing work experience that those students are likely to have. We incorporate activities that are designed to enhance the work experience component for them. Our professors provide additional knowledge about what it’s like to be in the corporate world, or in an NGO, and this is woven into the programme.
In these circumstances you will not necessarily have had the formal education to understand these managerial elements. At La Salle, we try to connect these different arms to each other, and this is a central part of our value proposition to students. The one year MBA is an intense MBA for the participants, whilst the full-time MBA is flexible and can take several years. The core subjects are very similar, but the full-time MBA is expanded somewhat to allow the students to try to get some experience whilst they are studying, so that they can incorporate what they are learning into the work environment. The one year MBA is very intensive; it requires full commitment by the student year round to the academic programme. We teach our students to take advantage of their education with us and to put it to good use. In our view, the MBA really has to pay-off within five years of completion of the programme. So you have to put the programme to work from the very first day, and begin incorporating the knowledge into the cases that you are working on.
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North American MBA Review
We teach our students to take advantage of their education with us and to put it to good use. The SBA also offers an MBA in Basel, Switzerland, in co-operation with the Basel Chamber of Commerce.
Q
(a) What was the strategic thinking behind this MBA offering?
La Salle University is located in Philadelphia and has been operating successful graduate programmes for some time. About 12 years ago, we started looking at international opportunities. What we discovered was that there were a lot of professionals who
wanted to get the La Salle MBA, but were unable to commit to a full year in the US to do so. We wanted to offer something that was more convenient for them, and at the same time give our faculty exposure to these wonderful students in an international environment. The question was, where? We wanted a location that offered students with strong experience who would love to be part of our student body. We found that Switzerland has a strong professional base and strong English language skills.. We looked at various Swiss
Alumnus Perspective Full-time MBA Graduate My journey to the La Salle University MBA program was somewhat non-traditional; with a background as a food chemist in academia and research, I clearly was not the typical business school applicant. However, I was looking to expand my career expertise to a broader, more strategic perspective on issues related to food product development and management. I felt, without a doubt, that an MBA was critical in acquiring the additional desired skill sets. My decision to study at La Salle was driven by many factors. First, the responsiveness, interest and personal attention from the admissions program and MBA director provided an excellent opportunity to learn about the program and fully evaluate if it was a good fit. The nature of the fulltime MBA program was also very attractive: the small class sizes, global and international nature of the student body, and the AACSB accreditation were all critical selling points for me. Being new to the field of business studies and looking to develop competence for an increasingly global field, a well-rounded program that offered out-of-the classroom learning opportunities was very important. Another favorable aspect of the program was the expertise, research and publication credentials of the faculty members. There were also study-abroad opportunities in the international business major. Finally, the location - in Philadelphia, within a short driving distance of key business and organizational nerve centers like Philadelphia, New York and Washington DC - was an additional bonus. I had an extremely valuable experience in the program. The small class sizes meant that the professors were very accessible: I have memories of more than one professor standing in the hallway chatting and bantering with students as we walked into the class. My professors took the time to teach complex concepts and engage students: I even developed an interest in finance, a discipline
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that was completely new. There was genuine interest in the students and in career development. In choosing a major, our MBA director advised me to consider doing a double-majoring in finance and marketing. I can honestly say that was one of the best pieces of professional advice I have ever received as I have found this knowledge combination very applicable in my career today. There are several highlights of my experiences at the LaSalle School of business, one of the most memorable being the opportunity to build and lead the campus chapter of the National Association of Women MBAs, and attend the national conference in St Louis. The organization provided an opportunity to interact with outstanding female business school alums. We also attended business, art and cultural events in the Philadelphia area, such as the Annual Economic Outlook Luncheon which featured leading economists, and events at the Philadelphia Museum of Modern Art, the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia and the Union League of Philadelphia. Another very special highlight for me was receiving the outstanding graduate student award in the full-time MBA program, and also being inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma Business Honor Society. Without a doubt, my MBA at La Salle was a transformative experience for me, professionally and personally. Even though I entered the business school with the critical thinking skills and technical expertise acquired in my PhD program, the La Salle MBA program further bolstered this foundation by instilling strategic thinking, decision-making and leadership skills, as well as a pragmatic approach to solving real-world problems and implementing solutions. This invaluable combination has definitely had a very positive impact on my career. Lorraine Niba, PhD, Business Development Manager-Global Nutrition Springboard, Ingredion Incorporated, La Salle Full-time MBA (Finance and Marketing Major), 2007.
cities and Basel met some other criteria that we were very excited about, including a strong pharmaceutical industry, which provides excellent support and encouragement for its employees in doing an MBA. It has been a wonderful opportunity for us, and our faculty really enjoy it as it gives them a great foundation to bring material back to the classroom, and to get to know students, companies, and the European business environment. It really is the perfect match for us.
Q
(b) Basel students travel to Philadelphia for a five-day seminar on the US
perspective of International Management in the summer-term. What can students expect from this trip?
In the past we’ve had a two week seminar for students where we provided them with exposure to US business practices to show them the similarities and differences between US and European business culture. This year we did something new and decided to reduce the US component down to one week and offer a second week where students visit companies in Europe and Asia. In summer of 2012, students visited companies in Switzerland and in Istanbul, Turkey. During this time, students completed some work outside of the classroom, but there was also a classroom component with case studies for students to analyse. An international perspective is a very important expectation for today’s MBA students, as most companies are indeed multinational or are impacted by changing world dynamics. There is a lot to be learned about emerging market countries by the rest of the world. The majority of traditional MBA instruction does not include studying opportunities in emerging markets; they aren’t fully integrated into the programme. I am proud to say that we are taking the lead in this area, and we recognise that in a few years emerging markets will exceed the opportunities in Europe and the US combined.
La Salle University MBA
Q
(c) Students also have the opportunity to take part in Professional
Development Workshops in Basel. How important is the provision of these services to today’s professionals?
At La Salle, we recognise that we need to provide students with opportunities for professional development. Each year we hold several workshops in Basel where we offer networking opportunities for students, alumni, and members of the Basel Chamber of Commerce. Through these workshops we try to look at things which are not taught in the MBA programme, and each year we find that there are some emerging trends for continued development activities that everyone needs to have. For example, we had a recent workshop on how to manage workplace conflict. On occasion we will also hold webinars using an online platform. These are open to all of our students. La Salle has set up the Center for Entrepreneurship where members can take part in entrepreneurial activities, events and programmes.
Q
Please can you tell our readers more about your focus on entrepreneurship?
The La Salle Center for Entrepreneurship (LCE) serves current undergraduates, MBA students, and alumni as a resource for launching new ventures. At the undergraduate level, the LCE developed a minor in entrepreneurship that is cross-disciplinary and includes business, arts and sciences, and health sciences. Students take two required entrepreneurship courses and four directed
electives. Entrepreneurship courses are offered at the undergraduate and MBA levels. The LCE provides training, guidance, and access to funding for emerging businesses. Many students attending La Salle University come from families with small, closely held businesses. These students look to the flexibility and challenges of being self-employed. The faculty and staff recognise that future economic growth is dependent on successful, emerging business and, therefore, focus on the necessary skills in the classroom. Students learn basic knowledge and theory in the classroom, work in teams to solve case studies, and engage in internships and co-ops to gain work experience.
Q
Application processes vary from school to school. Please can you give an
overview of the SBA application process?
We focus on making sure that a potential student will be successful in the MBA programme. We ensure that we give a clear understanding of what the programme will provide in terms of outcomes, and of the expectations of the student. The most important part of the application process is the conversation between the student and someone from the MBA programme. That conversation will divulge whether there is a match between the programme and the career path of the student. For us, this really is the most important part of the process. The next question is whether the student has the capacity, in terms of professional background and intellect, to be able to
Student Perspective Basel MBA I always aspired to continue my studies along with my work, and had evaluated a few schools for part-time studies in and around Basel, Switzerland. One of my friends told me about the La Salle MBA program held in Basel. I researched it on the internet and was drawn to the curriculum as it offered executive courses that would allow me to gain a good overview of different areas of business and management, as at that time I was not sure which stream I would like to take. I had applied to a few American universities for MS programs some years back, so the application process was familiar to me. It considers those with experience, which gave me some advantage in being selected for the program. Each professor is highly qualified and has his/her own style. Paul Berjenia teaches us the foundations and then moves onto more complex topics, Joseph Ugras is easy-going and keeps us involved through interesting discussions, Seltzer uses different games and cases to hold the attention of the class, and Prof Mushamba’s pre-assignments and requirement for plenty of interaction keeps lectures enjoyable, encourages understanding, and keeps the course interesting and moving. This is really required for weekend classes, which can be very tough after a full working week. I appreciate the presentations and meetings with alumni that I have attended; they give us the opportunity to learn about new people and the businesses they are in, and allow us to network. The summer trip to Philadelphia was interesting; aside from visiting different domain companies, our class became more united and close knit. To me, being part of the learning community of La Salle is a great experience which has helped me to choose the area of my interest; it has enabled me to move from a technical domain to a functional finance domain. Of course, a full-time MBA program also offers plenty of benefits, but if someone is looking to work and study at the same time then this is a fantastic program and an excellent learning experience. Anshoo Gupta, SAP Finance and ABAP consultant, Jet Aviation Basel, current Basel MBA student at La Salle University.
ONE OF THE LA SALLE MBA'S GOALS IS TO PROVIDE THE MUCH NEEDED GLOBAL COMPETENCE SKILLS TO ITS GRADUATES. IN THIS PHOTO, MBA STUDENTS FROM VARIOUS PROGRAMS ARE PICTURED DURING THEIR VISIT TO C.F. MARTIN IN THE USA. THE COMPANY HAS BEEN BUILDING WORLD CLASS MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS FOR OVER 175 YEARS IN THE SAME LOCATION. THEIR GUITARS ARE POPULAR BY SUCH ARTISTS AS ERIC CLAPTON, BOB DYLAN AND JOHNNY CASH.
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North American MBA Review
Student Perspective Full-time MBA
STATUE OF MYTHICAL FIGURE HELVETIA IN BASEL, SWITZERLAND
succeed in the programme; we don’t want a student to enter a programme and later find that they are not a good fit. We look at the professional resume of the student, and this will be examined in more detail in the Basel MBA and programmes where students are more experienced. In terms of admission criteria, the level of English is important if the student is international, and the other dimension is
BIOGRAPHIES ★ Paul Brazina is Dean of the School of Business at La Salle University, Philadelphia. ★ Joseph Ugras is Dean of the College of Professional and Continuing Studies and Executive Director for International Education at La Salle University. He administers the MBA Program in Basel, Switzerland.
their analytical and quantitative abilities. We typically examine this through the GMAT. The GMAT is a good predictor of student success. However, in the case of very experienced MBA students , we do waive the GMAT if their CV and experience indicate their analytical ability. Another important consideration is to understand from the student whether they will have the time to undertake the MBA and whether they will be able to accommodate it alongside the demands of their work and personal lives and have the support that they need.
The Next Step
Q
What can we expect from the La Salle University School of Business over the
next twelve to eighteen months?
La Salle University will continue to develop programmes for the global economy including: the combined four-year BS/MBA in Accounting, Entrepreneurship, Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) track in Finance, integrated Business Systems and Analytics, and Professional Sales Marketing.
For me, pursuing an MBA is about continuing my desire for exploring, learning and growing my knowledge tool kit. So, when I started my search for an MBA program, I was looking at schools that could provide me with the following: a focus in finance, small program size, small class sizes, networking opportunities, professors who are both academic as well as practicing in the field and who are readily available to their students, reasonable tuition costs, and a simple application process. Since I live with my family in the tri-state area, I limited my search to this area. Soon after I started the application process I knew that La Salle University was the university that would provide me with the individualized learning experience I was looking for. Now, after completing my first semester, I know that I have made the right decision. La Salle’s one-year MBA program has more than lived up to my expectations. La Salle University’s professors are actively involved in their fields of concentration, allowing them to bring a real-world application of the study topics into the classroom. This has allowed me the privilege of being taught by the best possible instructors. Through La Salle University I have had the opportunity to meet and speak one-on-one with individuals which I would have otherwise not have had access to. One of these opportunities was attending a panel discussion about the path to Wall Street. The panel consisted of La Salle alumni who hold prominent positions in companies such as Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital. It was inspiring to hear the stories of their journey to Wall Street, and following the panel discussion I was able to get individual professional guidance from them. Not only is La Salle helping me grow as a professional, but it has also given me a great community to be a part of. I know that come August 2013, I will be leaving La Salle with a strong foundation in finance, strong relationships with my professors and some wonderful lifelong friends. Sahnila Enam, current Full-time MBA student (Finance Major), La Salle University.
LA SALLE GRADUATES
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Lynchburg College MBA
ELLIOT & ROSEL SCHEWEL HALL – HOME TO THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
S T H G I E H W E N G N I H C R EA Y T I C L L I H IN T H E Alexandra Skinner talks to Joe Turek and Atul Gupta » Lynchburg College - An Introduction
Q
Lynchburg College will be celebrating its 110th anniversary in April 2013. What would you say
have been the college’s most noteworthy contributions to the domestic and international business communities over the last century?
The College has been recognised for its contribution to student character building. We have twice been selected for the John Templeton Foundation’s Honor Roll for Character Building Colleges. We have also been identified in the book, Colleges that Change Lives, by Loren Pope. We are one of only two Virginia colleges, and one of only 40 colleges in the United States, to be featured in this book. I think the aforementioned recognition is important because it really underlines the essence of our mission, which is to help students reach their full potential. A number of our MBA
graduates have gone on to serve in important leadership positions in a variety of business, governmental, and nonprofit institutions. Regionally, since 1990, the School of Business and Economics, in conjunction with the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, has organised an annual economic outlook conference for members of the regional business community. Community leaders consistently tell us that an understanding of current economic conditions and emerging trends is essential for effective decision making. We’ve also developed a customised MBA programme, which was designed in concert with a number of regional businesses. We are also working with the regional marketing group for the area, Region 2000, in order to support entrepreneurship as a foundation for economic development. Institutionally, the School of Business and Economics has developed relationships with institutions in Austria and South Korea, and is currently in the process of developing a relationship with an institution in the UK. We’re trying to expand these partnerships in order to increase the number of opportunities for our students to engage in international study and travel.
Q
As a liberal arts college, your focus is on experiential learning in a student-centred environment. Please
can you expand further upon the learning environment that you have created for your students and your pedagogical approach? DR. ATUL GUPTA, PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT, DIRECTS LC’S MBA PROGRAM, AND DR. JOE TUREK, IS DEAN OF SOBE.
The mission statement of the School of Business and Economics - Engaging students through active learning to build character and advance knowledge - is what experiential learning at Lynchburg College is all about.
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North American MBA Review
The Company MBA: Babcock & Wilcox
C
DR. STEFAN NICOVICH, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MARKETING, WORKS ONE-ON-ONE WITH STUDENTS.
We’ve built case-based learning into the curriculum. As such, students are actively involved in writing cases - they’ll frequently do the case analysis in small groups and then make a presentation. The emphasis in case analysis is on trying to recognise and define problems and coming to grips with decision making under ambiguous circumstances. Entering into questions at the end of a chapter in a text book makes for a very contrived learning process; it’s just not very valuable and rather mechanistic - decision making is a lot messier, so we use cases to get students to deal with real-world decision making situations. Another strategy we’ve employed is to integrate computer simulations into the curriculum, particularly in the strategy class. This is designed to help students develop an integrated perspective of business decision making. The silo approach doesn’t work. Students need to be able to take what they’re learning in the marketing class and tie it in to the management class, the finance class, and bring it all together in a strategy. The computer simulation allows students to take on a leadership role, make decisions and see the impact of those decisions on the bottom line. The School of Business and Economics is committed to continuous improvement. No matter how well we’re doing, we’re always looking for ways to improve, so this means listening to students and understanding how their needs are changing. The same is true for businesses. These are important considerations which drive our curriculum. It’s about providing students with the critical skills they’re going to need in order to be successful.
The Lynchburg MBA Value Proposition
Q
You launched your MBA over 40 years ago in 1967. Given the competitive demands placed upon corporations today,
and increasing globalisation, how have you redefined your MBA offering?
One of the things that we’ve done is to move away from a text book approach to learning. In a world where change is so rapid and so pervasive, the information that is contained in a static text book is not very useful. So we work very hard to integrate current cases into the courses, we’ve moved to customised text books, where appropriate, and tried to integrate a lot of content from the real world. As I mentioned before, students are not only doing case analysis, they’re writing cases. This means that they have to go out and research a particular business - this develops their ability to gather, evaluate, compile and use information. The focus really is on how to learn. Students are taught how to become independent learners so that once they are no longer under the tutelage of a faculty member; they’ll
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ontinuing education is an important part of developing leaders from within Babcock & Wilcox (B&W), and since our company didn’t have an MBA partnership with a Lynchburg-area college, we looked at several area schools for options. We decided to partner with Lynchburg College (LC) for several reasons. Accreditation was a big selling point, as was the strength and reputation of LC’s program and the college as a whole. Another big factor was LC’s willingness to customize its existing MBA program to meet the needs of our employees. Together, we designed a cohort-style MBA program in which our employees get a quality MBA education that works around their schedule, fosters camaraderie and focuses not only on learning key MBA curriculum, but also supplements that content with information specific to B&W. For instance, we were able to substitute the two elective classes from the mainstream MBA program curriculum with two additional business classes (Leadership & Ethics and Risk Management) that would better meet B&W’s business needs. Furthermore, since the cohort is made up exclusively of B&W employees, the concepts students are learning in each class are also explored in terms of B&W’s business. For instance, employees taking the accounting module will learn from the usual course material and classroom lecture, but then the class discussion might also include taking a look at B&W’s balance sheet to see how those accounting principles they’re studying correlate to our company’s own business model. Our first MBA class graduated in May and the second is about halfway through the program. Throughout this process we’ve enjoyed a wonderful working relationship with Dean Turek and Dr. Atul Gupta, both of whom are very involved in making sure the program is running smoothly. They have done a great job of selecting the instructors who are
best-suited to teach each course – even teaching a few of the classes themselves. The instructors also bring in experts from within B&W to talk about specific concepts they’re covering in the class. It’s a true partnership approach – we are integrated on several levels. The small class size and cohort concept offers more individual attention and greater opportunity to have in-depth conversations that go beyond the MBA curriculum requirements. Our employees are gaining knowledge and earning an advanced degree from a highlyranked program, while forming relationships with their peer classmates (very likely the future leaders of our company). At the same time, they’re continuing in their everyday jobs, incorporating what they’re learning and seeing more and more how everything fits together. It really gives them a lineof-sight from their daily tasks to the company’s business practices and bottom line. Another huge benefit is that employees are able to earn their MBA degree affordably, as the cohort program schedule has been arranged with Lynchburg College so that B&W’s tuition reimbursement benefits cover 100 per cent of their tuition and fees. Employees are only responsible for paying the cost of their books and materials (as long as they pass the course as required by the company policy). Feedback from our graduates and employees enrolled in the program has been very positive. We’ve also enjoyed great internal support of our partnership with LC. B&W’s leadership team recognizes the value the Lynchburg College MBA program offers to our company, our employees and the community as a whole. The program is a model we’ll likely use to improve other educational partnerships across the country. Carla J. Parks Wooley, APR, Manager, Employee Communications & Public Relations, B&W Nuclear Operations Group.
