CEO Magazine: Volume 6 by CEO Magazine

MBAs:

What Students Really Think

From Classroom to Boardroom: How to be a True Leader

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Global MBA Rankings

CSR: Walking the Walk

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Specia L u x u r y a n d m Stude An Int Rolling

Contents

Contents 07 From Management to Leadership: An Internal Journey Angela Garvey Hammond

09 MBA Review CEO Magazine

12 IsReversing? CSRâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Credibility Swiftly Mark Lee Hunter

15 Still Standing Out from the Crowd after 50 Years of Leading,

Innovative Research

Professor Ian Davidson

20 The ISCTE Energy MBA Semester at Columbia University, NYC Silas Harbo

22 Living and Studying in Aachen Alexandra Skinner

23 Teaching Germanyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Leading Engineers the Fundamentals of Top Business Management

Professor Schuh

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Contents

23 27 Engineering EMBA Harmony Dr. Roman Götter

29 The ISCTE Energy MBA

Students’ Perspective – Tyler Wunsch, Carla Pimenta and João Ferreira

31 Live, Learn and Lead at Paris School of Business Georges Nurdin, David Russell and Jeanine Brami-Partouche

36 The PSB MBA Students’ Perspective – Ana Paula Araujo Mendes and Israel Hernandez-Arce

38 The ISEG MBA Daniel Ferreira

39 ISEG Alumnus Perspective Carla Thomas

39 2

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Get your brain moving!

THE EXECUTIVE MBA FROM RWTH AACHEN UNIVERSITY A two-year, part-time general management program focusing on technology & innovation • Designed for up-and-coming managers with a background in science, technology, business administration or the humanities • Lecturers drawn from leading scientiﬁc and research institutes at RWTH Aachen University, the University of St. Gallen and the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft • Face-to-face program consisting of 19 ﬁve-day modules and concluding with a study trip • The School of Business and Economics at RWTH Aachen University is accredited by the AACSB www.emba.rwth-aachen.de

Contents

40 APicturesque Bespoke MBA in Salzburg

Dr. Wolfgang Reiger and Professor Dr. Gerhard A. Wührer

42 IfM – Alumnus and Student Perspectives Andreas Ehrlich, Sebastian Schuller, Max Thorineg and Simone Wueerst

43 ADevelopment Masters in Sustainable and CSR?

Welcome to EOI, Madrid

Eva Curto Izquierdo and Leda Stott

49 Head to the Spanish Capital for a Truly Personal MBA Experience Carlos Cuervo-Arango Martinez, Antonio Diaz Morales and Fernando de Vicente de la Casa

56 A Rising Star in the Phoenix City Professor Witold Orłowski

60 Finland’s Very Own Northern Star – Oulu Business School Antti Kauppila

64 List of Contributors 4

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Contents

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Victor J. Callender

Group Editor-in-Chief

Alexandra Skinner

Sales Director

Mark J. Phillips

Art Director

Will Dobson

Financial Controller

Robert Exner

Head of Production

Steven Whitaker

Head of New Media

Silvio Ferrero

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Why travel to experience a different class of MBA? With 50 years of teaching and leading research, top 20 UK University status, and international recognition, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll find everything to transform your business credentials right here at the University of Sussex. The Sussex MBA has been specifically designed to support your learning and development as a reflective and critical practitioner. The 10-module course encourages you to challenge and critique received thinking, as well as exercise independent judgement throughout â&#x20AC;&#x201C; essential qualities for leaders of contemporary organisations. We focus on transformational business and entrepreneurship, and ethical practice and social responsibility are key themes.

Our MBA offers a flexible course pattern, designed to fit with your career and other commitments. You will undertake web-supported independent study, group work and learn from external entrepreneurs as well as, of course, being taught by leading academics and practitioners. Want to make more sense of your career path and transform your business skills? Join our class today.

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INSEAD Knowledge: Leadership

From Management to Leadership:

An Internal Journey Angela Garvey Hammond, INSEAD »

Self-examination is the key to successful leadership and it starts in business school, according to new research.

t’s three years ago this month since panic struck the financial world and the American banking giant Lehman Brothers collapsed. The image of top executives and hundreds of junior staff leaving the investment bank with their cardboard boxes of belongings shocked the global markets. The ins and outs of how and why it happened have been analysed and re-analysed, along with the stark lack of any real leadership or control from those at the top. Since then the political climate has changed but the world economy is still in a mess, the markets are in a constant state of panic over the Euro crisis and politicians and financiers are at odds over how to lead us out of the troubles. It is little surprise then that there are calls for stronger leadership around the globe and questions about whether business schools – where, after all, so many of the world’s top financiers and politicians have learned their skills – are really producing the best leaders.