Lynchburg College MBA
Entering into questions at the end of a chapter in a text book makes for a very contrived learning process; it’s just not very valuable and rather mechanistic – decision making is a lot messier, so we use cases to get students to deal with realworld decision making situations. have the skills that they need to be able to learn on their own. We believe that information literacy is very important; students need to be able to evaluate the credibility of different sources, understand what information is relevant and what is not, and be able to organise that information in a way that is going to shed light on a particular issue or problem. I hear everyone talking about globalisation; however, I think the focus really needs to be on change. I think the question is, how do we help students function in a world where change is really the only thing you can count on? One of the things we’ve done is to help students understand the competitive environment within which businesses operate by placing more emphasis on this particular dynamic in the classes. As a parallel concept, which was a suggestion from a local business, we’ve incorporated a risk management class into the curriculum. The focus in this class is on making decisions in situations where you have incomplete information, or where the environment is changing so dramatically that you really don’t know what the future holds for the organisation. So we’re helping the students make decisions under conditions of risk and deal with uncertainty. Specifically, we’ve integrated into the risk management class student projects dealing with scenario planning. Strategic planning is ever-present in MBA programmes, whereas scenario planning requires a completely different skill set – students have to really cultivate their creative abilities, it’s not a linear process, it’s being able to discern trends, being able to speculate on things that might happen in an uncertain future. What comes out of this is an appreciation for building resilience into organisations.
Q
Your MBA portfolio offers full-time and part-time scheduling options meaning
that students are able to complete the programme anywhere from 14 to 36 months. Please can you tell our readers a little bit more about the format of delivery?
Our 14 month programme is for full-time students. The programme starts in the summer with a six-week boot camp. We used to have a set of prerequisite courses that students needed
in order to enter the MBA programme. However, we decided that wasn’t the best approach, so we got rid of the prerequisites and instead created a boot camp. In boot camp students get a very intensive introduction to economics, statistics, and accounting. They are also taught by the professors that teach on the MBA programme, which is important, because the professors know the critical skills and competencies required to be successful in the programme. Whether you’re full-time or
LYNCHBURG COLLEGE STUDENTS ENJO Y THE COFFEE SHOP IN SCHEWEL HALL .
Student Perspective After seven years as an officer in the U.S. Army and five more in the private sector, I decided to pursue a graduate degree. I had not been in a classroom environment for over twelve years - I was quite anxious about returning to school. I strongly considered an online program, but I felt that I needed to attend classes and interact with other students to be fully engaged. At that time, two of my coworkers were also enrolled in MBA programs. One was enrolled at Lynchburg College (LC), and the other in an online course. After speaking with both of them about their experiences, it became clear that the learning environment that I was seeking could only be offered in the resident course at LC. Classes are small (15-20 students), and classroom time is interactive. Lectures are more akin to conversations, whereby the instructor initiates a topic and students are encouraged to share their “real-life” experiences. Instructors are approachable and responsive. In fact, the LC School of Business and Economics has a standing policy that instructors will respond to email and voicemail within 24 hours. The entire department seems to understand that the majority of grad students are working professionals with demanding schedules. Perhaps they can empathize because most of them have significant work experience in the private sector themselves. LC has an aggressive course schedule that allows a student to complete the MBA program in 14 months. I realized, however, that I would not be able to handle that kind of schedule and still
maintain a good balance between school, work and personal life. Even so, I am currently scheduled to complete the program in just over two years. The course offerings are arranged in a manner that provides the flexibility to suit any schedule. I have one colleague that travels extensively for work, yet he will be able to complete the course in just over three years, enrolling in only one class at a time. Since enrolling in the program, I have had the opportunity to network with other professionals from all of the major employers in the area, as well as members of certified professional organizations. The School of Business and Economics has sponsored several guest lecturers, including James F. Parker, the former CEO of Southwest Airlines. His leadership during a period of uncertainty (after the 9/11 attacks in New York) was quite inspiring, and I felt honored to hear him speak. The opportunity to interact with highly successful business people has added depth to the concepts being taught at LC. On a more personal note, there is a sense of family at LC that cannot be described. There are larger, more esteemed MBA programs, but I strongly believe that they cannot offer the same experience as Lynchburg College. I feel that the entire staff genuinely cares about me and my education. That feeling alone validates my decision to come here.
James Shupe, Supply Chain Engineer, Flowserve Corporation. Current MBA student, Lynchburg College.
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North American MBA Review
Student Perspective
Every single faculty member knows the name of every single student in every single class. The relationships that the faculty build with the students are enduring and go well beyond the programme term. part-time, everyone does boot camp! On from boot camp, our full-time students take three courses each over the following two semesters, which is considered a full-time load. They finish in the second summer with risk management and change management classes and a 10-week strategy capstone. The part-time programme is very hard to generalise, because the course load will depend upon the student’s other commitments, such as work and family. You might have a student that will take on three courses in one semester, but then take on a big project at work and drop down to one. The important thing here is that we’re flexible. In the past six months we’ve developed the capability to video-capture our lectures. This facility allows the student to watch two screens, one being the lecture, the other being whatever the professor is referring to in the class; it could be a PowerPoint presentation, a website, a spreadsheet etc.
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While lecture capture allows us to accommodate students with work commitments that require them to miss class, it’s not intended as a substitute for being in class. What’s interesting is that students who have been in the classes are also watching the videos – they may have missed something or wanted to make sure that their notes were correct.
Q
When selecting an MBA programme provider, faculty, reputation and
curriculum are key factors. What would
After finishing my undergraduate at Lynchburg College (LC), I was so impressed with the school and the business faculty that I decided to return for my MBA. Small classes and a knowledgeable and experienced faculty combined with overall affordability made this an easy decision. The program begins with a “boot-camp,” which establishes expectations and reacclimatizes students to classroom learning. Through the classroom discussions, students learn from one another and developed great dynamics. The diverse work experience of the student body enriches classroom discussion and expands networking possibilities. Within our peer groups for studying and classwork, we have also all made great networking relationships and developed critical team skills. Individually, I gained self-confidence and became more comfortable expressing my views in class - only then was I able to experience a new unrestricted type of learning. My comments and abundant questions were always welcome. Within the security of the classroom I was finally able to develop my voice. Outside of the classroom, learning opportunities included projects with local city government and networking with entrepreneurs in our community. I have often found these interactions have provided even further context for what we are learning in the classroom, as well as guidance for starting a business. I save my highest praise for the professors, whose wisdom makes possible the ability to apply what we are learning in the class to real world problems. Workplace questions are welcome and easily translated into lectures. The faculty also make themselves readily available to students, which is very important for those of us trying to balance family and work responsibilities. I feel that the LC MBA program has helped me realize my potential. I have gained self-confidence, become more comfortable expressing my views, and grown personally and professionally. I could not be more satisfied with my decision to join the Lynchburg College MBA program. Meghan Moss, Stay-at-Home Mom. Current MBA Student, Lynchburg College.
you say are the elements that differentiate Lynchburg College from the competition and that ultimately lead students to decide to do their MBA with you?
There are a lot of things that make Lynchburg College special, but one of them is definitely class size. The great student-to-faculty ratio at the undergraduate and graduate level is the hallmark of a Lynchburg College education. Small class sizes allow faculty members to give
students the kind of attention they may need. Every single faculty member knows the name of every single student in every single class. The relationships that the faculty build with the students are enduring and go well beyond the programme term.
Lynchburg College MBA
We also offer a corporate MBA programme, which we provide to a local business, Babcock & Wilcox B&W – a very big player in the nuclear industry. Basically, B&W came to us and asked whether we would be willing to develop an MBA programme for them. This program has been quite successful and, we’re now looking to partner with other employers in the community in order to serve other industry segments. I sometimes refer to the programme as a customised MBA, because at B&W we sat down with the leadership team, asked them to define their needs, and then modified the curriculum accordingly. Interestingly, this led to the introduction of risk management and leadership and ethics into the general curriculum. The other thing that is important for potential students to understand about our programme is our commitment to continuous improvement, which has really created an openness to change. Consequently, we are constantly soliciting feedback from students and businesses alike. This input, coupled with phenomenal institutional support from our President and Academic Vice President, enables us to adapt quickly to the changing needs of the market. We’re also weaving a study abroad experience into the curriculum. For example, next summer, on the risk management course, we’re taking the students to St. Lucia to talk to businesses about how they approach risk management. Meetings with senior management and governmental leaders will help students understand how risk management there differs from the approach taken in the United States.
Q
Whilst we know that your professors are highly qualified, do you use external
speakers to augment the teaching?
Yes, we invite very prominent people to lecture and meet with the students. One of the first speakers in our Business Ethics Lecture series was Sherron Watkins, former Vice President of Corporate Development at Enron. She was featured on the cover of Time magazine as Person of the Year for her role in uncovering the Enron scandal. We also brought in James Parker, the former CEO of Southwest Airlines, who talked about the challenges of managing
BIOGRAPHIES ★ Dr. Joseph Turek is Dean of the School of Business and Economics at Lynchburg College, Virginia. ★ Dr. Atul Gupta is Professor of Management and Director of the MBA Program at Lynchburg College, Virginia.
PITONS ON THE ISLAND OF SAINT LUCIA
an airline during times of significant change, post-9/11. Jon Landau, award-winning producer of Avatar and Titanic, was very interesting and very popular.
MBA Talking Points
Q
The level of work experience required by a growing number of schools appears
to be in decline. Whilst this may boost enrollment, what impact does this have on the quality of one’s programme?
Work experience is extremely important because the greater the depth of work experience, the greater the ability of students to bring that experience to classroom discussion. Students tend to be more reflective if they have a context in which to think about what they are learning. However, there are two caveats we must add. Given current market conditions, many undergrads are having difficulty jobs and are, therefore, taking this opportunity to increase their skill base and acquire an MBA. So, whilst experience is really important, we believe that this is a very important segment for us to serve. The second caveat I would add is that, because there is so much change taking place, not just in terms of technology but also in terms of globalisation etc., quite often past experience is not as helpful as it might have been 20 years ago. The more diverse the mix of students in the program, the greater the likelihood that classroom discussions will generate novel solutions to some vexing problems.
Q
How important do you consider your alumni to be, from a support and
networking standpoint?
Alumni are incredibly important, and as I mentioned earlier, we remain connected to our
Next summer, on the risk management course, we’re taking the students to St. Lucia to talk to businesses about how they approach risk management. students in many different contexts. For example, we have students that have gone on to be wildly successful who will contact me, wanting to give back, and ask if they can share their experiences and insights with current students. Our alums that return to campus always say how grateful they are for the support that the faculty gave them in helping them to get through the programme, and this again points to the relationship I mentioned earlier that the students and faculty have. We also have an MBA Association which provides networking opportunities for both students and alumni.
The Future
Q
What can we expect from the Lynchburg College over the next 12-18 months?
As you may know, we are ACBSP accredited right now and are currently in the process of going for AACSB accreditation. If we are successful, we will be the only school in Virginia to be dually-accredited, which will further serve to underline our standing in the region and our commitment to continuous improvement.
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Focusing On
Student Success Alexandra Skinner speaks to Greg Haddock » Introduction
Q
Agriculture economics is not an area we see many schools focusing on.
What prompted you to offer this particular specialisation, and is demand where you expected it to be?
We are in the rural United States where agriculture is a big part of the local economy, with jobs in agricultural financing, agricultural implementation companies and commodity co-ops. It isn’t a large portion of the programme, and we would typically have five students studying it at a time. We are hoping to see an increase in that with the change to our pre-requisite policy which was just passed; currently, those without a business degree must take seven courses in order to enter the programme. We have now collapsed all of the 21 credits into a one-semester, nine credit experience online, and anyone from any major will be able to enter the programme after successfully completing this bridge course, which will prepare them for the MBA. You offer an online MBA in partnership with Missouri Southern State University (MSSU).
Q
Why did you decide to join forces with MSSU?
In the state of Missouri, the co-ordinating board of higher education is very interested in promoting online programmes and collaborations with other institutions, where possible. There are a lot of institutions in this
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country, including at state level. When it comes to specialised programmes, we have a bad habit of everyone offering redundant and repetitive programmes. If two institutions can come together and offer something by combining their forces, instead of repeating the same things on their own campuses, it’s seen as a gain. Another reason why we decided to offer the online MBA with another institution was to share that load; we’re offering half the courses, and their graduate faculty offer the other half. MSSU did not have an MBA before this, so the best way for them to offer one is through collaboration with us - it was a very good convergence of the needs of both institutions. Our MBA programme has been around since 1972, and is very established, so it was nice to be able to add them in this way, and they joined us in 2009.
Q
What are the challenges that you face in offering an online MBA?
The institution has been involved with online coursework since 1999, so we had a 10 year history in online education and the practices surrounding it. In 2008 we started looking at the model with a view to quality assurance for the coursework and so started working with Quality Matters, a not-for-profit organisation located in Maryland. Any new programme that we create that will be delivered online follows all of the guidelines as set out by Quality Matters. These are simple practices to ensure that students have a consistent message as to what the objectives
GREG HADDOCK
are throughout the course, that our objectives are followed through, and that we are engaging with students. Any new online coursework such as a few elective courses created next summer will begin with the Quality Matters criteria in mind. Our goal will then be to go back to the MBA courses that were created before we focused on Quality Matters and modify those courses as needed to meet those standards. Last summer we noticed that the percentage of courses that students were taking online was increasing, and over 50 per cent of all student credit hours generated were through online courses. This includes our MBA students who aren’t on the online programme; we are finding that they are also taking at least one course online. This shows the students’ need for blended learning, and it reflects the flexibility that they require.
Northwest Missouri State University (NWMSU) MBA
The online students have a sense of community, even though they may never have been in a physical class together. This is simply an extension of the physical world, they are taught their professional element inside an online environment, and they are able to make their contribution in a way that means that they are not missing out.
The MBA in 2012
Q
As the competition for students between business schools increases, the
number of credits required to obtain an MBA seems to be in decline. Is this diluting the experience and benefit students derive from the aforementioned qualification?
Our MBA is a 33 credit programme and this hasn’t changed since it started. Programmes that have 15 credits more than us are probably now coming back down to somewhere between 30 and 33 credits, which is closer to where a lot of traditional schools have been. As much as it would be great to have a master’s degree that is 55 credits, the students will vote with their feet. I think that programmes that have more than 35 credits are really going to have to make sure that they can explain to students the gained advantage that they would have from that, and it has to be more than additional coursework; they would need to demonstrate that they are adding skills.
Q
Some say that the greatest threat to the integrity of business education is the
“students as customers” metaphor. Do you concur with this?
I think that this has to be considered in two parts. When we are talking about the institution itself, then we do deal with them as customers. The other side is when we get into the actual classroom setting, and this is where the metaphor starts to break down. At that point, whether we refer to the student as a stakeholder, or a partner within a particular course, when the rubber hits the road they are still in a course where they will be evaluated and where there are expectations that would be made very clear at the beginning of the class. It’s a competitive market and we do need to think about our students in a customer service model outside of the classroom. Inside of the classroom, the course syllabus and the instructors are still where the authority lies. Students are only getting what they pay for if they do what the course syllabus sets out for them to do.
Q
Would it be fair to say that there has been a fundamental shift from teaching
functional skills, such as finance and accountancy, to producing graduates who are more rounded in terms of their professional
The online students have a sense of community, even though they may never have been in a physical class together. This is simply an extension of the physical world.
Key Faculty Terry Coalter My areas of interest are organizational behavior and human resource management –the “people” part of business. With changing demographics, globalization, shifting technology, and a hyper-competitive environment, organizational success in the next generation depends more than ever on people. Cutting-edge technology, a leading strategy, and outstanding processes without good people are destined for failure, but the right people can overcome even bad technology, unimaginative strategy, and convoluted processes. Because people are paramount, I focus on leadership, motivation, teamwork, employee selection, and other people-related issues. At NWMSU, my classes are taught as graduate seminars without much of the lecture and monologue that is a large part of the traditional classroom. My goal is to create a set of interactions that supports an intellectual environment where I act as more of a facilitator than an instructor. The best, most meaningful classes are those where the students are so deeply involved in the material they almost forget I am there. I enjoy working at NWMSU because it is distinctive among institutions of higher education. Some universities consider themselves “research” schools. Others put the emphasis on “teaching.” At Northwest we take a different approach.
The emphasis is on learning, learning that supports the long-term success of our students. In our MBA program we have a unique combination of motivated students interested in learning, small class sizes, fulltime instructors with terminal degrees and industry experience, emphasis on learning, and an administration that supports the faculty in making a positive difference in the lives of our students. I grew up in an entrepreneurial family involved in retail and real estate, operating a cash register in the family business by the age of seven. While still in high school, I started my first business, a small manufacturing firm that was supplying products to 22 retail locations in seven states within a few years. My path to becoming a college professor was neither direct or predictable; my first college classes in marketing and accounting were more about supporting my business than getting a degree, and today that’s the way I teach with emphasis in three areas: 1. things that are useful in students’ lives today, 2. material needed for a foundation to future learning, and 3. concepts that make students’ personal and professional lives better in the future. Terry Coalter, Associate Professor of Management, Northwest Missouri State University.
and personal skills?