INSEAD Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour, Gianpiero Petriglieri, along with colleagues Jack Wood from IMD and Jennifer Petriglieri from the Harvard Business School, recently published award-winning research on leadership, focusing on what it takes for MBA courses and executive programmes to “transform” managers into leaders. The authors followed a group of 55 highflying managers over one year in an international MBA programme. In the study, entitled “Building Foundations for Leaders’ Development through the Personalisation of Management Learning”, every student was given the rare opportunity to work regularly with a psychotherapist. Their conversations and the issues that evolved were closely examined, along with the students’ ambitions, personal dilemmas and growth over the year. The process was part of a course “Personal Development Elective” and sat alongside the mainstream courses of management learning and analytic skills. As one student put it, “Before I

came to [the MBA programme] I pictured myself studying a lot and finding a job. I never imagined thinking about myself, having a moment in my life to get away from everything and really focus on who I am, what I want.”

The process of personalisation By the end of their year, the students had gone through “a process of personalisation”, reporting in the study three broad outcomes: stronger self-awareness; self-management - being more equipped to manage their own feelings and behaviour; and third, revisiting their own life story. Through the year the students came to understand how their own life stories could influence their current behaviour and that consequently enabled them to avoid self-defeating habits. Petriglieri acknowledges there is already a “burgeoning stream of academic work supporting the theory that the individual’s inner world and life story play a central role in the development of managers.” So how different is this study

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INSEAD Knowledge: Leadership

...a leader needs to have a vision and the conviction to see it through, especially in the current business climate and how much of an impact can it have on aspiring leaders once they leave the MBA “bubble”? David Duffy recently completed his MBA at a British university. He leads a team of a 140 people in London, specialising in finding careers and leadership roles for military personnel who are moving into civilian life. As an ex-Navy man, he recognises the need for a strong chain of command, from the top down. He believes that “a leader needs to have a vision and the conviction to see it through, especially in the current business climate”. By his own admission he is not a charismatic leader, but he is highly trusted and highly regarded by his staff. “It comes down to knowing where you are taking the company and your staff believing in you.” However he admits he has learnt this over time, rather than from any course. “There was an element of naval-gazing and looking in the mirror on my MBA, but the impact on me was intangible. I could spot the bright students in my class but, in all honesty, I couldn’t see many potential great leaders. The emphasis was on honing our managerial and financial skills rather than exploring our leadership qualities. Given that the jobs market is so fluid and pressurised now, though, I think it is critical to be more selfaware and really know your failings, as well as your talents.”

Character counts More and more business schools are beginning to offer a smattering of leadership development because of the jobs market, Petriglieri says: “We have re-discovered that character matters in leadership”. Cast your mind back to Lehman Brothers CEO Richard Fuld, who was punched while on the treadmill in the gym hours after the bank filed for bankruptcy. His leadership abilities and personal character were dissected and criticised by an array of parties in the aftermath of the bankruptcy. More recently Tony Hayward, the former head of BP, became the subject of vehement criticism in the US for his apparent lack of strong leadership or empathy with victims when responding to BP’s oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico last year. For Petriglieri, “exercising leadership effectively and responsibly involves a leader’s whole self ”. In the study, students were not put to the test in the same way as Tony Hayward or the former head of Lehman Brothers. Their troubles and dilemmas on the MBA were more personal and of course far less significant to the outside world. However, coauthor Jennifer Petriglieri, of Harvard Business School, says the students still had to face unsettling experiences and “examine them closely to figure out what they meant ... emotional tensions, moral dilemmas and tough questions are part and parcel of leading in a turbulent world”.

The study is keen to portray management students as more than the shiny high-flyers in pursuit of a seat in the boardroom and the rich benefits that go with it.

A personal journey The authors suggest that to churn out effective and responsible leaders, business schools need to continue to challenge the emotional side of students’ work and life rather than simply the academic. It’s a view endorsed by leadership consultant Daniel Hammond. He was an executive at Novartis, for many years running the Australian operations of the pharmaceutical’s eye care company. He now heads the UK arm of the international consultancy group LIW, running leadership programmes for multinational companies and governments around the world. “I meet very smart executives in their 40s and 50s who have been successful, but are struggling. They don’t know themselves or really where they are going, and that’s where we come in.” His programme is all about setting your own compass, being clear about where you are going as a person and a leader, knowing your purpose, vision and values. “It’s all about the individual’s own experience and using that to get everyone on board to achieve the company’s strategy,” he says. “I borrowed huge sums of money to do my MBA in Milan back in the 1990s, and it was all geared to the corporate route. There is still a real “sheep-dip” experience in many business schools with the assumption that every student has the same goal from the course. I find the concept of personalisation exciting and only wish it had been part of my management training.” With the new crop of MBA students settling into their first term around the world, Gianpiero Petriglieri suggests perceptions around leadership are changing amongst academics and the wider general public. The subject is no longer out of bounds in the classroom. “It is fascinating how in most top business schools leadership courses used to be considered soft. You rarely hear that today or you hear it only from the least sophisticated of our students.” “People who believe there is no longer a need to question themselves, or that their development is complete, are often the most foolish, not the most sane.” MBA or not, perhaps we should all get to know ourselves. Acknowledgements: with special thanks to Angela Garvey Hammond – Freelance Writer, INSEAD Business School.

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2012 Spring MBA Rankings

2012 SPRING MBA RANKINGS The benefits attached to an MBA qualification are significant. Career progression, networking opportunities and salary increases are just some of the reasons why application volumes have been increasing. »

aving made the decision to pursue an MBA, deciding upon a school is not easy. Many factors need to be considered, including location, reputation and teaching methods. However, preparing a shortlist of schools is perhaps the most difficult task, given the plethora of schools offering an MBA option. Therefore, in order to simplify the decision-making process, CEO Magazine has assessed the performance of MBA providers based upon certain key performance indicators:

Key Performance Indicators

ONLINE MBA School Rankings (Tier One) Babson College Boston University Cyprus Institute of Marketing Colorado State University Duke University George Washington University Georgia WebMBA Gonzaga University Grand Canyon University Hofstra University IE Business School Indiana University International University of Monaco Jones International University Keiser University Manchester Business School Pennsylvania State University Rochester Institute of Technology Schouten University Thunderbird School of Global Management University of Liverpool University of Phoenix University of San Francisco University of Wisconsin Whitewater Warwick University Worcester Polytechnic Institute

EMERGING MARKETS MBA School Rankings: ‘The Rising Stars’ (Tier One) SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA ESAN University FIA Business School Florida Atlantic University IAE Business School IESE Universidad de La Sabana Universidad de los Andes Universidad Torcuato Di Tella University of the West Indies Cave Hill

❯ ❯ ❯ ❯ ❯ ❯

FACULTY TUITION FEES INTERNATIONAL REACH INNOVATION DELIVERY METHODS CAREER PROGRESSION (WHERE POSSIBLE)

EASTERN EUROPE Aalto University of Economics Bucharest School of Management CEU Business School City University of Seattle – Bulgaria GFKM Polish Open University Riga Business School Sarajevo Graduate School of Business University American College Skopje University of Lodz USBSP Business School Praha Warsaw University of Technology Business School

NORTH AFRICA Cape Breton University German University in Cairo Regional IT Institute: Maastricht

MBA School Rankings BY REGION (Tier One) WESTERN EUROPE Ashridge Aston Business School Audencia Nantes School of Management City University: Cass Cranfield University EADA EDHEC EGP University of Porto Business School ENPC School of International Management EOI Erasmus University: RSM ESADE

Those schools, which have been identified for inclusion into the tables below, are considered by the CEO Review Panel (CRP) to be of tier-one status. Typically, these schools demonstrate a high level of innovation and thought leadership; class sizes tend to be moderate, senior faculty are used and the make up of students is diverse.

HEC Lausanne HEC Paris Henley Business School ICN Institute for Management (IfM) IMD INSEAD International University of Monaco ISCTE ISEG Lemniscaat School of Management London Business School Lorange Institute of Business Zurich MIP Politecnico di Milano Nebrija University Nottingham University Business School Oxford University: Saïd Paris School of Business RWTH Aachen University University of Sussex University College Dublin: Smurfit University of Bath University of Durham University of Edinburgh University of Cambridge: Judge University of Warwick University of Zurich Vlerick Leuven Business School Westminster Business School

NORTHERN EUROPE Aalto University of Economics BI Norwegian School of Management Copenhagen Business School Hanken School of Economics Oulu Business School Stockholm School of Economics University of Gothenburg

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2012 Spring MBA Rankings SOUTHERN EUROPE SDA Bocconi University American College Skopje University of Bologna: Alma University of Pisa