33
North American MBA Review
Alumnus Perspective Online MBA I have just completed my coursework for the online MBA program with NWMSU. I found this program particularly enticing because of the convenience. I work full-time as the Accounts Receivable Manager at Crowder College, as well as teach as an adjunct instructor, and the online delivery offered the perfect avenue to further my education given my limited time and resources. I was interested in furthering my career but, given the rural area in which I lived, completing a degree on campus at a university was beyond my reach. With the online MBA program at NWMSU, I was able to come home after a long day at work and complete my coursework without the worry of having to schedule time to sit in class. The instructors were both understanding and clear with their expectations, and each one of them set a schedule for completion for each course that was reasonable for those of us who were working. I was nervous at first about the all-online delivery and the intensity of the MBA coursework but, considering most of my undergraduate work was completed online, everything quickly fell into place. While the
NWMSU program was challenging, most of my work was completed on the weekends when I had enough free time to dedicate to studying. This allowed me to have evenings free with my family, and allowed me to dedicate time to my career as well as other extra circular activities. Since entering into the MBA program at NWMSU I have been selected as President of our Professional Staff Association, as well as being appointed Chair of one of the committees at our college that focuses on accreditation. This program has definitely been a stepping stone for my career, and I look forward to seeing what other doors my MBA degree can open in the future.
Christina Cullers, Accounts Receivable Manager, Crowder College. Online MBA graduate, Northwest Missouri State University.
to 21 credit hours, and we’re taking a bold step by saying that we know that we can do this at nine credit hours. Of course, this is a very costeffective approach for students, but we are the only ones to do this in our region. We’ll probably see some of our competitors adopting this; educational institutions move slowly, and we hope that they move particularly slowly with this! I think that prerequisites are an area that will continue to change. With an EMBA, schools may be bringing people in who have a psychology and other non-business degrees. I think that general MBAs will begin inching their way into that market. About a third of MBA programmes in the United States require the GRE as a substitute for the GMAT exam. We were one of the early adopters of this. However, I feel this is one of the areas where institutions really hold onto these test requirements and put a lot of value in them. I see them as painting broad pictures. I don’t agree with schools that require students to re-sit these types of entrance tests – if you can get an institution to provide an original certificate, then that should suffice; I don’t think your verbal skills will have decreased over the last 15 years. We’re
When employers come to us and tell us what they want and the kind of skills that they are looking for in graduates, we listen to them very carefully.
DR. TERRY COALTER WORKING WITH STUDENTS
I think one of the largest changes has been the addition of business ethics to MBA programmes. It is very important, even if a student’s purpose for taking the MBA is for leadership and management experience, to be grounded in some of the technical elements of accounting. Professionals today still need to be able to interact with accountants, and when they get reports they need to be able to ask the right questions. This is probably the largest difference in a lot of educational programmes in the United States; within the larger institutions, it becomes almost ‘distasteful’ to think that students want jobs when they graduate, and they are more interested in the theoretical aspect of what they are teaching. I don’t think this is entirely wrong, but I think that having a baseline of skills is very important, and having
34
a balance is vital, as this is what employers are looking for. Employers don’t just want students to know what the latest theories are, because those will change in five years. When employers come to us and tell us what they want and the kind of skills that they are looking for in graduates, we listen to them very carefully.
Admissions
Q
Do you foresee the MBA admissions process becoming more simplified over
the coming years?
This is one of the areas that I have seen the largest force of change within our MBA. We had a fairly straightforward application process, but it was very rigid, in terms of our prerequisites. We’re taking a step ahead and are looking at 30 of our competitors in the local region within our four-state area. We had five to seven classes as prerequisites, which are equivalent to 15
not talking about perishable skills such as integral calculus. Flexibility in those exams is another area that I think we’ll see changes in. Over the last few months we’ve made some modifications, so now if you have a previous master’s you can enter the programme without having to take the GRE or GMAT. We also exempt business undergraduates who scored in the 70th percentile or higher on the ETS major field test that they take in their senior year. In addition, if you have military experience at the 03 grade of Captain or above, we’re saying that that’s enough business experience in terms of supervisory skills. It’s opening up the market and making the MBA approachable to people.
Q
How much emphasis do you place upon face-to-face and telephonic interviews?
Our application process is based solely on the transcript, the paper record of your GRE or GMAT. We believe that if an applicant meets our entry requirements then they are able to enter the programme.
Northwest Missouri State University (NWMSU) MBA
(ABOVE) MBA STUDENTS IN CLASS.
Alumnus Perspective text On-campus MBA
(RIGHT) NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE CAMPUS
Q
In relation to your student body, how important is diversity?
As a geographer, I am always talking about how important it is to know more about the world and the marketplace that you’re entering. It’s not just global, but is also regional within the United States. The region that we are in isn’t very diverse, but our students will be entering into a marketplace with people from a variety of different cultures and ethnicities. They need to have a familiarity and an understanding to be able to operate within that, so diversity is very important within our student body. Currently it’s at about 14 to 15 per cent of our campus, which doesn’t match the national averages, but it is of primary concern to us as we don’t want to become irrelevant. I see diversity as being key; over the next 10 years there are going to be some big changes, and India and China are becoming more and more dominant economies, so it is very important for our students to understand this and to be comfortable working in that environment. We need to level our graduates
up to be just as competitive as someone coming from New York or Washington, and so diversity is a huge portion of that.
Q
Would it be fair to say that admission into a leading business school is
attainable for anyone with a compelling background?
We are, from a business model point of view, widening the funnel. I think that in the past the MBA was seen as an entitlement for a certain class of people who had the right background. I think we will probably see something along the lines of a ‘blue collar’ MBA within a half generation or so, as we are talking about people who need the MBA for leadership skills, and it is not just the old stayed approach of the banker, the accountant or the financier who would move into that market. People are seeing the MBA as being relevant, not just to those with a business background but, as a means to create effective communication in leadership. Institutions that are not doing this are going
Student Perspective On-campus MBA I am currently finishing my first semester of graduate school at Northwest Missouri State University. I completed my undergraduate degree in accounting from Northwest in the spring of 2012, and the past four and a half years have been the best years of my life. My decision to come to NWMSU was made during my senior year in high school. My decision was narrowed down to either NWMSU or Iowa State University (ISU). After my visit here I didn’t even go to ISU, Northwest was where I wanted to be. My family has a long line of graduates from this university. The style of teaching fits my preferences perfectly, and the class sizes are just right because they make me feel like I have an actual relationship with my professors and that I am not just another filled chair. I developed some great relationships with my undergrad professors and I can honestly say that I consider a few of them my friends. I am very happy with my decision to become a Bearcat, and if you want to be a part of a great institution where all your professors know your name and care about your education, I would definitely consider Northwest. GO CATS! Jeffrey Gude, Graduate Office Assistant and current oncampus MBA student, Northwest Missouri State University.
In Text May2 of 2010, I graduated from Northwest Missouri State University with a degree Text 3 in Geographic Information Science – I started working at Garmin three weeks later. I was excited by the opportunity to apply my undergraduate knowledge, but very quickly found myself wanting more. I was bored with nothing to do after work and decided to look into master’s programs. I started in the MBA program through NWMSU that August. As a result of some great advisement as an undergrad, I had already taken the GRE and had completed the prerequisite classes needed for most business master’s programs. There was a very beneficial on-site orientation, easing any apprehension I had about starting school again. It helped me meet classmates and network before classes even started. There are five schools I could have attended within 15 minutes of where I live in a suburb of southwest Kansas City. I chose to make the 45 minute drive, each way, to the NWMSU Liberty, MO campus once a week because it was cost effective and I knew the quality of education I would receive there. In hindsight, I could not have been more right in my decision. The MBA program was for working adults with six week courses. I was no longer bored after work! The investment of time was large, but I am very grateful for the return. The Northwest faculty and staff are passionate about teaching. My master’s program not only taught me many technical sides of business, but it also taught me a new way of thinking. The relationships I built with my classmates and the networking possibilities were priceless. Given the nature of my program, I finished my MBA in a year and a half! Since my undergraduate degree was so specific, the MBA has broadened job opportunities and opened doors that may have otherwise remained closed. My teachers introduced me to new concepts that have benefitted me in my current position as well. I know the education I received through NWMSU, and the relationships I made, will benefit me for the rest of my professional career. Kim Vannorstrand, Marine Cartographer, Garmin. On-campus MBA graduate, Northwest Missouri State University.
35
North American MBA Review
Key Faculty Dr. Brian Nichols
to be those that are basing their future on their reputation and their ability to attract students straight from their undergraduate courses. There are only a few who can do this. For the majority of institutions, if they hold the old mind-set of what a typical MBA student should be like, they will find themselves left behind.
NMSU in 2013 and Beyond
Q
What can we expect from Northwest Missouri State University over the next
twelve to eighteen months?
I think that our programme will receive more interest internationally. I’m going to India in February – last time I was there I found that there were students with an engineering degree who wanted to do our MBA, but they were facing 21 credits as a prerequisite to enter the programme. Being able to go to India this time and tell the students that it’s nine credits and that they can do it online before they come here in August will be fantastic. I hope to see an increase in international students a result of
Dr. Brian Nichols has 12 years of teaching experience in the fields of corporate finance and investments. Nichols also has five years of professional experience in corporate finance and accounting as a controller. A Missouri Southern State University (MSSU) graduate himself, Nichols was glad to be a part of the development of a joint online MBA program between MSSU and NWMSU, in which he teaches a Personal Investments course. The course covers topics such as risk management, investments, and retirement planning, which are useful in both the professional careers and personal lives of the students. He comments “the online MBA format is very useful for busy professionals who are not able to attend the traditional courses offered during working hours at most university campuses. It allows students the flexibility to work on the courses during the hours that are most convenient to them.” All courses in the program are completely online using course management software hosted at NWMSU. The only time students have to come to campus is to take the comprehensive exam during
these changes. I would like to see more cultural diversity as this will enhance the experience for all of the students. Higher education is a fascinating area to be in right now with all of the changes that we are seeing. We want to stay relevant, agile, and to continue to attract students.
their last semester in the program, and even that can be taken with a proctor if the students live too far from either campus. The program can be completed in a standard two-year schedule, or students can attend part-time if necessary. Nichols stated “another strength of the program is that all of the faculty are full-time academically qualified faculty at either MSSU or NWMSU, not adjuncts. This provides quality instruction for the students and interaction with highly qualified faculty who are committed to student success. The small class sizes in the program really allow the students and the professors to interact and develop relationships that will last beyond graduation.” Nichols assumed the role of MBA Coordinator at Missouri Southern in August 2012. He said “As a coordinator, you get to see the students’ viewpoint of the program and are able to provide them with the necessary information and assistance they need to succeed in the program.” Dr. Brian Nichols, Associate Professor and MBA Coordinator, Missouri Southern State University Plaster School of Business.
BIOGRAPHY ★ Dr. Gregory Haddock is Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School at Northwest Missouri State University.
Alumnus Perspective Online MBA My journey to NWMSU started back in 2009 when I was closing in on the date which I could retire from my current position with the Joplin, Missouri Fire Department. Not knowing exactly if I would stay in public service or venture over to the private sector, I decided that I needed to give myself a competitive advantage over the other career seekers. I felt a master’s degree would be one way to really separate myself from the rest of the field. When I began searching for a master’s program I was looking for an online or distance learning program which would accommodate my hectic schedule of a 50-60 hour per week with the Joplin Fire department, and also allow me to keep up with my two teenage children who were heavily involved in school activities. After reviewing several school programs it became clear to me from my conversations with the graduate school staff that NWMSU was the program that was going to be the one to meet those needs. From the time of my enrollment until my graduation, NWMSU staff assisted me in every way possible. Costs were reasonable, enrollment processes were
36
quick and no-nonsense, and graduation preparation was equally as efficient and enjoyable. Additionally, each of my NWMSU instructors made every effort to make sure that my fellow students and I understood the materials and were progressing in their classes as we should. If problems did arise they would offer special group and individual study sessions to make certain any issue understanding a topic was resolved. If this was the end of my story at NWMSU, I would have considered it an outstanding university with a caring and knowledgeable staff, but my story doesn’t end there. When I was in the middle of my final semester at NWMSU an EF-5 tornado struck my home town of Joplin, MO killing 161 people, injuring thousands, destroying 500 business including two of my fire stations and 7,500 homes including my own. This is where the faculty of NWMSU went over and above when compared to any other school I have ever attended. Within a week of the storm, the graduate office contacted
me to see if they could help me out in any way. They knew from the news reports that there was no way I would be able to finish my classes with my new circumstances in both my professional and personal life. With this in mind, they offered to drop my classes with no penalty or cost to me even though I was past the drop dates. Additionally, they assure that once I was back on my feet and able to complete my final class that I would be enrolled and my graduation paperwork would be resubmitted. If this wasn’t already enough, several students and a one of my instructors came to Joplin to volunteer their time to help with the recovery efforts. These efforts meant so much and show that NWMSU continually goes the extra mile and really cares about each of their students. Mitch Randles, Fire Chief for the City of Joplin, MO Fire Department. Online MBA graduate, Northwest Missouri State University.
37
Australian MBA Review
– new horizons for managers Richard Straub, EFMD » Capitalism under Siege
T
he world has been shattered by a series of crises since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008: the near shattering of the world financial system followed by a severe economic downturn
across the advanced economies and the surfacing of a sovereign-debt disaster that has been building up during the past 30 years. While the unethical behaviours and self-serving strategies of key players in the financial sector have become quite evident because of the mess, the issue has not stopped there. Many have begun to question the underlying values of the capitalist system as a whole. The idea of “maximising shareholder value” with its obsessive focus on short-term results and pure financial measurements has been called into question in many quarters. Others have focused on what they perceive as a lack of ethical standards and values in business and a disregard for the common good. Given the immense damage that the recent crises have inflicted on the world and its population, a robust discussion about the future of capitalism is appropriate. However, how that discussion is framed is crucial: should capitalism be tossed aside completely in favour of some other economic model or is there a way to improve the system and make capitalism work better in a new global context? Capitalism – and, with it, business leaders and managers – are under siege today. Populist movements on both the left and the right are offering up a slew of reactionary ideas, essentially calling for a return to a closed world. Meanwhile, businesses have lost much of their credibility with the public, as demonstrated by the Edelman Trust Barometer. Indeed, only government institutions have suffered a bigger drop in approval than businesses. However, rather than be defensive and turn inward, managers must play a key role, perhaps the key role – in the transformation towards a new capitalism. We are now confronted with a fundamental question: are the financial meltdown and the debt crisis direct and necessary consequences of capitalism? Or have these things occurred due to abuses by a small minority of players – and in spite of a hugely efficient economic system that the vast majority of participants have used for positive ends?
A Remarkable Performance The positives are certainly undeniable. Since 1950, according to the Groningen Growth and Development Centre, the world has enjoyed a five-fold increase in GDP per capita, even as world population has soared
38
EFMD
from 2.5 billion to 7 billion today. Growth and
clouds appear on the horizon, and obscene
prosperity have not been uniform across the
remuneration policies among a self-serving
globe during that span but now even the poor-
cadre of management elites.
est regions are catching up – and fast.
The world has seen a five-fold increase in GDP per capita, even as world population has soared from 2.5 billion to 7 billion today, and although not uniform across the globe even the poorest regions are starting to catch up.
Roger L Martin, Dean of the University of
Many believe that Africa is poised for strong
Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, has
development over the next decade. Many econ-
demonstrated how this shareholder-is-king
omies throughout Latin America are already
mindset has diverted corporations from having
expanding rapidly. Most of Asia has been on
a proper customer focus. All of these odious
a path of increasing wealth for some time. In
trends were apparent even before the financial
short, wherever governments have been able to
crisis struck. CSR programmes have not helped,
ensure a degree of stability and security, global
either. Many of these initiatives were based on
corporations and local entrepreneurs have cre-
a philosophy of business apologising for its suc-
ated the conditions for economic development,
cess by “giving back” to society. Or worse, to
growth and jobs.
divert attention from socially harmful practices.
All the while, a steady stream of innovations
in
agriculture,
medicine,
chemistry,
A Critical Turning Point
information technology and transportation
The upshot is that despite the undeniable pro-
have emerged from these businesses – not, for
gress that capitalism has brought over the last
the most part, from governments that, at best,
70 years, we find ourselves at a crossroads, a
have created positive conditions for private
painful moment of truth. We need to reform
enterprise to operate.
capitalism as it is currently practised lest we see
This, of course, is what capitalism is all
increasing calls to dismantle the system entirely.
about. And there is not the slightest shadow
The stakes are enormous. In the after-
of evidence that any other known or conceived
math of the recent crises, we are confronted
economic system would have achieved this
with an avalanche of challenges – a world
mind-boggling performance in value creation
population growing toward 9 billion by 2050;
and innovation in such a short timeframe.
a fragile global financial system; an unresolved
Legitimacy Lost
sovereign debt crisis, especially in Europe, exacerbated by a system of social protection
Why then is the image of business and manag-
that has become unsustainable due to the pres-
ers so negative? Why are business leaders not
sures of an aging population; and shortages of
seen as the true heroes of the post-war period?
energy, food and water supplies in major parts
The answer is clear: leaders – especially
of the world.
those in large corporations and the financial
Yet, the biggest global dream at the
sector – have squandered the chance to be
moment is a “good” job as Jim Clifton, CEO of
celebrated because of their arrogance, compla-
Gallup, pointed out at a recent entrepreneur-
cency and isolation from the communities that
ship conference. Given a deficit of 1.5 billion
lie beyond their walls.