EASTERN EUROPE Bucharest School of Management CEU Business School GFKM Polish Open University Riga Business School Sarajevo Graduate School of Business University American College Skopje University of Lodz US Business School Praha

NORTH AFRICA Cape Breton University German University in Cairo Regional IT Institute: Maastricht

SOUTH AFRICA Eastern & Southern African Management Institute Milpark Business School North-West University RAU University Regent Business School Stellenbosch University Wits University UNISA University University of Cape Town University of Durban-Westville University of Nairobi University of Pretoria University of the Free State

EASTERN ASIA Aoyama Gakuin University Asian Institute of Technology China Europe International Business School Chinese University of Hong Kong City University of Hong Kong Hitotsubashi University Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Keio University Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology University of Hong Kong Waseda University

SOUTH ASIA AND OCEANIA Asian Institute of Management Chicago Graduate School of Business INSEAD Macquarie Graduate School of Management University of Melbourne Nanyang Technological University National University of Singapore The University of New South Wales University of Auckland University of Canterbury University of New England University of Queensland Victoria University of Wellington

NORTH AMERICA Carnegie Mellon: Tepper Columbia University Cornell University: Johnson University of Denver: Daniels Dartmouth College: Tuck Duke University: Fuqua

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Emory University: Goizueta Fordham University: GSB Georgetown: McDonough Georgia State University: Robinson Harvard University HEC Montreal Indiana University: Kelley Kent State University Massachusetts Institute Technology: Sloan Northwestern University: Kellogg Princeton University Purdue University: Krannert Rutgers Business School Stanford University The University of Texas at Austin: McCombs Thunderbird School of Global Management UCLA: Anderson University of Arizona: Eller University of British Columbia: Sauder University of California Berkeley: Haas UC San Diego: Rady University of Chicago: Booth University of Michigan: Ross University of North Carolina: Kenan-Flagler University of Notre Dame University of Pennsylvania: Wharton University of Washington : Foster University of Wisconsin-Madison University Texas at Austin: McCombs Vanderbilt University: Owen Washington University in St. Louis: Olin Yale University

EXECUTIVE MBA Programme Global MBA Rankings (Tier One) Aalto University School of Economics Arizona State University: Carey Ashridge AVT Baylor University Bradford University Brigham Young University: Marriott China Europe International Business School Chinese University of Hong Kong City University: Cass College of William and Mary: Mason Columbia University Concordia University: Molson Copenhagen Business School Cranfield University Drexel University: LeBow Duke University: Fuqua Durham University EADA Emory University: Goizueta ENPC School of International Management Erasmus University: RSM ESCP Europe Essec Business School FIA Fordham University: GSB Georgetown University: McDonough Georgia State University: Robinson Henley Business School Hong Kong University of Science & Technology IAE Business School IE Business School IMD Imperial College INSEAD Kent State University KoĂ§ University

London Business School Lorange Institute of Business Zurich Loyola University Maryland: Sellinger LSE Michigan State University: Broad National Taiwan University College of Management National University of Singapore New York University: Stern Northwestern University: Kellogg Ohio State University: Fisher Pepperdine University: Graziadio Princeton University Purdue University: Krannert Rice University: Jones Rollins College: Crummer Rutgers Business School Suffolk University: Sawyer Stockholm School of Economics Temple University: Fox TiasNimbas Thunderbird School of Global Management UCLA: Anderson Universidad Panamericana: IPADE University College Dublin: Smurfit University of California Berkeley: Haas University of California Irvine: Merage University of Cambridge: Judge University of Chicago: Booth University of Denver: Daniels University of Maryland: Smith University of Miami University of Michigan: Ross University of Minnesota: Carlson University of Navarra: IESE University of Oxford: SaĂŻd University of Pennsylvania: Wharton University of Rochester: Simon University of Strathclyde University of St.Gallen University of Texas at Austin: McCombs University of Texas at Dallas University of Toronto: Rotman University of Washington: Foster University of Western Ontario: Ivey University of Zurich Villanova School of Business Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School Warwick Business School Washington University: Olin York University: Schulich

PART-TIME Global MBA rankings (Tier One) Carnegie Mellon: Tepper City University: Cass Drexel: LeBow Elon University: Love Georgia State: Robinson HEC Paris ISEG Northwestern University: Kellogg Rice University: Jones University of Richmond: Robins SMU: Cox The University of Chicago: Booth The University of Nebraska: Lincoln UCLA: Anderson University of California Berkeley: Haas University of Edinburgh University of Michigan: Ross USC: Marshall Westminster Business School