“good jobs” worldwide we can appreciate the
The push to “maximise shareholder value”
magnitude of fulfilling that aspiration…
started with a legitimate idea: the concept
Each of these social challenges can be
of “agency theory” as first articulated in the
addressed only with an unprecedented stream
mid-1970s by Michael Jensen and William
of innovations at all levels – products and
Meckling. But since then the pendulum has
services, business models and the practice of
swung too far, pushing far too many executives
management itself.
to put a premium on short-term results over the long-term health of the enterprise.
Hence, the big question: can a better and stronger form of capitalism be realised? Can
Mounting pressure to “make the numbers”
Capitalism 2.0 provide us with the means to
expected by Wall Street has led many cor-
create the economic foundation for a liveable
porations to engage in predatory behaviour,
world for all? And what would its underly-
aggressive HR practices with knee-jerk restruc-
ing management model and management
turings and massive “downsizings” whenever
philosophy be?
39
Australian MBA Review
Today more than 1 billion people are part of co-operatives, and the livelihoods of almost half of the world’s population are supported by such enterprises, according to the International Co-operative Alliance.
The Big Levers for Change
Drucker called for us to create “the entre-
government has evolved into a Leviathan suf-
There is clear evidence that Management 1.0
preneurial society” some 30 years ago. Are we
focating initiative and siphoning too much
with its pedigree in the industrial age will not
finally getting there? Sara Horowitz, the execu-
financial capital from productive use. Even
be adequate to achieve the transformation.
tive director of the Freelancers Union, notes
though many politicians are quick to point fin-
Hence the underlying model for Capitalism 2.0
that 30% of the American workforce is now
gers at the bankers for the financial crisis, they
has to be Management 2.0, based on the princi-
employed as independent contractors. She calls
clearly deserve some of the blame themselves
ples and values outlined below.
this a “third industrial revolution.”
for their lax oversight and the way that they
Which will be the key levers for change as
Entrepreneurialism is not confined to start-
we move toward a new and more effective form
ups and new ventures. It is a key capability
of capitalism and management?
for all organisations, new or old, big or small.
Translating all of this into action will be a tall
First, myriad studies show that there is
Along with entrepreneurship goes innovation.
order. There is, however, no choice. Achieving
a huge pool of unused or underused human
Open innovation, design thinking and frugal
“betterness” in capitalism and management,
capacity in today’s organisations. Yet most
innovation are promising approaches to embed
as consultant Umair Haque calls it, is the ulti-
companies do not organise work in a way that
creative power at all levels of an organisation.
mate test for human ingenuity and creativity.
promises from election to election.
can unleash this latent energy. We need new
Next, a shift in values needs to take hold.
ways of thinking. Lynda Gratton has demon-
Specifically, our leaders need to move from
Learning from Alternative Models
strated this in her research on “hotspots” and,
taking purely competitive stances to embrac-
The good thing is that there are already many
more recently, in her book The Shift: The Future
ing collaboration. While competition is a major
good alternative models to learn from and build
of Work is Already Here.
driver of efficiency in market-based economies,
upon. Largely unnoticed, numerous companies
In the same vein, the late Peter Drucker
the potential for collaboration and mutual sup-
from the German Mittelstand (basically the
challenged 21st-century managers to increase
port in addressing key challenges is a way to
SME sector) have survived and thrived for more
knowledge-work productivity to the same
increase the pie as opposed to competing for
than 100 years. And by achieving market lead-
extent that their forebears increased the pro-
each little part of it.
ership, they have created value and generated jobs around the world.
ductivity of manual labour. Empowerment,
A new sense of responsibility needs to be
autonomy and trust are essential ingredients to
instilled on a global basis. While the challenges
When it comes to solidarity and mutual sup-
make knowledge work more productive – and
ahead are daunting, they have the potential to
port, co-operatives also boast a unique track
to accelerate innovation.
create meaning for all those engaging in eco-
record. Today more than 1 billion people are
Second, the entrepreneurial spirit needs to
nomic and social activity. Establishing meaning
part of co-operatives, and the livelihoods of
be awakened and fostered on a broad basis,
and purpose needs to re-emerge as one of the
almost half of the world’s population are sup-
within organisations and in our societies at
foremost responsibilities of leadership. Simul-
ported by such enterprises, according to the
large. Individuals must take their lives and their
taneously creating social and economic value
International Co-operative Alliance.
destinies into their own hands. And nation
should become the new standard for busi-
states have to create favourable conditions
nesses around the globe.
such as early education, tax incentives and the elimination of administrative hurdles.
40
have bought off voters with ever-increasing
These organisations – including the Raiffeisen Banks and the Bank-Genossenschaften
Finally, the state must redefine itself in
in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the
a fundamental way. In the Western world,
Netherlands – have not only made a mark with
EFMD
their contributions to the community, they have also proven an ability to withstand crises in competitive markets better than many of their traditional capitalist counterparts. These
largely
unnoticed
organisations
deserve special consideration during 2012, a year that the United Nations has designated
On a more fundamental level, there is a broader challenge to the Western capitalist model in the form of state capitalism as exercised in countries as different as China and Brazil.
as the International Year of Co-operatives. Are there not lessons to be learned from the
Citizen Sector Organisations (CSOs), which
corporate holdings. Any meaningful discussion
success of this model for Capitalism 2.0 and
include nonprofits and nongovernmental organ-
of Capitalism 2.0 needs to include an assess-
Management 2.0?
isations, also have much to teach the capitalist
ment of this phenomenon.
For-profit businesses have developed alter-
world. Drucker had a significant influence on
native models, as well. There are, for example,
the development of this sector with his book
Bringing it all Together
more than 11,000 companies in America that
Managing the Nonprofit Organization.
What we have here is a complex puzzle. Though
Since the 1980s, the Citizen Sector has cre-
a number of pieces are already in place, many
ated jobs about three times as fast as other
more will have to be added during the coming
WL Gore, maker of Gore-Tex fabric and
employers in the OECD. In Brazil, the number
years. Creating a new version of capitalism
many other products, is a leading example. The
of CSOs has risen from about 36,000 to nearly 1
will require a concerted effort between all
company has some 9,000 employee-owners at
million over the past 20 years. Today, millions of
stakeholders and a great sense of urgency and
45 locations worldwide and generates annual
these groups across the globe attract talented
responsibility.
sales of $2.5 billion.
individuals who long for challenging and fulfill-
The internet and social media can help.
Graybar, a Fortune 500 company, also
ing work that is consistent with their personal
These tools provide all of us with a chance to
has a long history of being fully employee-
values and goals. New hybrid value chains
share experiences, co-create ideas, learn col-
owned. Originally established in 1925 as part
between CSOs and for-profit enterprises show
laboratively and innovate – and all much faster
of Western Electric, it was purchased by the
that there are unconventional routes to address
than in the past.
employees in 1929 for $9 million. Today the
the immense social issues of today’s world.
are owned entirely or in significant part by their employees, some 13.6 million of them in total.
But in the end, it will be people, not tech-
$5 billion company is one of North America’s
On a more fundamental level, there is a
nology, that make Capitalism 2.0 a reality. A
largest employee-owned concerns, with 250
broader challenge to the Western capitalist
new generation driven by passion, purpose
distribution centres throughout America, Can-
model in the form of state capitalism as exer-
and strong values is poised to engage for the
ada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.
cised in countries as different as China and
greater good. Yet, managers, in particular must
Partnerships also provide interesting clues
Brazil. As The Economist outlined in its special
lead the way, moving beyond “business as
about how to move forward. Mazars, which
report on the subject, this new model bears
usual” and “business as bystanders” toward
grew from a 50-person company after the Sec-
little resemblance to the disastrous spate of
the innovator and activist roles described by
ond World War into a 13,000-employee global
nationalisations in Britain and elsewhere half a
Joseph L Bower, Herman B Leonard and Lynn
organisation, is an example of how value can
century ago. China’s infrastructure companies
S Pain in their 2011 Harvard Business Review
be created using fundamentally different gov-
win contracts the world over.
article “Global Capitalism at Risk: What Are
ernance and management models based on
The best national champions are outward-
You Doing About It?”
looking, acquiring skills by listing on foreign
It is a fitting question on which to end:
Even though hierarchy is an inherent
exchanges and taking over foreign compa-
What, in fact, are you doing about it? And what
element at most companies, self-managed
nies. And governments are selective in their
are you going to do tomorrow?
democratic and co-operative principles.
organisations offer yet another structure to consider. Gary Hamel, for example, has written about Morning Star, a California-based tomato processing company with revenues of $700 million and more than 400 employees. What makes the company so remarkable is that it has no bosses, titles or promotions. While the Morning Star model may not be universally applicable, it contains seeds that can be widely applied, especially when it comes to building a trust-based organisation with a truly empowered workforce.
BIOGRAPHY ★ Dr Richard Straub is Director of Corporate Services and EU Affairs at EFMD and President of the Peter Drucker Society Europe.
PEARL TOWER, SHANGHAI, CHINA
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Quality leadership starts with a quality business education. Succeeding in business is about being the best. And preparing for a career in business is about choosing the best business school—a school with top faculty, driven students, innovative curriculum, and the highest standards of quality. But how do you truly measure quality management education? Since 1916, AACSB International has set the benchmark for business education. Earned by only five percent of business schools worldwide, AACSB Accreditation ensures that a school is committed to delivering the best management education in the world—preparing graduates to excel from day one of their careers. Learn more: visit www.aacsb.edu/aacsb-accredited.
AACSB Accreditation—The Benchmark of Excellence in Management Education
Australian Institute of Business (AIB) MBA
The Practical Business School
Alexandra Skinner gets to know Australian Institute of Business »
Courses offered by AIB ❯ Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) ❯ Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) ❯ Master of Management ❯ Master of Business Administration (MBA) ❯ Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) ❯ Vocational Certificates and Diplomas
Australian Institute of Business – An Introduction
A
ustralian Institute of Business (AIB) is a 25 year old Business School based in Australia, offering degrees, undertaking research, and providing consultancy
services globally.
AIB was the first and still is the only private institution in Australia to be Government approved to confer the full suite of business degrees, including the prestigious PhD. AIB qualifications are accredited within the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) and recognised by a number of international accrediting and registration bodies making the degrees conferred by AIB globally transportable. Being a global institution, AIB has alumni from over 70 countries and has close to 20 teaching centres across five continents. AIB is ‘The Practical Business School’, committed to delivering courses which are work-applied, accelerated, accessible, affordable and fully accredited. The school is led by world-class academics and practitioners who are determined to maintain the closest link between business theory and cutting edge business practice..
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Australian MBA Review
The
5A’s that make AIB “The Practical Business School”
WHY STUDENTS CHOOSE AIB?
1. Applied – all of AIB’s programmes use work-applied learning which is a practical learning methodology that links theory to practice for immediate benefits for students and their organisations. 2. Accelerated – AIB’s fast-track learning option is more practical for the working adult who needs immediate return on investment from their study, and has both personal and professional commitments.
Australian Institute of Business
3. Accessible – by offering study on-campus, by distance, through one of the global Teaching Centres, or mixed mode, AIB’s courses are more practical as they can be undertaken by anyone, anywhere. 4. Affordable – AIB’s course fees, instalment options, and finance schemes, make studying their degrees financially practical. 5. Accredited – in today’s business environment, it is only practical to undertake further study that is certified, recognised and respected. AIB and its courses are fully accredited and globally recognised.
AIB’s alumni and student body are from many of the largest and most successful companies in the world. The AIB MBA Value Proposition
Specialisations
The AIB MBA is designed for the working adult seeking to:
One of the distinctive features of the AIB MBA programme is the wide array of specialisations on offer. Students can choose from six different specialisms including: Marketing Management, Human Resource Management, Tourism and Hospitality Management, Finance, Entrepreneurial Management, and Logistics and Supply Chain Management. Each specialisation contains four distinct subjects that must be completed in order to graduate in a specialisation. In addition, more than 50% of MBA students choose the ‘generic’ study option. This enables them to “custom build” their MBA to suit their needs. They may, for example, choose one subject from four different specialisations which are relevant to their career and business, as opposed to locking into four specific subjects (as per if they specialised).
❯ Apply theory learnt to their workplace, generating the highest return-on-investment for both the organisation and the individual ❯ Complete their MBA in a short period of time, without cutting corners or compromising academic quality ❯ Undertake MBA studies that can flex around their personal and professional commitments ❯ Achieve a Government accredited and industry respected qualification that is respected all over the world ❯ Develop an entrepreneurial mindset, creative approach and innovative spirit
Industry Recognition AIB’s alumni and student body are from many of the largest and most successful companies in the world and many of their students are sponsored by their organisation.
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AIB’s practical approach has been well received by industry as it produces effective graduates that can deliver results in the workplace. Their accelerated learning model means that sponsoring organisations can generate an immediate return on investment, unlike other programmes where employers only receive a small benefit while the employee continues to work there. This industry recognition is critical, and results in AIB graduates knowing that their qualification will be recognised by employers all over the globe.
Student Support AIB prides itself on offering support, second to none. They know that adding study into your already busy schedule can seem daunting. As a 12 Month MBA student, you will be provided with personalised academic, administrative, and student support services. Whether you’re looking for some help with writing your first assignment, nervous about your exam, or just want some general study advice; AIB’s academic and student support team will be with you every step of the way.
Australian Institute of Business (AIB) MBA
I
ndustry practitioners for a long time now have criticised traditional business and management education as being too theoretical and lacking a focus on integrating the learning with application at the workplace. We at AIB believe that business and management education which integrates theory and practice will not only be a valuable learning experience for the individual, but also provide a return on investment for their organisation. This is one of the key underlying philosophies of Work-Applied Learning which is engrained at all qualification levels offered by AIB, including the MBA. With Work-Applied Learning, theory and practice go hand-in-hand. Students learn to tackle real world problems through assessments that test both theoretical knowledge and the ability to apply that knowledge to their organisations. The faculty, who are practitioners in various management areas, draw upon their wealth of experience to link theory and practice as they facilitate the learning. In addition, focused readings ensure that students reflect upon their own experience and organisational situation as part of their learning.
The Work-Applied Learning (WAL) model that AIB has developed recognises the workplace as the crucible of learning for change. WAL, incorporating the features of Work-Based Learning, is grounded in a fused Action Research (AR) method and the Action Learning (AL) process. The WAL approach leads not only to individual learning by the students and team learning, but also organisational learning and change. AIB’s MBA, using the WAL approach comprises a number of modules, made up of Knowledge Workshops and Work-Based Phases. The Knowledge Workshops introduce students to business and management
EMERITUS PROFESSOR SELVA ABRAHAM, FOUNDER-CHAIRMAN OF AIB
EMERITUS PROFESSOR DENNIS HARDY, DEAN OF AIB
AIB’s strapline – “The Practical Business School” reflects its grounding in the world of work and its pursuit of the philosophy of Work-Applied Learning. AIB’s goal is to provide quality, affordable and innovative education nationally and internationally, using the Work-Applied research methods and processes of Action Research and Action Learning, Case-Research and Reflective Practice.
FIGURE 1.1 THE WORK-APPLIED LEARNING FORMULA
concepts and how this is applied to relevant work-based projects, through reading materials and an online library (distance learning). This may be supplemented by Facilitative Tutors who have relevant postgraduate qualifications and experience in these knowledge area. Each Knowledge Workshop is followed by a Work-Based Phase, during which time the students will return to their workplace and integrate their knowledge with the application. The Work-Applied Learning experience can be summarised by the formula as illustrated in the Figure 1.1. Whilst managers reflect on questions in the context of their projects, they experience creative thinking through stages of saturation, deliberation, incubation and illumination as they allow their minds to look for different options. They then seek opinions of other
independent parties to validate those options. During the continuous steps of creative thinking, managers learn as they move from a stage of unawareness to awareness, comprehension, conviction and, finally, to actioning their work-based projects. With the trend moving away from traditional classroom settings to distance learning, AIB is dedicated to pursuing the latest learning and collaboration technologies to offer students and researchers the best possible interaction with faculty members and each other. In the spirit of Work-Applied Learning, AIB is continually looking for ways to bring learning into the workplace through technology, which is particularly important given that AIB has students completing programmes in different time zones all over the globe.
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Australian MBA Review
An International Classroom AIB develops business leaders to think and act globally. With technology enhancing opportunities across the world markets, all businesses need to develop global strategies. Three specific ways in which AIB promotes a global learning approach include: • Networking – An AIB current student or graduate can be found in 70 countries of the world and through classroom interaction, alumni events and social media, relationships are built and strengthened across the globe. • Assessments that require the linking of theory taught to localised business and industry examples. • International business texts and literature used throughout the course that can be applied globally.
AIB provides learning opportunities, no matter where you are located. Students can choose from Distance Learning, anywhere in the world, or to study at one of several AIB Teaching Centres located across five continents. Studying at a local teaching centre provides a wonderful opportunity to network with likeminded executives, attend workshops delivered by seasoned local academics and practitioners, and use learning facilities such as library facilities, study rooms, and computer labs. The programmes are quality controlled by AIB and all students graduate with the same parchment, no matter where they studied or in which mode they studied. AIB has a fantastic global alumni community. Around the world, alumni events are frequently run that involve industry leading guest speakers who share their business secrets. The events also give alumni the opportunity to meet industry guests, and catch-up with faculty and staff well after they have graduated.
Shaping Leaders of the Future AIB believes that business schools have a responsibility to learn from the mistakes of the recent past in order to shape the leaders of the future, and they ensure that they are teaching students the skills and qualities that businesses need. • Curriculum is cutting edge with course design committees consisting of both practitioners and academics • Work-applied approach means that students are applying the learning’s to current real business situations • Being an accredited Research Institution, AIB’s Research-Teaching Nexus ensures that the outputs of their research candidates,
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fellows and academics are constantly filtering down into their coursework degrees • AIB requires their faculty to have both academic qualifications and significant industry experience • This Entrepreneurial Management specialisation has become increasingly popular over the last few years, particularly with sponsoring organisations. Following the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), all businesses have realised that they need to continue to be innovative through developing intrapreneurial capabilities to continue to thrive
Entrepreneurship and innovation modules are areas that AIB places significant emphasis on. With a rapidly changing globalised market
place, the need to foster entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation is a critical component of business studies. Unfortunately not all institutions believe this to be the case and, as such, exclude this content from the curriculum. AIB’s MBA has a dedicated specialisation in the area of entrepreneurship with subjects including: Entrepreneurship, New Venture Creation, Globalisation of enterprise, and Franchising. AIB note that this is a particularly popular option for students to choose including sponsoring organisations who, (particularly with the impact of the Global Financial Crisis still fresh in their minds), recognise the importance of being developing strategies to be better prepared.