European MBA Review

Is CSR’s credibility Doing well by doing good is getting a bad reputation.... just when we really need it.

orporate social responsibility… and your eyes glaze. You’re not alone. Last October, I saw a lecture hall full of members and guests of the INSEAD Alumni Sustainability Roundtable who almost unanimously raised their hands in support of a proposal that “corporate social responsibility” should disappear from our lexicon. Even people who walk the CSR talk want another brand. There are other signs that CSR – a movement that began in the 1950s, and that accelerated sharply in the 21st century – is in trouble. Over the past year a number of executives from recognised corporate leaders in the CSR field visited INSEAD to describe their companies’ initiatives, or simply to learn what others are doing. Yet the single most striking moment in all these events came when Javier Irarrazaval, Managing Director for the Walt Disney Company (Chile), told a keynote session at the 10th annual colloquium of the Academy for Business in Society (EABIS) at INSEAD last October that the fundamental issue for CSR is “credibility”. Quite simply, he said, people outside business do not believe that firms care about the well-being of society. The late Milton Friedman saw this coming in 1970, when he famously declared that executives who promote CSR are engaged in “hypocritical window-dressing”. Two generations and countless firm-level CSR programmes later, Friedman’s distrust is general. Did you believe Lloyd Blankfein as the financial crisis gained momentum, and he claimed that Goldman Sachs is “doing God’s work”? Would you have found him more credible if he merely said, “We’re doing well by doing good”?

The widening backlash to CSR CSR window-dressing is lately generating a growing popular and scholarly backlash. The California Management Review reported this winter that in one way or another, 95 per cent of products that claim to be “green”… are not. The popular backlash shows up on websites like http://gawker.com: “Companies these days love to sell you their crap by assuring you that simply by purchasing their crap you are not just

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purchasing crap – you are actually doing good. In fact, if you don’t purchase their crap, you likely suffer from a severe moral defect.” Within business, CSR has another kind of credibility problem: no one has proven that it contributes to the top and bottom lines. The best research we could find, a meta-analysis of CSR elements evoked in 167 studies, concluded that their “overall effect… on corporate financial performance is positive.” However, the effect appeared weak. So why does CSR persist? On the one hand, as scholar Jem Bendell argues, CSR is driven by individuals trying to change corporations “in accordance with their personal commitment to public goals and the expectations of wider society”. A number of leaders and emerging leaders of firms are sincerely concerned that unless some significant changes take place on a number of fronts, businesses and societies alike are headed for a long dark age. Thus CEO Pierre Nanterme of Accenture recently told INSEAD Knowledge that “convergence” of firms, NGOs and governments is inevitable, because solving issues like climate change clearly requires resources beyond any of these sectors acting on its own: “They have no other options”. We agree, but this transition will be very risky for business. Consider the fate of John Browne, the former CEO of BP plc. At the beginning of the past decade he was called the “Sun King”, thanks to bold declarations that there is “a direct link between business success and environmental progress”, and that “the application of all the normal methods of doing good business to meet the challenges” facing society would solve them. Then came the Texas City explosion of 2005, and BP was on the way to becoming a symbol of business hubris and destructiveness, a reputation cemented by the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe of 2010. People who feel differently are rare these days, but they include UN Assistant Secretary General Henrietta Elizabeth Thompson, a confirmed environmentalist, who went out of her way in a recent interview for INSEAD Knowledge to say “very much” that one shouldn’t dismiss Browne’s past efforts out of hand.

INSEAD Knowledge: CSR

swiftly reversing?

The California Management Review reported this winter that in one way or another, 95 per cent of products that claim to be “green”… are not.

Stakeholders to the rescue? Meanwhile, a different approach to CSR is emerging. The key idea is that CSR is not just about doing good, it’s about creating stakeholder networks based on values and objectives, in which each member insists that the others maintain certain ethical and professional standards as a condition of doing business. This vision is at once cross-cultural – we’ve seen it at Hayleys of Sri Lanka, as well as Europe’s Unilever – and consistent with existing best practices. Thus a new book, Leveraging Corporate Responsibility, proposes that stakeholder-based marketing can secure competitive advantage, on condition that the firm demonstrates its “usefulness” to stakeholders. A stakeholder-based approach to CSR implies a partial solution to the inevitable credibility problem, because stakeholders are at once harder to convince, better informed than the public, and more loyal when interests converge. It also helps resolve the bottom line issue: If the choice is between joining a stakeholder network and losing the business, the benefits are easier to see. Whatever we call it, we need an ideal that gives more people a reason to accept business values as legitimate. Last August, when the BBC asked home-burning London rioters who they were revolting against, a girl answered: “Rich people – the people who’ve got businesses.” A growing share of society – some claim as high as 99 per cent– is holding business responsible for inequality, for crisis, for injustice; whether that is fair or not, business will have to deal with it. Is CSR the perfect tool or name for this process? No. Is there a better one in sight? Not yet, but if you find it, we’re listening. Acknowledgements – with special thanks to Mark Lee Hunter, Adjunct Professor at INSEAD Social Innovation Centre.

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THEPRO F?

CHICAGO BOOTH HAS BEENBOOTH CALLED CHICAGO THE TOP HAS BEENBUSINESS CALLED SCHOOL THE THE TOP IN BUSINESS WORLD. IN WETHE ASKED SCHOOL WHY? WHAT’S WORLD. WE ASKED THE WHY?PROOF? WHAT’S 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 business schools. Of course, we intend to stay at the top of the field, The factmore that we question every answer and unrivaled test every philosophy result is what but our serious commitment is to our of put us in thisand position in thethe firstnext place. Our rigorous approach and stimulating educating generation of innovative minds. free market thinking teach how to think, notawhat to think. It’s Chicago Booth—more than people just a business school, business force. an approach that has led to some pretty amazing results, including 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.

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Sussex MBA Photo: Dominic Alves BRIGHTON CLOCK TOWER

Still Standing Out from the Crowd after 50 Years of Leading Innovative Research Alexandra Skinner meets Ian Davidson, David Green, Martin Meyer, Michael Hopkins, Sally Atkinson, Mike Herd, Kevin Grant, Katie Floyd and Adele Browne » Introduction

You first offered the Sussex MBA in the 2010/11 academic year. What was the thinking behind this addition to your academic programme menu? ID: If we are going to be a leading school of busi-

ness management and economics then we must have an MBA programme. It’s a different sort of programme and is more hands-on than a masters; it gets us more corporate engagement, which is an important part of where we want to be, and we also believe that we can offer something quite different. We have some very interesting expertise within the school, and we really wanted to draw on all of that knowledge and incorporate it into our offering. The timing was also right for us. Following the collapse of the banking sector, business schools could have been criticised for not providing the right sort of framework and education for those going into business management professions.

We’re a new player and so can enter the market with a clean slate, and take a really critical perspective. We want to use the research that we’ve done, in particular within Science and Technology Policy Research (SPRU), to challenge vocational management theories and assumptions. We’re bringing in new tools and explanations, and are very critical of a lot of established theories. This allows us to emphasise the failings of some of the entrenched institutions. Sussex University is traditionally associated with interdisciplinary programmes and research and we have real strengths in this area. We want to have a programme that’s not just text book based, but draws on our strengths in research. Our research is quite unique, especially in areas such as sustainability. We’re not jumping on the sustainability bandwagon - it’s something that SPRU has been doing for about 40 years. We have very strong policy engagement in areas such as energy and climate change, which clearly face

businesses today in a very real way. We are very committed as a research unit in SPRU with the policy system and are often involved in engaging parliament select committees and government ministers. We have a very outward looking agenda rather than a purely inward looking academic agenda. We want to bring a flavour of the wider context that people in the MBA will have to face once they get out into the business world. DG: When we were designing the MBA around

the AMBA framework, we wanted to draw into it as much ‘Sussexness’ and as many diverse influences as possible. Michael Hopkins developed and led the very first module - Economic, Social, Political and Cultural Environment. We also pulled in colleagues such as Mike Herd from the business incubation unit at the Sussex Innovation Centre, and Sally Atkinson from research and enterprise where we have a tradition of events, such as enterprise. We want to work with the best

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see this as a great way of actually keeping staff where they perhaps couldn’t afford to pay more, and senior managers will be able to get involved with the strategy of the business. It’s a good way of cementing things together, driving ambition, building other ideas and putting a practical edge on the MBA as well.

The Sussex MBA Offering

Your MBA is a part-time programme held over three years. Please can you give an overview of the offering and its key areas of focus to our readers? ID: We have included the irreducible core of

CURRENT STUDENTS FROM THE FIRST EMBA EDITION

that Sussex has in a framework that is compliant, credible and competitive. When I was undertaking the detail of the MBA framework, there was a lot of fuss in the press as CASS and Imperial were saying that universities must respond to the crisis and build ethics into MBA programmes. We don’t do this - it runs through everything that we do. There’s no discreet CSR or ethics module. These values underpin all of our courses and thinking.