Australian Institute of Business (AIB) MBA
KEY AIB STAFF AND FACULTY: Emeritus Professor Dennis Hardy, Dean and Academic Board Member Professor Hardy has held positions as Dean, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Middlesex University, UK, and was Director of Middlesex University’s campus in Dubai. He has also undertaken work for the Open University, UK, a pioneer in distance learning. Professor Hardy holds a Bachelor and Master of Arts from the University of Exeter (UK) and a PhD from the London School of Economics. He is the author of various academic books on urban planning, with currently two more in press. In addition, Professor Hardy has worked as an urban planner in London, has undertaken various projects for the Town & Country Planning Association and is involved in an on-going project for a new garden town in South Australia. As Dean, Professor Hardy’s role is to ensure the highest possible academic standards at AIB. In particular, he provides advice on course development and has direct responsibility for research. He comments, “AIB puts quality first. It is unique amongst private business providers in Australia in offering research degrees at doctoral level. We are proud to have successfully completed four accreditation exercises to meet Australian higher education quality standards.”
Professor Hardy strongly believes that AIB has developed a niche reputation in work-applied learning, which is evident in all courses offered and in research undertaken. AIB produces its own academic journal with an international panel of editors. “I am proud to be associated with AIB. It is an extremely wellestablished and respected institution, offering courses and participating in research that is geared towards practical outcomes around the globe.”
KEY AIB STAFF AND FACULTY:
KEY AIB STAFF AND FACULTY:
Martin Haese, MBA, General Manager, Rundle Mall Authority, Serial Entrepreneur, AIB MBA Facilitator
Paul Moroney, MBA, Managing Director – Active Operations Management, AIB MBA Facilitator
Martin Haese is currently the General Manager of the Rundle Mall Management Authority with more than 25 years’ experience, in the fields of retailing, innovation and entrepreneurship. Having founded, built and sold a number of businesses, Martin travelled the journey from small business owner to CEO of a retail company with 16 store locations, 220 employees and annual sales of AUD$25M. An AIB graduate himself, Martin has taught on the Master of Business Administration in Adelaide for number of years. He comments, “The AIB format works because I think it’s very, very user friendly for busy professionals and in a nut shell that is a really powerful value proposition. It’s weekend based, it’s an intensive programme but it’s also very collaborative so small class sizes enables you to learn a lot from your lecturer and participate very actively.” Highlighting the role of an AIB facilitator, Martin said, “The difference between facilitating and lecturing is really profound. Facilitating is very interactive whereas lecturing is more of a one way programme; it’s more of a one way street. When you’re facilitating you’re harvesting and inviting information back from our students and you’re sharing information and sharing your experiences. That is, student to student, student to facilitator and back. That coupled with the smaller class size is really powerful because you learn more, you absorb more and I think most importantly you retain more.”
Paul Moroney has over 25 years of experience in the fields of finance, commercial management, strategy, operations management, programme leadership as well as general management. He has a Bachelor of Accounting and an MBA. His previous roles have included senior roles as National Financial Controller, a US based Financial Controller, a Chief Operating Officer, Operations Manager and General Manager. Some of Paul’s key careers achievements include: • Taking a finance turn-around role for an Australian owned US entity; • Providing the commercial and operation leadership for the roll out of Optus Vision Pay TV, telephony and internet in New South Wales; • Leading the transition of 1200 people through an outsourcing process; and • Working with key stakeholders to renegotiate a $1 billion, 10 year outsourcing deal.
For the last seven years Paul has been Managing Director of Active Operations Management which is a business he started up and now turns over in excess of $7 million per year. For four years now, Paul has facilitated two modules in the Adelaide on-campus MBA programme, being Leadership and Strategic Operations Issues.
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Australian MBA Review
KEY AIB STAFF AND FACULTY: Professor Rod Oxenberry , PhD, M Soc Admin, BA, AUA Rod is the Chairman of the Academic Board of the Australian Institute of Business and is the former Head of the International Graduate School of Management of the University of South Australia. He is an education and management consultant specialising in higher education recognition, leadership mentoring and management development. “For over 25 years now, AIB has built a unique position in the provision of academic programs in the business and management fields, and I am pleased to play a part as Chairman of the Academic Board which has this responsibility. One of the primary roles of an Academic Board is to foster excellence in teaching, learning, scholarship and research. It is a role that we take very seriously here at AIB, and one that determines the nature of the oversight given to the AIB programmes and academic activities. AIB has quite a special position in the private higher education sector. With its distinctive culture, it provides a clear student-centred environment in which to explore existing knowledge of business, and gain new learning at the leading edges of business development, based upon a fundamental use of a work-applied management learning approach. AIB provides the opportunity to reflect on personal experience, and to analyse that individual experience against the experience of others written into the scholarly knowledge base of literature, as well as the practices seen in business case studies.” AIB is an organisation committed to the promotion of further understanding of what business leadership is, and what the sustainable development of business enterprise means, as well as pursuing the development of the skills to practice effective performance in these fields. Its individualised attention, and small group workshop mode, offers just the right environment for busy practitioners to share their insights, ask questions and consolidate their reading.” The Academic Board is committed to addressing the overall quality of the programmes offered on an on-going basis, so that you can be assured that you are receiving qualifications of the highest standard to lead you and your business into the future.
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ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR – RICHARD TURNER SPEAKS AT THE AIB GRADUATION
Applying to AIB AIB’s application process is representative of its commitment to personalised service, rapid response and the highest quality standards. Submitted applications must contain evidence of experience and/ or qualification that must be certified and verified to ensure validity. Applications can be submitted electronically and the response time usually 24-48 hours. The application process is led by a personalised Course Advisor who guides the whole process.
BIOGRAPHY ★ Australian Institute of Business is located in Adelaide, South Australia, and offers the full suite of business degrees which can be studied on campus, through distance learning, or using mixed mode delivery.
Australian Catholic University (ACU) MBA
More Than Just Education
Alexandra Skinner speaks to Elizabeth More, Grant Jones, Peter Steane and Donald Ross »
T
he quality of a business school’s faculty is extremely important to students, and in 2005 you were acknowledged in the Queen’s Birthday 2005 Honours List and awarded Member of the Order
of Australia (AM) for your services to education.
Q
(a). Please can you tell our readers about the Australian Catholic University Business School faculty?
EM: Australian Catholic University (ACU) Business: Transcendent business education and research for self and society. The Faculty of Business was launched in January 2010, growing out of the former national School of Business. With a history developed over more than twenty years, the faculty is located across the three campuses of ACU in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Our staff consist of a dedicated team of administrators and academics whose teaching is supported by their active involvement in relevant industries, professional associations, the wider community, and informed by their current research and scholarship. The faculty is dedicated to discovering and developing intellectual, cultural and spiritual wholeness through transcendent teaching, learning and research, based within a special emphasis on respecting and advancing human dignity. Its value proposition is its grounding of all activities in a sense of meaning, spirituality, and a wider social good purpose. The education focus is on how and what students learn rather than what we teach; and adherence to The United Nations Global Compact on The Principles for Responsible Management Education (encompassing human rights, just labour, environmental sustainability, and anti-corruption). Following Giacalone (2004), we aim for a transcendent business education with a curriculum that weaves transcendence into wealth creation, and higher order ideals with professional goals that, alongside
economic ones, are transcendent, aiming for something beyond the mere financial bottom line – selflessness, a desire for collective improvement of our world, and generative aspiration for improving the world for our successors. The faculty offers undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees in several areas of business. Undergraduate students can choose commerce, business information systems, human resource management, marketing, OHSE and supply chain management. Postgraduate students can pursue a Master of Business Administration, Master of Business Administration (Executive), Master of Administration (Health), Master of Professional Accounting, Master of OHSEM, Master of Human Resource Management, Master of Marketing, Master of Information Systems, as well as Graduate
MELBOURNE CAMPUS
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Australian MBA Review
MBAE ACU programme
Certificates and Graduate Diplomas in various areas of business, including not-for-profit and sustainable enterprise. Both Honours and Doctoral programmes are offered to research students. In a rapidly changing world, we believe that the ability to deal with complex and often unstructured problems is an essential skill which students should learn. Consequently, the faculty offers high standards of business education and stresses a practical, problem solving approach to learning. As members of the ACU community, students have the opportunity to develop personal values as well as professional skills. All subjects taught in the Faculty of Business have a strong focus on social justice and ethical business practices. Students are valued as individuals and teaching staff are directly involved with students’ academic development. We intend our graduates to be highly competent professionals, ethical, critical thinkers, emotionally and spiritually intelligent, appreciative of the sacred, balancing self-interest and responsibility to others, and committed to serving and improving the common good in moving beyond the bottom line and leaving a productive legacy for the future. They should excel in the integrative capacity – being able both to think and act responsibly and responsively when confronted by multiple, incommensurable, and often conflicting models of self, others and the world (Moldovenau and Martin, 2008). As a community of scholars our education, research, engagement, and administration are to be judged on quality assurance principles of fitness for purpose and fitness of purpose; on quality processes, outcomes and impact; value for money; productive engagement with the professions, external business, government and non-profit communities; and societal as well as individual benefit.
Q
(b) How important do you feel it is for
students to be taught by
as the facilitator of the “spiritual exchange” between an individual and the world
What they receive from MBAE Professional learning and growth Personal growth and psychological development
Applicant’s spiritual core
What they are capable and willing to give back after the MBAE Meaningful contributions
qualifications and real world experience (often including consulting), rather than just one or the other. ACU offers those who are accepted onto your MBA Executive programme the opportunity to apply for the ACU Executive Dean’s MBA Scholarship for Self and Society.
Q
(a) What are you looking for in a successful scholarship applicant?
EM: “Spiritual managers can truly engender consequential and evolutionary transformations to themselves, humanity, and the planet (Steingard, 2005: 236).”
that forms emotionally stable, socially sensitive and environmentally responsible individuals, rather than solely emphasising the transmission of information and knowledge. As reported in a local Queensland paper (Marshall, 2010:12), it has been represented as a “Degree with no greed: MBA with a difference.”
Q
(b) How can students apply, and what is involved in the process?
EM: Those applying to our MBAE are eligible for the scholarship and are required to provide a one page statement of commitment that explains how their programme will help them in making a positive difference as agents of social change, contributing to the common good, and beyond merely increasing their own career success (Karakas, 2011). Applications are vetted by the Executive Dean. The scholarship subsidises the tuition fee by $200 per unit across the 12 units of the programmes. The application and recruitment processes for the MBAE programme at ACU are designed to capture and connect to the spiritual core of the future students. The applications provide a good collective spiritual portrait of our applicants.
In a rapidly changing world, we believe that the ability to deal with complex and often unstructured problems is an essential skill which students should learn.
a mix of faculty with both business and PhD backgrounds?
EM: As one management guru stated some years ago: “There is nothing more practical than a good theory”. Nevertheless, good theory should emanate from knowledge gained through real world management and leadership experience. It must be contextualised in the practice and experience of diverse sectors – private, public, and not-for-profit, in order that postgraduate candidates are provided with a rich learning environment. Consequently, the best faculty to provide such an environment consists of those individuals who have the requisite academic
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What spiritual foundation the applicants have before applying for MBAE
Our Foundation Scholarship rewards our MBAE candidates who wish to or are making a positive contribution to themselves as individual transformation, their careers in terms of professional competence, and to society in terms of the common good. It is very much in line with concerns about corporate and professional responsibility, about being positively proactive and wanting to ‘give back’ Visser (2011). It is grounded in the notions of transcendent business education, as outlined by Giacalone (2004), and follows the argument by Narayanswamy (2008) for an education
Q
The Australian Catholic University (ACU) aims to ‘challenge, empower and inspire
graduates to make a positive difference for self and society’. Please can you further expand upon the school’s mission and values?
Australian Catholic University (ACU) MBA
comment fell from a general discussion of what we hoped our MBA executive graduates would be – that is managers driven by a need to serve both self and society, instead of a much more limited view of self-interest as a primary driver of motivation.
Q
(b) How important do you consider the role of business schools to be in shaping responsible leaders of the future?
DR MIKE HOPKINS, PROFESSOR ROBIN KRAMAR AND PROFESSOR GRANT JONES
PS: Our mission is a commitment to business education that is ‘transpersonal’. By that, we mean it possesses the essential aspect of enabling graduates to understand the totality of business sustainability - ‘beyond the self’ and profitability, but inclusive of numerous stakeholders, such as community and environment. The MBA market continues to grow, and competition between schools is increasing.
Q
(a) What do you feel distinguishes ACU from the rest of the market, and ultimately leads students to choose your school?
PS: ACU offers highly experienced faculty – in research and business – adept at facilitating dialogue and learning among high-performing executives. We facilitate a shared learning of business practice in context of global competitiveness. We challenge new insights and innovation in leading ethical and sustainable businesses. Our MBAE fits within the excellent tradition of the Catholic intellectual tradition, renown for some of the best business schools globally. Our international partners mean we have access and visits from some of the best business schools in the world.
Short-termism isn’t just selfish, or self-serving, it is also particularly stupid in terms of financial value destruction.
Q
(b) How do you adapt and evolve your MBA programmes to stay one step ahead of the competition?
PS: The ACU MBAE offers flexible student-friendly delivery, and reallife business education. This is based on research. Every one of our professors is renowned for leading business research in their fields: Finance, People Management, and Ethical Leadership. The ACU EMBA (Executive) focuses on responsible, ethical and sustainable decision-making.
Q
(a) How are these elements brought into the classroom?
DR: Generally, the core faculty teaching in our MBA Executive hold these values and so carry them into the classroom with them. In particular, most of us carry out our research into the various aspects of sustainability, and much of what we do in the other aspects of our professional life speaks to a more holistic view of managerial responsibility. This is brought into the classroom through sharing the results of our research into sustainability as well as our insights gained through our ongoing professional activities. The ‘degree with no greed’
DR: The MBA is a long-standing, social instrument that is geared towards teaching our future business leaders how to most efficiently manage society’s limited resources. That particularly successful MBA graduates also become personally successful is a natural sharing of their increased value-adding activities. ACU’s particular focus on responsible, ethical and sustainable decision-making, I believe, allows us to foster a business ethos that will lead to more responsible leaders of the future, whether our graduates choose to serve society in the for-profit, government, or not-forprofit sectors.
Q
You are also a Professor of Finance at the school. What are the biggest challenges you face when linking the importance of
ethics, CSR and sustainability to your field?
DR: This is easy. One only needs to look upon the regularly occurring disasters in the financial industry to see the very large, negative impacts of unethical, selfish, or simply short-sighted decisions on societal welfare.
Student Perspective I decided to do an MBA to give me the knowledge and skills that would strengthen my profile and allow me to take up more senior managerial positions with confidence. Whilst having fairly strong technical skills, I was looking for a programme that would help me to develop my “soft skills” and teach me how to apply these in the working environment. After a lot of research I chose the ACU programme for two key reasons - the intensive mode delivery, which helps work around my busy professional schedule, and the course structure, which focuses on developing leadership qualities, not just management skills. The course has been pretty intense, and fitting it in around a very demanding job and home life has been challenging, but the professors and fellow students have been very supportive, especially when work conflicts with the programme. A little over halfway through the programme, I have learnt a lot from my peers and the professors, and have managed to use the experience gained immediately in my day job. Working with likeminded peers from a crosssection of industry backgrounds has provided great discussion, argument, and a lot of fun as part of the learning experience. I find that the course focuses on teaching us about “real business” using theories that have been tried and tested. The lectures and group assignments allow me to learn about critical business issues from different angles. The ability to bounce off my peers and tap into the shared knowledge from them and the professors has been invaluable. The knowledge I am gaining from the programme has made a massive difference to the way I think and operate at work. I have been able to bring my new perspectives, structure, and knowledge to bear in my current role. My advice to prospective MBA students is to open your mind and enjoy the journey. I have had a pretty long journey to get to this programme, originally from Zimbabwe, studying in the UK, and now Australia. I have found that this course puts learned theory into practice and gives you the confidence to take on the next stepping stone in your career. I would strongly recommend the ACU programme to anyone considering doing an MBA. Brent Maas, Finance Manager – Projects Division, Clough, Executive MBA Student at Australian Catholic University.
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Student Perspective
Short-termism isn’t just selfish, or self-serving, it is also particularly stupid in terms of financial value destruction. I teach the need for ethical behaviour and prudence in financial management decisions as being primary factors in building lasting enterprises that have the durable financial structures to withstand volatile market conditions and succeed when others fail, within the broader context of building more sustainable enterprises.
Q
I started my MBA at a regional Australian university, but transferred to ACU when I moved to Brisbane. I decided to continue my studies at ACU primarily because of the method of delivery and the flexibility given to completing subjects. Studying in intensive mode on the weekends does not disrupt my work commitments, and provides me with enough flexibility to balance my family commitments. I have enjoyed my time at ACU to date, and am looking forward to next year. The classes are small and personable, consisting of students who are professionals with management experience. I have found this increases the opportunities to network with likeminded people, and for professors to use current examples that students are experiencing as real case studies to work through throughout the duration of the subject. This has allowed
The ACU MBA offering also consists of full-time and part-time MBA options.
Please can you tell us a little bit more about each programme, in terms of whom each is designed for, and the learning objectives and outcomes?
Full-time and Part-time MBA GJ: There is no difference between the learning objectives of the full-time and part-time MBA. However, the MBA classes are mostly scheduled at night to accommodate the needs of those studying part-time and working in the daytime.