As a new MBA provider, feedback from both students and companies will be vital. How well has the MBA been received thus far? SA: I think that awareness of the Sussex MBA

grew very quickly. Many of the business students

We want to challenge vocational management theories and assumptions. We’re bringing in new tools and explanations, and are very critical of a lot of established theories. This allows us emphasise the failings of some of the entrenched institutions. who come to Enterprise Thursdays were aware of it from the beginning and were excited to hear that Sussex had developed in this way. The undergraduates were looking for a relevant course that meant that they could stay in Sussex after they completed their first degrees, but of course they would need to gain the necessary managerial experience first before they were eligible to apply. We do get a lot of different subject courses represented at our events, but I think that the types of students that we attract are those that do want that little bit extra. They’re opportunity spotters and the MBA is something that was definitely on their horizon. MH: One of the key issues that I have to face

VERONICA WONG AND MIKE HERD

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what constitutes an MBA programme, which is required for AMBA accreditation. This covers the standard key business areas including operations, marketing and finance and accounting. I think that there is more flavouring in the choice of elec-

is that we have an incredibly innovative community that doesn’t work. They get to a point where the idea is well beyond the potential of the ambition. When we started talking about what an MBA could do within the innovation centre, we decided to look at how we could use it to raise the bar within management teams, many of whom haven’t been managers or run businesses before. We wanted to use the MBA to develop a team of people, or a company, rather than an individual. We received very positive feedback when we talked about the idea with companies that we have a relationship with. People can see it will underpin their own ambitions and help them to realise the potential of their ideas. Firms also

tives, which we are still working on. We have had interest from other departments at the university; the Medical School is keen to get involved, as is the School of Psychology, which Sussex is very well known for, so topics such as organisational psychology, which ties in with organisational behaviour, we want to exploit. Our School of Engineering is also interested, particularly in the area of operations management, which is a key MBA discipline. This links in with the idea of Sussex being interdisciplinary, and we want to maintain that.

Sussex MBA

DG: In terms of being interdisciplinary, we have colleagues from across the schools providing input into different courses. We didn’t offer any modular masters degrees prior to this, and we didn’t allow people to come and go within modules and courses. This has resulted in a new fee structure, and the MBA format has tested every aspect of the university. To achieve that sort of singularity of purpose, which is the trajectory of the individual participant, we’ve had to stretch ourselves. MH: The idea is that it’s a two to three year pro-

gramme, but that we’re flexible up to five years. This means that people who are attracted to our programme, but may not be able to work the two or three year option, can still come to us. At the other end of the scale, it can be completed in two years or even in one year on a full-time basis.

DG: Each module or course runs for roughly

three months. This means that through the process of getting validation for a three year programme, by the time we get to year three we’ll actually have a fulltime programme, as we’ll have a year one running, a year two running and a year three running, all phased by a couple of weeks. So without actually intending to, we’ve created a part-time programme, which could also be done on a full-time basis in a year, when we get to our third edition. The elective programme fortuitously coincides with an initiative across the university to have all courses carrying the same credit tariff. So there are a huge number of 15 credit courses that can be electives on the MBA. They don’t have to be taught, necessarily, in the MBA manner; we could put MBA participants onto the courses of other programmes. We’re very indebted to the School of Education and Social Work who, I was tipped off, had a validated and innovative modular structure for a masters degree. They have a similar approach to the MBA, as they have a

EMBA STAFF, FACULTY AND STUDENTS IN FRONT OF THE NEW ACADEMIC BUILDING PROJECT

Under Ian’s leadership, the school and departments have been recruiting extensively and, as a result, the leading professors in their fields teach here. particular professional environment that they are trying to connect with where people have a lot of prior experience but require certification and top-up.

Please can you outline the type of executive that the programme is designed for in terms of age, industry background, experience and ambition? ID: The MBA is designed for anyone who has the

competence to come in. We want a mix of people. One of the things with an MBA programme is that it is a shared learning experience. With the first intake we have a banker, a couple of entrepreneurs, some senior managers from the NHS, so it’s a good mix. I think that’s what you want really – throw a bit of red meat at the wolves, give them a case study, and you’ll have all of the different experiences and opinions brought to the table so that they are able to learn from each other. That’s a very important component. We want a good mix of people with serious managerial experience from a variety of backgrounds. We expect students to have a first degree, but it is also a question of having people with sufficient experience, so someone that has been in business for a minimum of three years as they have a lot to bring to the table in terms of adding to the shared learning experience.