The Dual Awards GJ: These accommodate those students who want the MBA credential but also want to develop a professional specialisation within the management area. The MBA is designed to be generalist and has no major. Instead the students do a balance of subjects across the various managerial functions i.e. managing markets, managing people, managing money and managing systems. The second degree in a dual combination will have a major in one of these areas. The MBA Health is a new
programme which provides a selection of units contextualised in health, and a selection of units within the MBA Executive programme. The aim is to provide experienced health professionals a managerial education that will enable them to move from service positions to leadership positions within health institutions.
Q
What can be expected of the faculty in the near future?
GJ: The Faculty will be looking at introducing an overseas module and project for the MBAE programme. The international business unit is designed to introduce the issues involved in
me to not only learn the theoretical aspects of management and business administration, but also provide a context in which it can be applied immediately, and how to apply it. Additionally, the smaller class sizes allow for in-depth discussion on topics of interest to the students. I have found the content of subjects to be ‘real’ and current, and have been fortunate that I have been able to apply most of what I have been learning immediately in the workplace. The teaching and support staff are friendly and approachable and, in my experience, have always been willing to assist however possible with specific subject queries, as well as more general queries.
Karla Bauer, Business Manager – Innovation and Improvement, Executive MBA at Australian Catholic University.
undertaking business in the global marketplace. It does so through an intensive engagement with enterprises located in the USA, one of Australia’s most important trade and investment partners. The unit examines why businesses engage in international trade and business and considers the role that economics, politics, culture and ethics play in the decision to operate internationally. Using a series of case studies, inquiry will be made into the functional aspects of international business operations, such as international financing, marketing, and human resource management.
Student Perspective After 20 years’ experience in sales and operations management, in addition to running my own business, I came to the realisation that I wanted to broaden my skill set and knowledge of ‘best practice’. The important consideration, however, was that I embark on this journey of professional development within the right framework, with the best educational institution. After careful consideration, I chose the path of an MBA - a suitable challenge that would enhance my existing skills, and introduce me to new ideas and networking with different people with diverse backgrounds. Whilst I am already successful in both my employed and self-employed career, I felt an MBA would allow me to address any limitations and bridge gaps in my knowledge. I considered a number of institutions before deciding to undertake my MBA (Executive) at ACU. I am extremely pleased with my decision, which was ultimately based on three key areas; the flexibility
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of the program, the calibre of the teaching staff, and the focus on sustainability and durability in the global business context. The application process, including the interview, gave me the confidence that there was a highquality benchmark applied to all students in the cohort. This quality hurdle means that the student body is high calibre with diverse social, political and economic backgrounds. There are no ‘new graduates’ in the cohort – all have had extensive work experience in a range of industries. In every unit, the number of students in each class is low, which encourages dynamic interaction. The ACU facilities are also excellent, including the location and convenient proximity to home and work. The flexibility to study in intensive mode, mostly on weekends, means that I can juggle my busy personal and professional schedule, plus have the opportunity to study in different cities if needed. All of this means I can graduate in less than two years – an MBA on steroids! I am looking forward to
learning how to do business across cultural differences, as I can study in Asia and in the United States. The support of the university has been excellent. They manage the logistical details for the student body, which allows us to focus on learning. I’ve got direct access to senior lecturers throughout each course, and have been able to leverage off their skills, experience and mentorship. I believe that the business world is changing significantly, and that the pace of that change is increasing. Society will look closely at corporations and demand that they act ethically, with due consideration of the social and environmental impacts of their operation. To meet this challenge, the leaders of tomorrow will need to look beyond short-term profits, and I want to be sure that I am well prepared to contribute to that change. Michael Curtin, Business Development Director International SOS, Paris, Executive MBA Student at Australian Catholic University.
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European MBA Review
BRINGING OUT THE BEST IN EMPLOYEES London Business School »
Employees who find their work frustrating, boring and worthless have found their hero in Scott Adams’ Dilbert, the 9-to-5 man who lets us know just how bad managers can be at their jobs. Julian Birkinshaw, Vyla Rollins and Stefano Turconi believe that bad bosses can change to become true leaders.
M
ost books written on management
employees’ views on the aspects of their work
and leadership are written from the
that they found motivating and engaging, as
perspective of the manager. These
well as the various concerns, fears or frustra-
books are typically based on interviews
tions that got in the way of them delivering
with managers, in which they talk about the
their best work. We then asked them more
supervisory things they do and the manage-
narrowly about their relationship with their
rial approach they use. Typically, the authors
immediate boss and the things he or she did to
of such books offer advice aimed at helping
shape the working environment for individual
today’s and tomorrow’s managers do their
employees (in a positive or negative way).
jobs better. While there is value in such books, they
What employees want
pay far too little attention to the fears, doubts,
Although there was plenty of variation in the
aspirations or needs of the employee. And,
specific answers to the questions about what
of course, this focus on the person doing the
makes work motivating and fulfilling, it quickly
with a large variable component to their pay).
managing, rather than the one being managed,
became clear that there were five character-
Likewise, there was no discussion of the physi-
serves to perpetuate a lot of our traditional
istics that employees seemed to recognise as
cal working environment.
assumptions about management being a top-
important and valuable.
down and control-oriented activity. In our recent research (which involved interviews with more than 50 employees across a dozen companies as well as questionnaire data from more than 200 employees), we took an employee-centred approach to management — starting with the view that management should be about ‘seeing the world through the eyes of the employee’. According to this perspective, the job of the manager is essentially to enable employees to do their best work, to
❯ Having responsibility for doing something worthwhile
— from white-collar office workers to factory machinists, front-line hotel employees and IT
❯ Being given a high level of freedom for how results are achieved
help desk workers. There may be some employ-
❯ Having an opportunity to extend oneself and to develop expertise
defined tasks, but we didn’t meet any of them in
❯ Being given an opportunity to work with good colleagues ❯ Achieving recognition for doing a good job
ees who want precise instructions and narrowly this research. Most working environments, we believe, would benefit by utilising these broad principles in their management practices.
What frustrates workers The other way to determine how best to moti-
help them reach their own personal goals while What is surprising is that so many people,
vate and engage employees is to start from
This employee-centred approach starts with
in very different working environments, find
the negative, that is, to manage in ways that
a much deeper understanding of the world
themselves doing work that does not have
eliminate the things that worry workers or keep
view of employees, and it seeks to recast the
these attributes. Moreover, it’s worth under-
them awake at night. Effective management,
role of the manager as one of tapping into an
lining what’s missing from this list. Money is
we believe, is potentially as much about getting
employee’s strengths, enabling her aspira-
nowhere to be seen (it was mentioned only by
rid of these negatives as it is about enhancing
tions and negating her fears. Thus, we sought
a couple of people, and these were salespeople
the positives.
also delivering on the organisation’s goals.
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The five characteristics were consistently mentioned across a wide variety of contexts
London Business School
The list of fears, concerns and frustrations mentioned by employees was very long. Some people focussed on basic fears, such as losing their job or the company getting into financial trouble. Others focussed on what we might call higher-order concerns, such as not living up to their own expectations or not getting the level of mentoring they would like. The major sources of fear or concern, in hierarchical order,
An employee-centred approach starts with a much deeper understanding of the world view of employees, and it seeks to recast the role of the manager as one of tapping into an employee’s strengths, enabling her aspirations and negating her fears.
boiled down to seven issues.
❯ Lack of opportunities for personal development
What can you do to make use of this hierar-
expectations, it is likely that they are not wor-
chy of fears? The first and most obvious point
ried about job security and fitting in, the lower
❯ Fear of failing to deliver on (high) expectations
is that it is always good to know what your
rungs of the hierarchy of fears. Equally, for
❯ Concern with the stress of the work
employees are worrying about, what their most
those employees who express concern about
immediate and easily articulated concerns
job security and fitting in, it is unlikely the
are. Second, and perhaps more insightfully,
higher rungs on the hierarchy are even on their
the things that are worrying your employees
radar screens. In which case, any initiatives
may also be indicative of their overall situa-
directed at higher-level concerns that don’t first
tion, including the things that they are content
address lower-level concerns are likely to be a
with. For example, if your employees express
waste of time.
❯ Frustration with ineffective processes ❯ Concern about not fitting in ❯ Concern with uncertainty and change ❯ Fear of redundancy
concerns about their personal development
Finally, it is worth keeping in mind that the
and their worries about not delivering against
hierarchy of fears applies only to the workplace,
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European MBA Review
It is no surprise that even the most well-intentioned and skilled executives fail to do the managerial part of their jobs well on a consistent basis. There just aren’t enough hours in the day. and work is only one part of an individual’s
Our research led us to two difficult ques-
person is likely to be the wrong balance for the
life. For example, many people choose to start
tions: first, if it is so easy to draw up a list of
next. One employee might praise you for giving
their own business to achieve esteem and self-
what makes an effective manager, why are
her an exciting project to do, the next is cursing
actualisation, but, of course, without any job
there so many bad managers out there? Fur-
you for leaving him stranded without adequate
security. In such cases, they derive their secu-
ther, given that this gap exists and has existed
supervisory guidance.
rity from other sources, typically a supportive
for a long time, what can we do about it?
family. So the workplace cannot satisfy all an
Managerial hurdles
potential to satisfy many of them.
We asked many of our interviewees about the
If you only had a single direct report, it would
inability of smart, well-intentioned managers
be fairly straightforward to structure her work
to do what they know (intellectually) to be
to make it suitably challenging, to provide
We also asked respondents about their current
right. That is, we asked why potentially good
regular feedback and to make sure she had the
bosses and specifically about what made them
managers become bad ones. We heard a wide
resources she needed to succeed. But many
effective or ineffective. We also asked them
variety of answers, all of which appear to have
managers have five or six people reporting to
about their best and worst bosses ever. The
some validity. These are grouped into three
them (and, today, some managers have many
answers, rather like the answers about what
basic categories.
more!), each with different needs. Managers
Good boss? Bad boss?
makes for a fulfilling workplace, were equally
and limited time.
have their own work to do, they have bosses Managing well is harder than it seems.
of their own to answer to and they frequently
A good boss gives employees challenging
For most aspects of management, it is possible
travel a lot. They also have calls on their time
work to do, creates space for them to do it,
to get it wrong in both directions. So, while giv-
from dozens of other people across the organi-
provides support when needed, gives recogni-
ing employees space to act is a good thing, it
sation. Throw all these things into the mix and
tion and praise and is not afraid to make tough
is also possible to give them too much space.
then add whatever economic or corporate crisis
decisions. A bad boss tends to provide confus-
Providing challenging tasks is good, but impos-
has just hit, and it is no surprise that even the
ing or unclear objectives, micromanages and
sible tasks are not. Balance is the key in both
most well-intentioned and skilled executives
meddles, is selfish and focussed on his own
areas. But what makes this really difficult is
fail to do the managerial part of their jobs well
agenda, provides little and mostly negative
that each employee has a unique set of skills
on a consistent basis. There just aren’t enough
feedback and dithers.
and motivations; the right balance for one
hours in the day.
interesting.
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Managers have competing priorities
employee’s needs, but we believe it has the
London Business School
Managing well requires non-intuitive behaviour. The third reason why many managers fail to walk the talk is that being a good manager requires them to act in non-intuitive or ‘unnatural’ ways. There is a lot of academic research looking at the natural predispositions we have as humans. This research shows, for example, that we are fairly selfish, control-oriented and risk-averse. There is nothing wrong with these traits — they are inherited things that our forebears passed on to us, and you can see how they might have been useful traits for surviving in earlier times. But, of course, these are not the traits of a good manager — far from it.
Becoming a better manager The proper response to our research and analysis is not discouragement. Is management an easy job? Not at all. Yet, there are some things that any manager can do to become better. The path to managerial improvement starts with three steps. See the world through the employee’s eyes — on a regular basis.
We all intuitively know what good management looks like, but most of us don’t follow through on this knowledge in our dayto-day actions. What’s needed is not additional advice on what to do but, instead, some insight into how we might do it.
The whole purpose of this research was to take
❯ Reverse mentoring One of the people we interviewed for this research is a 48-year old test director at Microsoft. In a switch of the classic roles of elder-coaching-younger, a 28-year-old employee is mentoring him, primarily to make sure the boss stays up to date with the latest technology trends. Naturally, they end up discussing a wide range of issues on a much more informal basis than would normally be possible. Package work — even routine work — into projects. When presenting seminars for executives, we often ask them this question: Think back to the last time you were fully engaged and motivated at work. What were the characteristics of that work? They typically come up with the sort of list we described earlier (that is, challenging work, lots of autonomy, a chance to work with good people). But, more importantly, they almost always find themselves recalling a specific and discrete project. This isn’t surprising, but it is interesting. Because it suggests that one way of making routine work more fulfilling and motivating for employees is to structure their work into a series of projects. The essence of a project is simply (a) a clear objective, (b)
an employee-centred perspective, so it should
had understood some of their concerns. The
a deadline by which the objective needs to be
be no surprise that we see one of the hallmarks
undercover experience led him to make some
reached and (c) a clear sense of who is doing
of an effective manager as his or her ability to
important changes in how he ran the company
the work and who is responsible.
put themselves in their employees’ shoes. But
and how he communicated with employees
how to do that? Many people have seen the
across the group.
Work yourself out of a job. Each level of man-
TV programme, Undercover Boss, in which the
Trouble is, most of us will never get a real
agement adds value to the one below. Well,
CEO of a company takes on a range of front-line
undercover experience. So we have to find
that is the intention and the presumed logic of
jobs without his team members realising who
alternative ways of getting into the heads of
hierarchy in organisations. In reality, there are
their new colleague is. During this research,
our employees, such as:
often overlapping roles between layers in a hier-
we interviewed Stephen Martin, CEO of the construction company, Clugston, who took part in the first series of this programme. He was genuinely moved by the experience — both because of the passion and dedication exhibited by many of the Clugston employees and because he came to realise how poorly he
BIOGRAPHIES ★ Julian Birkinshaw is Professor of Strategic and International Management, Senior Fellow of the Advanced Institute of Management Research and Deputy Dean for programmes at London Business School. He is also co-founder of the Management Lab (MLab). ★ Vyla Rollins and Stefano Turconi are Research Associates with MLab (www.managementlab.org).
❯ Institutionalised skip-level meetings These are an opportunity to talk directly with the two layers below you in the hierarchy. Informal brown-bag lunches with employees serve a similar function. ❯ Web-enabled chat and discussion forums CapGemini uses a micro-blogging tool called ‘Yammer’, which encourages top-of-mind conversations on specific topics, without regard for rank. ❯ Front-line work Tesco’s top executives spend a few days every year stacking shelves and working on the checkout. ❯ Smokers corner If you go outside for a cigarette (not that we recommend anyone smoke), you find yourself striking up conversation with a random slice of people at all levels in the company, typically in a much less hierarchical manner than if you bumped into them in a formal setting
archy, leading to disagreement and frustration. One useful way of approaching a management job is to imagine that the role won’t exist in, say, two years’ time and that your job is to train everyone so that they can do your job as well as their own. Doing that encourages you to hire and promote the best people. It forces you to question why you do certain things at all, and it inspires you to delegate many of your tasks to the people working for you. There are no shortcuts to becoming an effective manager. We all intuitively know what good management looks like, but most of us don’t follow through on this knowledge in our dayto-day actions. What’s needed is not additional advice on what to do but, instead, some insight into how we might do it. Our research suggests that the best managers are those who adopt the discipline of looking at the world through the eyes of their employees. This provides the right mindset to structure work carefully, to communicate more effectively and to push decision-making down to the appropriate level.
57
Setting the global standard: accredited
programmes at 198 business schools in more than 70 countries.
Creating a global network: linking MBAs, business
schools and employers in more than 110 countries.
The Association ensures that MBA courses maintain high standards and that students are assisted in their course selection by our mark of quality.
Search for an accredited MBA at www.ambaguide.com For information on accreditation go to www.mbaworld.com
45 years of INSPIRING GLOBAL EXCELLENCE
EMBA World
TOP TEN REASONS
TO ATTEND AN EXECUTIVE MBA PROGRAM Jason Price, EMBA World »
W
hat are the top ten reasons to
business community, your employer, your
attend business school and
competitors, and you are not immune to
consider the option of the
such impact. Where else can this be fully
Executive MBA? Does it have to do with
grasped than through an MBA?
a global debt crisis or something else in
The Executive MBA is a learning model
the macro economy, or is it more personal,
designed to deliver coursework over a
such as career growth and job strength?
two-year period while not disrupting
For example, the context of Greek debt
fulltime employment. Nearly 300 schools
may seem remote from New York City,
worldwide offer an accredited EMBA. This
London, Beijing, or wherever you may sit,
disciplined education is organized in a
but its implications are far reaching in
lock-step progression with your school-
this increasingly connected global mar-
mates over a twenty-four month period.
ketplace, and may impact your company,
The reasons to attend an EMBA are signifi-
or more directly your lifestyle, more than
cant, and below are the top ten to consider
you may think. Government policy, the
by EMBA World.
TOP TEN REASONS TO ATTEND AN EXECUTIVE MBA:
10
Highly Practical Rather Than Just Theoretical
The Executive MBA is hands-on business training. The coursework, the projects, and even the case studies, are real-life scenarios with real-time application. By definition, the EMBA is designed for working professionals with a minimum of seven years work experience. Five of those years should be managerial level. It is highly likely that a case study on going IPO or the devaluation of a currency or any other business fundamental has already been experienced by your classmates. As we say at EMBA World, the best time to return to business school is after you’ve experienced successes and failures in the workplace. Only then does one have the professional resources to take theory into practice, and only then are you prepared to contribute to the class discussions.
9
Network with Classmates
Job dissatisfaction is high. The middle manager squeeze is on full-time. There is more work, a higher cost of living, and less compensation when adjusted to inflation. Some of your fellow students will be looking
to change careers. Others may be looking for opportunities. The alumni network is one thing, but the class networking is another. Your fellow students have hiring authority or connections to an inner-circle that may enable you to tap into hidden resources. Your peers will experience first-hand how you interact with others, gauge if you are team player, and determine if you can make a good impression.
The Executive MBA is a learning model designed to deliver coursework over a twoyear period while not disrupting full-time employment.
8
Residency Programs
Most Executive MBA programs offer a residency, and it’s often the case that these are held internationally. Georgetown University holds lessons in London, Fordham University teaches classes in Beijing, Wharton in South
America, you get the idea. A residency is more than just a group project and is the opportunity to learn outside of the brick and mortar campus. Indeed, most EMBA programs are held at executive conference centers and a semester or two may include coursework overseas. How does this make for a better education? Learning about the airline manufacturing industry at Boeing headquarters with employees is very different to learning from a text book or case study.
7
Hermetic Study Environment with Top Professors
The student body is comprised of highly motivated business professionals. They have elected to return to school, and the motivating factor is not to make more money, but for the love of learning. Combined, the classroom becomes a sealed environment of intellectual discourse. Professors compete to teach the EMBA class. They know first-hand that this is a special group of individuals and that teaching to experienced professionals, with successful careers, is a far cry from teaching young minds that have not been fully shaped yet for the business world.
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European MBA Review
6
Accommodates Work Life with School Life and Family
5
Provides Credibility and Credentials
Let’s face it, not everyone can stop working for two years to attend business school. The option is simply not open to the majority of people with careers and family considerations. The EMBA is designed and structured to accommodate this lifestyle. The rigors of the education are no different than with a traditional MBA, but the coursework and class schedule are designed to meet those professional and personal needs. Classes are typically held once or twice a month over an entire weekend or during week-long schedules every six or eight weeks. The EMBA calls for sacrifices and taps into vacation time, but this tends to be a trade-off easily accepted when one’s career is on the line.
A doctor knows medicine, a lawyer knows law, and an MBA brings to the table a degree of respect and a foundation of business knowledge. An MBA does distinguish you from those without the degree, and does provide a discreet set of skills that only come from the classroom. EMBA World strongly advises applicants to consider that one’s success in life is mainly independent from having the degree and the institution that it came from. However, the practical and theoretical lessons and practical experience can take you further along your career path.
4
Thinking Critically and Applying a Business Mind Set
From Porter’s Five Forces to Taylor’s Scientific Management, an MBA will get you thinking critically on how to view the marketplace and your company’s position in this marketplace. The EMBA will hone your business writing skills, integrate the poet side of you with the
BIOGRAPHY ★ Jason Price, MS, MBA is Director of EMBA World. EMBA World is a New York City based organization founded in 2003 and dedicated to helping employees and employers understand options regarding graduate level business education and, in particular, the Executive MBA. Jason is also the author of The Insider’s Guide to the Executive MBA (2011). Jason is a frequent speaker to media on graduate business education issues and publishes industry articles periodically on the subject. The Insider’s Guide can be found at online bookstores or at EMBA World www.EmbaWorld.com.
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The best time to return to business school is after you’ve experienced successes and failures in the workplace. quantitative side, and emphasize leadership with crisis management. Thinking like a business professional starts with base theory that is then applied to practice. The education and training will open your eyes and get you thinking about how to solve business problems on a grander scale than you posses today.
3
Understand Business Statements
Unless you are a CPA, knowing how to read a financial statement can serve as a competitive advantage. The Executive MBA does not turn you into an accountant, but it does break down cash flow statements, balance sheets and income statements to help you understand the significance that is essential for a business manager. Interpreting the meaning behind the numbers will help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of the business plan and the organization’s overall operating environment. These are practical skills that will help move you and your company along.
2
Apply Lessons from the EMBA Directly to Work
Ask any graduate to share an “Aha” moment in business school and most likely you too will become inspired. Working with Beijing MBA students, my class developed a go-to-market
strategy for a computer company. Their goal of reaching the Fortune 500 by the end of the decade was ambitious, and the road map we wrote as the project thesis was taken seriously. Indeed, it seemed like the Wall Street Journal had dictated our entire business plan. We delivered a paper, a market analysis presentation, and defended our thesis to a board of computer executives. The clock rolls forward five years later and our go-to-market strategy is being implemented. The same is true for the classwork and case studies that we learn in school and take back to the work place. The EMBA is the purest form of practical business education.
1
The Love of Learning
Choose the Executive MBA not to run the next Fortune 100, but to attend for the love of learning. Two years of your life is significant, and coupled with the high cost of the education, it makes the endeavor much more meaningful and the education more enjoyable if it is for the love of learning. There can only be 100 CEOs for the Fortune 100, but for the rest of us there must be higher aspirations. Whenever we present to audiences and speak to aspiring students, we always emphasize that the Executive MBA is to satisfy an intellectual
Paris School of Business (PSB) MBA
MBA:
THE LUXURY EXPERIENCE Alexandra Skinner, CEO Magazine »
I
was fortunate enough to be invited on the Luxury and Fashion Management MBA trip to Cognac as a guest of the
Paris School of Business. Having worked with the school for over a year, and having met the charismatic and visionary Georges Nurdin (Dean of the School) several times, along with other members of the PSB team, I knew that I was being invited into a world normally reserved for the select and
PSB has scored a golden ticket in the form of the Dean of the Luxury and Fashion Management MBA, Valerie Haie.
privileged few. How could I decline?
Paris School of Business offers three MBA programmes: an International MBA, an MBA in Artistic & Cultural Activities As a Londoner, and a self-confessed Management and the MBA in Luxury and ‘foodie’, I would like to consider myself to Fashion Management. As Georges says of the be reasonably well versed in the language Luxury and Fashion Management programme; of food and wine. I was blown away. “For over 2,000 years Paris has accumulated a Throughout our three days in Cognac each of competitive advantage in a world where there the ambassadors at the Cognac houses made are maybe three to five hubs for luxury and us feel as though there was no-one else that fashion. What we offer is the opportunity, not they would rather be hosting. They took the just to be in Paris, but to open and go behind time to speak with the students, to answer the doors of these famous fashion brands. This their queries and to share their contacts. MBA is very highly regarded. We’re taking Lunches and dinners at the chateaus (private advantage of where we are based, particularly buildings that are not normally open to as a lot of success in the industry is about courses, and always finished with a glass of the the public), were prepared with such care and networking and who you know. For students house’s signature Cognac: a truly luxurious delicacy, and each began with a Cognac cocktail, who are interested in pursuing a career in this gastronomic experience. had matching wines throughout the (many) direction, it’s essential to be located at the heart Having spoken to the students, it was of where it all goes on.” clear how much they value the opportunity It’s not hard to see the draws of living in to enter an exclusive world, and it’s these Paris for a year; the food, wines, café culture, This was the experiences that they will carry with them shopping, museums, architecture, music – it’s first opportunity I post-graduation, and that will give them a natural destination for those who are set on have had to come into touch with the a clear market advantage. As we learnt, entering the luxury and fashion industry. culture of Cognac and its exquisite French the production of Cognac involves the As a market notoriously difficult to break lifestyle. I was totally seduced. The Cognac houses, blending of many different ages to create into, where connections, networking such as Hennessy, Martell and Remy Martin, keep complex flavours and a ‘house-style’. and who you know are of great on pursuing the very finest quality Cognac, not only in It occurred to me that this is not unlike importance, PSB has scored a golden their classical collections, but also through innovation. the PSB MBA: the careful selection of ticket in the form of the Dean of the Everything was perfect, no matter whether we were at talented, motivated individuals from diverse Luxury and Fashion Management a distillery or a Château. The service, the decoration, backgrounds, poured into a wonderful and MBA, Valerie Haie. Valerie is the and the atmosphere were absolutely luxurious and individual classroom cocktail, aged for 14 mastermind behind the Cognac purely artistic. I feel honoured to have had such a months, and then released to the market as Ultimate Luxury Trip, and put wonderful opportunity to visit Cognac.” bright and educated individuals. Who wouldn’t her contacts to work to create this CHENMI FU want to bottle that? remarkable experience.
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European MBA Review
Student Perspective Having worked for a number of years in a variety of marketing roles in the City of London for some well-known banks, I decided in 2012 that, whilst I loved marketing, it was time to break away from financial services. Having taken the brave step to leave, I was faced with ‘what next?’ Do I stay in London, which is not my native city (I’m a born and bred Glaswegian), although having spent many years living there I felt like an adopted Londoner, or, since I wanted to change my career and life completely, do I take the plunge and move somewhere new? It’s at times like these you think, ‘what am I really, really interested in?’ and not necessarily ‘what am I good at?’ So having made at list of what I was looking for; marketing, Paris (still close enough to home!), a one year MBA in fashion and luxury, taught in English, the opportunity to learn French, I had a Google moment, and up popped The Paris School of Business (PSB) MBA in Fashion and Luxury. PSB were very responsive and quick to answer my questions, so much so that within a month of deciding I was leaving London, I was signed up for my new life in Paris!
The teachers at the school bring a wealth of talent from their careers in the fashion and luxury sectors and as a result are well connected, so it’s not just text book, they really bring what you’re being taught to life. Consequently, we’ve so far (there’s more to come!) had the exclusive opportunity to attend some amazing field trips such as fashion shows in Paris and visiting the famous French region of Cognac. The teachers are a great support in helping you to get the best out of the programme. If there is a particular company that you would like to work for, and you’re really focused on that company throughout the course, the teachers will help you to make your dream a reality. Living in any foreign country or city and having the opportunity to learn a new language can only be a good thing for your self-development and career. There are no downsides. If you have the opportunity, I would recommend living in magical Paris to anyone.
Caroline Allan, MBA in Luxury and Fashion Management, Paris School of Business.
Cognac 02h00 pm: Bureau Interprofessionnel du d Conference on Cognac around the worl ns of Cognac Class presentations – World Perceptio Introduction to the tasting of Cognac Cognac cocktail workshop Distillery 04h30 pm: Visit and tasting at Hennessy eau de Bagnolet Chât ’s 07h00 pm: Departure for Hennessy de Bagnolet in Cognac 07h30 pm: Dinner at Hennessy’s Château
Interprofessional du Cognac 08h20 am: Meet at the Bureau National e 10h45 am: Tour of the Vicard cooperag llery Disti ell Mart at 11h00 am: Visit and tasting teloup in Cognac made Chan de 12h30 pm: Lunch at Martell’s Château by Chef Pascal Nebout Distillery 03h00 pm: Visit and tasting at Delamain students with the Chef of for 05h30 pm: Workshop – Cooking class La Ribaudiere Restaurant aurant 08h30 pm: Dinner at La Ribaudiere Rest
Many fantastic memories still keep flashing in my mind now I’m back in Paris. Luxury is attitude. It’s not just about price tags or logos. It’s something inside, dating back centuries. It’s a kind of spirit. Today, luxury is no-longer what it used to be. While some luxury brands only focus on profit and commercial success at the risk of downgrading the brand image, it’s good to see there are still luxury brands, like Remy
in Distillery 10h00 am: Visit and tasting at Remy Mart Club in Mart 12h00 noon: Lunch at Remy ABK6 Distillery 03h00 pm: Visit and tasting at LEYRAT-
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Martin, sticking closely to the luxury of the spirit and providing great value. Time will show that true luxury will never fade away.”
YULI WANG
Paris School of Business (PSB) MBA
A Word From The Dean
I
published a study on the major changes in the luxury sector “Donnez nous notre luxe quotidien”, and during this time I was regularly in contact with the main trendspotters and marketing managers of luxury brands. I was then the Dean of two MBAs specialising in the luxury business for over 10 years; one in Food & Wine Marketing and the other in Luxury Brand Management. During this time I was involved in 800 student projects that I mentored and coached in accordance with the luxury brands and, again, I developed a close relationship with the leading actors of the luxury market. I have also set up my own consulting agency, ACCENT LUXE, which is dedicated to training and coaching. As a result, today I have developed a strong network of professionals within the luxury market. Undertaking an MBA specialising in "Luxury and Fashion Management" is to give oneself the chance to enter, at an international level, an executive post in fashion management or in another luxury field. The MBA degree programme is targeted at young, motivated, future business leaders who seek to rapidly boost their
knowledge, and to become recognised in the luxury market. It is a way to gain time. Moreover, at Paris School of Business, the international dimension provides real added value, and opens up more opportunities for students when they seek work. In November, students visited the Cognac region of France. Here, the most famous houses of Cognac (Hennessy, Martell and Remy Martin) wished to honour our
we were able to appreciate the French high traditional service with white gloves; which is very rare. Indeed, the timeless atmosphere emerging from all of these sublime castles reflects an art of living that adds to the magic of the product. It really was an ultimate luxury experience. PSB’s MBA enables a true dialogue with professionals, which helps students to better understand the concrete expectations of the market. ‘Luxury’ cannot be learned from text books alone, but through living. Indeed, beyond the technical and methodological skills which are essential to master, it is also important to understand the spirit of French luxury; a return to made-tomeasure products, a desire to excel in service excellence and a deep-seated commitment to heritage. This direct contact with leading actors of the luxury industry, alongside a recognised academic level, definitely makes PSB different. I have developed a partnership with the Parisian Palace, Le Bristol (a symbol of luxury and fashion), where our students attend fashion shows regularly under exclusive conditions, and I am working with them on other innovative projects. I have also developed a partnership with Le Musee Du Vin, and as from January 2013 our students will be able to learn about and taste the best wines and most famous appellations of the world each week. The prestigious automotive, yachting and private jet industries are the next bastions that we wish to enter. In this scope, we are planning a luxury trip on the Riviera to work closely with the key players in these sectors. However, there are also many other exciting projects that we are looking at, and we are constantly improving to ensure that PSB remain leaders in executive education.
It is also important to understand the spirit of French luxury; a return to made-to-measure products, a desire to excel in service excellence and a deepseated commitment to heritage. students by giving them a chance to enjoy an extraordinary experience and explore fascinating places that are normally off-limits. Their clear desire to share this centuries old heritage of excellence bears witness to this French speciality and the genuine success of the Cognac spirit. For dinner at Hennessy,
Alumnus Perspective I took a decisive process to select an appropriate school to pursue my studies - I knew where my passion was, and I wanted to go to Paris, not France. I was looking for a school that provided an English programme in Luxury Fashion Management. There weren’t many English programmes in Paris, and PSB became my final choice. It belongs to the Pôle ESG group, which confirmed my selection. The MBA programme was extremely intensive, and I enjoyed that. The professors are qualified, and there were lots of opportunities for interaction through presenting projects, group discussions and field trips. Networking is crucial in current society. My interpersonal relationships have been built among my schoolmates and professors. Since almost all of us will work in the luxury fashion industry, it is helpful for me to keep in touch with them.
Some tips for prospective PSB students: You will do a great many presentations during this year, try to speak more often and bravely, which will give you an idea what it will be like when you work, and help you to become an articulate business person. Focus on studies, but don’t forget to travel around to get experience in society. If you have time to do an internship, don’t hesitate to. I began mine right after the third final exams; I really didn’t have time to work during the semesters. Learn or practice your French if you want to work in a French company. You can then hand in your CV and lettre de motivation to some luxury boutiques if you want to gain experience in sales. My advice is as a beginner; start in small companies to gain a rounded experience.
Luyi Xiao, PSB Luxury and Fashion Management MBA Graduate, 2011
BIOGRAPHIES ★ Paris School of Business offers bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate and executive education programmes to students from all over the world. ★ Alexandra Skinner is Group Editorin-Chief at CEO Magazine.
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Ashridge Business School MBA
Helping Students To Be Alexandra Skinner speaks to Kai Peters » Introduction
Q
You have the ‘triple crown’ of accreditations from AMBA, EQUIS and
the AACSB, a great honour and something that less than one per cent of management schools can lay claim to. What does this mean for your students and how does this enhance your programmes?
These accreditations are rigorous processes that involve assessment of numerous aspects of the school and its programmes. Typically, this involves the business school submitting an in-depth self-analysis report for scrutiny to these bodies, followed by a visiting panel and the consequent interviewing of current students, staff, alumni, corporate clients and employers. Together, these accreditations demonstrate the high quality of our activities – both in the UK and worldwide. For example, AMBA accredits programmes of study, chiefly MBAs.
AACSB looks at all academic programmes. EQUIS looks at all programmes as well as executive education. Benefits arise in a variety of ways. The self-assessment process brings Ashridge’s academic community together to reflect on our performance, and to define targets for coming years. Peer reviews allow us to benchmark our programme against other high quality programmes. Finally, the actual accreditation communicates the quality of our MBA programme portfolio to candidates around the world and tells employers of the high standards at Ashridge. As competition for the best students intensifies, endorsement by accreditation bodies is a must if a business school wants to be known as a leading institution that delivers excellence. KAI PETERS
Q
Ashridge Business School aims to develop managers’ knowledge,
skills, behaviours and practices in order to enhance their leadership potential, personal success, that of their organisations and of wider society. Please can you further expand upon how this is brought into your pedagogical approach?
Through the Ashridge MBA and our other programmes our students learn how to make changes and get results. We are focused on helping our participants discover how to find real answers to the challenges they face in business today. Our MBA has been recently redesigned to provide an integrated approach to learning. The programme is centred around five key themes of the global business environment, managing the organisational lifecycle, creating value, business in society and leading change. The themes are underpinned by a mastery of the three fundamentals of people, performance and processes. All our MBA programmes go beyond theory by giving participants the opportunity to put into practice all they have learned via a ‘live’
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European MBA Review
consulting project. Participants work with a client organisation to deliver a major strategic consulting assignment. The insights of our faculty, gained from research and hands-on experience as business owners and leaders, enable participants to see the bigger picture and make better decisions, even in unpredictable circumstances.
Ashridge is a truly international business school. Over 60 per cent of our clients are headquartered outside the UK. Plus, 25 per cent of our faculty are from outside the UK and 95 per cent have international work or teaching experience – Ashridge faculty have taught/consulted in more than 60 countries.
Q
Our MBAs are for managers who want to think differently and to feel confident taking brave decisions.
What would you say are the key features of Ashridge that make you
stand out from other business schools?
We are a business school for practising managers, and provide a unique blend of practical application and academic rigour. Ashridge works with 6,450 managers and 850 organisations every year, which means we have broad insights into the issues that impact on business leaders and managers today. Ashridge focuses on teaching the critical thinking that equips you for a successful and rewarding career. Our faculty and consultants have real business experience so that they understand your challenges. Most of our teaching staff have ten or more years of business experience in addition to academic qualifications.
Ashridge Business School, is a grade I listed 19th century neo-gothic mansion set within one of England’s most beautiful and historically significant gardens. Ashridge House is a world class venue that provides an inspiring setting for learning. Our students also have access to Ashridge intellectual capital online via Virtual Ashridge, our web-based learning environment designed to empower participants to manage their own personal development (learning guides, book summaries, industry analysis and online databases).
The Ashridge Business School MBA value proposition
Q
Students who wish to study their MBA at Ashridge are able to consider
your one year MBA or your two year EMBA
Plus, those who take part in our programmes also benefit from our global alumni network of over 12,000 people. Our location also makes us stand out from the crowd. One of the world’s most stunning campuses, Ashridge is only 30 minutes from London. Ashridge House, the home of
programmes. For whom are each of these programmes designed for?
Our MBAs are for managers who want to think differently and to feel confident taking brave decisions. Our focus in on making a real positive difference, both to individuals and their organisation.
ASHRIDGE BUSINESS SCHOOL
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Ashridge Business School MBA
In the past year we have redesigned our MBA, providing a choice of start dates, a mix of full and part-time students and extensive business involvement to meet the current and future needs of managers who want to flourish in global business. The curriculum is based around the themes of leading change, creating value, embedding sustainability and managing globally. Our full-time MBA students are usually looking for a career change, to develop entrepreneurial skills to set up their own business, or to quickly gain strategic management or consulting skills to further their career. Live case studies and consultancy projects expose students to new industries, skills and experiences. 50 per cent of the programme is shared with the EMBA class to enhance the learning experience and networking for both groups. The other 50 per cent is delivered in teaching blocks that incorporate out-of class learning activities, such as consultancy projects and company visits EMBA students are usually aspiring to achieve the next level in their career but wish to continue working and applying their knowledge as they learn. Assignments are designed to provide return on investment to employers as well as participants’ future careers. On average, our MBA and EMBA students have 11 years of work experience, which means that our students themselves bring a wealth of experience into the classroom.
Q
Both MBA programmes include an International Business Experience. What
TRAINING ROOM IN THE MAIN HOUSE
performance of others and delivering results individually and through teams as part of your professional life. It aims to ensure that on completion of this module you have the skills and abilities to contribute to the success of your team and organisation. This highly interactive module focuses on developing your personal credibility and capability in your professional life, as part of the MBA focus on developing your general management skillset. You will be given the opportunity to practise and receive feedback to raise awareness of your personal impact and the
impression you create with others. The module will introduce you to a range of tools and techniques, and provide you the opportunity to apply them to a variety of situations during the course of the programme and it will culminate in your opportunity to apply these skills, tools and knowledge during your MBA project phase. The overall aim of the Employability Programme is to ensure the employability of students through the development of self-awareness and career skills. It builds on psychometric assessments used in other modules of the programme as part and contributes to work with students to gain
are the learning objectives of these trips?
The Ashridge MBA includes an international study week, which is designed to consolidate learning by giving participants direct experience of project work and the complex issues faced by businesses in an emerging market. Meeting new people, gaining first-hand experience with diverse cultures, developing the confidence to work in an international setting, confronting different perspectives and values, learning new business practices and creating global networks are some of the benefits of international trips. Past visits have been to China and Argentina – further stimulating visits are planned for 2013. Your programmes offer two optional professional development streams: Effective Engagement and an Employability Programme.
Q
(a) Please can you tell our readers about what these streams involve?
The Effective Engagement module has been designed with the assumption that you are, or will be, responsible for managing the
Alumnus Perspective It’s an intense experience – well structured, with an emphasis on leadership, strategy and CSR. I learnt how to solve conflicts and find solutions within tight time constraints which was very challenging. However, it is also a true reflection of business life, particularly in an international environment, so it has set me in good stead moving forwards. Before doing the MBA, people found me quite shy. Having to constantly present to the group was very good for me and I’ve gained a huge amount of confidence in my ability to present and interact with others. Without the Ashridge MBA I would never have such a high level job My fellow classmates came from a wide range of countries. Making new friends and networking with fellow alumni is great for career enhancement. My MBA consultancy project was also a highlight. Supported by my Ashridge tutor, I carried out strategic research for a top insurance broker. I was working directly with the Deputy Chairman reviewing their international strategy and identifying opportunities concerning Chinese energy companies. They implemented many of my recommendations. My knowledge of China combined with the MBA gave me a significant advantage. It felt good to add value to an organisation. Grace Yang, Vice President (Investment Banking Audit), JP Morgan.
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European MBA Review
Business schools don’t just have a role in helping leaders develop a personal blue-print to guide their ethical behaviour – they also have a responsibility.
Pre-requisites for application to the Ashridge EMBA and IMBA: We expect applicants to have:
Realistic and clear career goals and how an MBA fits with these. Understanding of the distinctive features of the Ashridge MBA. Ability to contribute in an environment of smaller groups and through peer learning. Ability to work independently within a virtual environment.
Our ‘MBA in a Day’ open events give candidates the chance to experience Ashridge fully, from the teaching style to the environment where you will be spending a large portion of the next one to two years. Our open days feature three hour-long MBA classes where candidates can experience an MBA classroom first hand as well as the opportunity to pose any questions to our admissions staff and alumni. There are five open days per year and the next open day will take place on 9 February 2013. We actively encourage prospective applicants to connect with Ashridge MBA alumni and appropriate introductions are made, based on a candidate’s experience, nationality or particular MBA considerations/ concerns, to ensure that they are paired up with (a) suitable alumni contact(s). Once you have visited the school and met the faculty, there is no better way to discover what an MBA programme is really like than to talk to those who have experienced it themselves.
Full-Time MBA
GMAT
Executive MBA (EMBA)
Applicants are expected to take the Graduate Admissions Test (GMAT) and are responsible for arranging their own tests. The usual minimum score requirement is 550.
Ashridge usually asks candidates to take the Ashridge admissions test as an alternative to the GMAT. GMAT is not compulsory for the EMBA programme, but may be requested at the discretion of the Programme Director
Academic Ability
A degree is typically required to study this programme. Candidates who possess a degree require a minimum of three years work experience to apply.
Work experience
Applicants without a first degree should have at least five years' professional experience, although we also welcome applications from exceptional candidates with an impressive track record and high GMAT score who have been working for less than five years.
English language skills
Required for all candidates whose first language is not English: TOEFL (iBT) = minimum score of 100 IELTS = minimum score of 7 Pearson Test of English Academic = minimum score of 60
The Ashridge Application Process: 1. Candidates can access the application form via the Ashridge website and submit electronically, along with two references, and copies of qualifications certificates. 2. Applications are reviewed at a regular Admissions Panel meeting, after which successful candidates are invited to interview with the programme director, either via video Skype or ideally in person at Ashridge. 3. Candidates applying to the Executive MBA are asked to complete the Ashridge Admissions Test when they attend their interview in person. If interviewed via Skype, the test needs to be taken before the start of the programme. MBA STUDENTS
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4. Depending on the outcome of the interview, candidates are sent either an offer or rejection letter. 5. To accept their place on the programme, candidates are required to return a signed acceptance form and pay a nonrefundable deposit of £1000 (deductible from total programme fee). 6. Once Ashridge receives the signed acceptance form and deposit the candidate is confirmed as a participant and gains access to the online MBA Learning Zone and can begin to prepare for the programme.
Ashridge Business School MBA
Alumnus Perspective Victoria Brannen’s MBA at Ashridge led to her launching innovative start-up Maya Asset Management, a business that operates primarily in the leisure industry and has managed asset portfolios of around the £60 million mark. In addition to providing strategic and investment analysis, Maya can also provide end to end operational management for clients, which means everyone that operates within these businesses is managed by them. CEO Victoria credits the success of Maya to what she learnt during her one-year MBA at Ashridge. “I did the MBA to effect a career change, to give me a new path. The programme provides a thorough grounding in all the disciplines required to successfully lead a business. “Maya’s success can be judged by our work to advise Santander in their dealings with Pontins Holiday Group, to prepare the turnaround plan when the business went in to administration.” Previously, Victoria was Head of European Marketing at Toyota Financial Services, setting up new
businesses across Europe, before deciding on a career change. Undertaking a consultancy project within a global hotel chain allowed Victoria to develop her experience, and this led to the launch of Maya and her entry into the leisure field. She added: “The opportunity to undertake a consultancy project as part of the Ashridge MBA was very beneficial, and also answered my need to experience other market sectors.” “The learning from colleagues during the programme was invaluable, with enriching debate and discussion coupled with insights from different nationalities and backgrounds. Working in small groups, the understanding I gained was immense”. “The whole experience of undertaking the MBA has increased my self-esteem and confidence. This has been vital, as people respond to you differently when you have a higher level of confidence.” Victoria Brannen, CEO, Maya Asset Management.
greater self-awareness. It is designed to help students build their future career plans by reflecting on their current and past situations. Through a process of self-discovery and understanding, the students will then move from personal reflection towards identifying their career interests and exploring the steps involved in achieving personal career goals. Students will be encouraged to consider how the MBA project can assist them in their career journey. Online resources, Ashridge faculty, Ashridge learning resources and external speakers help build the students’ self-marketing skills and resources in preparation for securing a project. The project is a foundation for building future career opportunities through networking relationships, referrals and experience.
Q
(b) How important do you feel it is to provide careers and personal
development services to today’s highpotential managers?
BIOGRAPHY ★ Kai Peters, BA (Hons), MBA, CCMI, is Chief Executive of Ashridge Business School.
Careers and personal development services are key to really tapping into the potential of high-potentials. Personal development is woven into the fabric of the Ashridge MBA, whereas the Employability Programme and project elements complement each other as they both are directed towards achieving the same goals through continued networking, relationship building, interviewing, and researching relevant industries and companies.
Q
There is an expectation from the market that business schools should
be creating responsible leaders. How much emphasis do you place on this, and on dynamics such as CSR and sustainable development?
Business schools don’t just have a role in helping leaders develop a personal blue-print to guide their ethical behaviour – they also have a responsibility. Organisational leaders, who are in a position to affect other people’s lives through their actions and decisions, have a particular responsibility to ensure their behaviour is ethical. Their role is to define the ethical compass for their organisations and set a clear example from the top for others to follow. Teaching ethics can help people to make thoughtful decisions. Educational interventions can also help managers develop a better understanding of the stumbling blocks that get in the way of ethical behaviour. In-depth personal development – of the type that is ingrained on all Ashridge’s leadership programmes – can do much to help managers cope with these kinds of dilemmas. It can heighten their self-awareness, for example, giving them a clear understanding of their personal values so that they are in a better position to stand their ground when necessary. Ashridge Business School offers a selection of programmes dedicated to sustainability and corporate responsibility, or which include sustainability as core subjects. The Ashridge MBA contains a module on embedding sustainability. This module aims to ensure students have a firm grasp of the changing nature of the wider societal context within which organisations operate. It aims to ensure that participants understand the implications for corporate governance, organisational purpose, strategy and leadership. The module further provides an opportunity for students to develop skills in leading change for sustainable outcomes. Students are encouraged to reflect on these issues and articulate their personal position on how organisations and the people who lead them should relate to the wider society.
The next step
Q
What can we expect from Ashridge Business School over the next twelve
to eighteen months?
Over the next 18 months we will be expanding our international activities through partnerships with business schools in Asia. This will lead to the development of research opportunities, study visits, and potentially joint degree programmes.
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European MBA Review
Captaining Flexibility on the Solent Alexandra Skinner speaks to Timothy Jackson and Georgina Andrews » The Southampton Solent MBA Offering
Q
You recently launched your MBA programme. What was the thinking
behind this addition to your academic programme menu at Southampton Solent?
We have spent the last year redesigning our MBA programme to ensure that it meets the needs of both the students and employers. I think it is a sign of the times that more and more applicants are running their own businesses or interested in starting their own business; with fewer jobs around some people are creating their own employment. We wanted our MBA programme to be of equal value to those setting up their business or working for themselves and to those that work for existing companies. Our MBA programme is fundamentally about enhancing leadership skills and creating a well-rounded business person. My vision for the MBA programme was to create a flagship course for the business school.
Q
As a new MBA provider, feedback from both students and companies will be
vital. How well has the MBA been received thus far?
Feedback from both employers and students studying on the new MBA programme has been very positive. We sought feedback from a range of employers around the world and they particularly liked the range of contemporary subjects and the emphasis on professional development. Students who have started the course have commented on the use of industry experts to deliver the programme and the workshop approach to teaching. I was very pleased to read feedback from one student that ended “All masters courses should be taught this way”.
Q
What other methods will you use to review and, if necessary, adapt your
MBA offering?
We review our MBA programme each year through our Annual Programme Monitoring,
where we seek further feedback and, as a Business School, identify areas of the course that could be developed further. While officially we review the programme each year, it is more of an on-going and incremental process. The course team are always looking for ways to add more value to the student experience; for example, students on the new course have already conducted a filmed interview with a business leader for their Enhanced Leadership module. The course team meet regularly to share their good practices and to discuss course developments.
Q
You offer both a full-time and a parttime MBA, each with a number of entry
points to fit in with the busy lives of working professionals. Please can you further expand upon these?
SOLENT UNIVERSITY PROFESSIONAL STUDENTS
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The mantra for our new MBA programme is flexibility. We recognise that we have a variety of applicants who have a variety of outside commitments that they need to fit their studies around. Our full-time mode is primarily aimed at overseas students who want to complete the course in a year. The part-time mode is aimed at those who wish to spread the course over a longer period (typically two years) to accommodate other commitments, such as work and family life. We also offer a weekend delivery that combines face-to-face with distance learning, which is aimed at those that require even more flexibility because perhaps they can’t take an afternoon out of their working week. Whichever mode applicants choose, they have a choice of start dates throughout the year so that they can begin the MBA at a time that suits them.
Southampton Solent University (SSU)
Q
There is an increasing demand for entrepreneurship,
the lifeblood of the economy, in the MBA curriculum. How much emphasis do you place upon this important dynamic?
We place a lot of emphasis on entrepreneurship, and offer students the option to specialise in entrepreneurship so that they can gain the skills and knowledge to go out and start and manage their own businesses. Entrepreneurship has been the most popular option with our new students; students who opt for this route will develop their business plan and receive mentoring from existing company directors. Southampton Solent University also has an Enterprise Unit to provide extra support to students setting up companies.
Q
The MBA will always maintain its generalist core, but we wanted students to get the most out of the programme by allowing students to focus on areas that were important to them. would like. Applicants should normally have at least a 2:2 undergraduate degree and will need to have a minimum of two years full-time equivalent work experience in an appropriate position. We would normally expect work experience to have been at a managerial level and/or involve some kind of decision-making. Applicants whose first language is not English will need a minimum 6.5 IELTS score with a 6.0 in writing, or equivalent.
In addition to the aforementioned focus on entrepreneurship, students can take
the opportunity to specialise in Enterprise or Finance. What led you to decide upon these areas when considering specialisations?
The choice to offer the option to specialise in Enterprise and Entrepreneurship or Finance was fundamentally decided by the demand for these areas. The MBA will always maintain its generalist core, but we wanted students to get the most out of the programme by allowing them to focus on areas that were important to them. Maintaining our flexibility mantra, students who do not wish to specialise can take any combination of the options offered.
Career Services
Q
MBA Students have the opportunity to take a work placement with support
from your Careers and Employability Service. How important do you consider the provision of career services to be to today’s MBAs?
Careers services are still very important to our MBA students, particularly those studying fulltime as they are usually under more pressure to find employment once they have completed their studies. Those already in work who are doing a part-time MBA still benefit from our careers services, as we can support them in applying for other jobs, including more senior positions in their existing organisations. I think in the current economic conditions, which are creating a very competitive job market, our Careers and Employability Services are an important provision for all students on all courses.
Application
Q
Please can you expand upon the MBA application process, in terms of
minimum requirements and timeframes?
We invite applications to our MBA all year round and will offer our next available intake, or the student can specify which intake they
The Next Step
Q
What can we expect from Southampton Solent over the next twelve to eighteen
months?
We are currently developing and enhancing our postgraduate portfolio to include a suite of MSc courses in areas such as Retail, Management, International Business Management and Accountancy and Finance. These courses will be available in full-time and blended learning delivery modes, and will include work placement opportunities and professional accreditations. Global employability, enterprise and business engagement activities will also feature strongly in our development as we continue to fulfil our mission to support our learners in becoming graduates, and indeed postgraduates, ‘with impact’. There may also be a few surprises...!
BIOGRAPHIES ★ Timothy Jackson is Senior Lecturer (BA, HNC/D and MBA) at Southampton Business School, Southampton Solent University. ★ Georgina Andrews is the Director of the Southampton Business School at Southampton Solent University.
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List of Contributors
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS A
N Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
Northwest Missouri State University
P
Association of MBAs Ashridge Business School
Paris Business School
Q
Australian Catholic University Australian Institute of Business
E
S Southampton Solent University
EFMD EMBA World
L La Salle University London Business School Lynchburg College 72
Queens University of Charlotte – McColl
Weekend MBA Executive 6 start dates each year
Responsible Ethical Sustainable MBA & Postgraduate Business Programs
Time to invest in your future
acu.edu.au/business Australia:
Sydney
Melbourne
Brisbane
Responsible Ethical Sustainable CRICOS: 00004G, 00112C, 00873F, 00885B
PG2013/03
Live, Learn, Lead BBA, MBA, M.Sc., DBA, DEGREE PROGRAMS IN ENGLISH AND IN THE HEART OF PARIS! INTERNATIONALLY ACCREDITED PROGRAMS
Paris School of Business est un établissement de l’ESGCI (enseignement supérieur technique privé reconnu par l’État)
RANKED AMONGST THE LEADING BUSINESS SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD v Specializations including : International Finance, Marketing, Luxury Brand Management, Artistic & Cultural activities management and many more… v Students from more than 90 countries v An International Faculty v Rolling admissions : Fall, Spring and Summer v International Summer Certificates
psbedu.com
35 avenue Philippe Auguste 75011 Paris - FRANCE +33 1 55 25 69 48 admissions@psbedu.com