DG: We’ve set entry requirements that reflect a top level MBA programme, and Ian and I interview each student before they come onto the programme. For the first intake we made 20 offers and rejected 50 applicants. Many of the 50 that we rejected were international students who were unable to qualify, either because of their visa or a lack of experience. We now have a very strong and balanced cohort. We’re just about to launch quite a major marketing campaign for the next intake. We have four courses a year with the main intake in March, so although we have flexible entry and exit points, we do have year cohorts.

Accreditation can be extremely valuable for a school’s MBA in terms of reflecting a benchmark that has been met and enhancing the reputation of the offering. What are your plans with regards to this? ID: It’s early days for us. I’ve sat on a number

of AMBA panels, as well as chairing them from time to time, so I’m very familiar with the requirements. We can’t seek AMBA accreditation until we have students who have graduated. AMBA accreditation isn’t absolutely essential, but it is a ‘Kitemark’ of sorts. We will apply for it when we are ready, as it will also be important to the students and companies that we are attracting.

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management expertise, but by and large it is very much a shared activity across the school and I think that the students appreciate this spirit very much – it’s very authentic. ID: Entrepreneurship is a very important part

of what we do here, and we have very good research and people in this area. It’s a traditional strength of the university and we will continue to develop it.

Working in Partnership with Business

Q MARTIN MEYER, IAN DAVIDSON, SALLY ATKINSON, VERONICA WONG AND MIKE HERD

I think that we will eventually go for AACSB and EQUIS accreditations as well, probably in that order. We are a top 100 university in the THE international rankings, which puts us ahead of all but a handful of UK universities, and we will continue to trade on that for the moment. DG: Under Ian’s leadership, the school and departments have been recruiting extensively and, as a result, the leading professors in their fields teach here. We are quite ambitious and we’re setting ourselves amongst CASS, Warwick and Imperial, so we’re not shy about our expectations. MM: We have no problem attracting high quality teachers. We’ve just completed the process of recruiting 17 new faculty members for the department of business and management, many of whom can be found on the MBA programme. We’re looking to recruit another seven people to compliment our strengths and explore new areas. We are all geared up to expand.

capitalists and/or highly successful entrepreneurs. It’s a combination of these elements that will keep the practitioner-informed theory and apply real experience and knowledge. It’s more actioncentred and in the work place, although, of course, there is an academic focus. Given the level of the qualification, there must be rigour and robustness. MM: Entrepreneurship and innovation is a

shared theme between departments in the school. The department of business and management is a rather recent development set up during a restructuring of the university. The four or five founding members came from SPRU and we carry this tradition with us. This is why you find that our programme starts with a course that is shared amongst members from the entire school, and this is the sort of spirit which we see emerge and develop throughout the programme. There are obviously courses and modules that are drawn more to specific areas of business and

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had a visit from Toyota recently. They approached us as they wanted to recruit undergraduate placement students and so they came to do a presentation. We have created placement Mondays as a format for this. When we talked about the MBA to the HR Director it was very well received. There is a strong regional theme and so they were very interested to hear that we were now offering an MBA. Brighton is a real magnet for people, and with the Gatwick Diamond it is amazing how many businesses want to look locally for a non-London solution.

KF: The fact that the MBA is modular, new and relatively small has meant that the development team can be extraordinarily responsive to their changing understanding, as what the market expects from the programme is changing all of the time. Working on it from a marketing point of view, with the lead-time and internal processes that are involved, the pace has felt much more rapid on the MBA. It’s been very much focussed on ‘what is Sussex’, and not losing that identity. ID: Companies want to up-skill their staff and

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? KG: We’re working with our colleagues from

SPRU, who are specialists in the management of intellectual property, to get a good mix between craft and science. We’re looking at innovation in terms of the entire process, with a combination of the academic, operational strategic views and how to actually go about it. The second part of it is looking at how to protect the intellectual property, which is where we draw on the knowledge in SPRU. The third dimension is more of a practitioner focus, and uses theories to understand why things did or didn’t work. We will bring in motivational speakers from leading venture

To what extent are you liaising with local and national businesses is order to understand the ROI expectations of employers and how much influence do these businesses have on the structure of your MBA offering? DG: We liaise extensively with businesses. We

sometimes improve retention. Investment in staff through an MBA is a good way of keeping good employees. Many companies no longer have training departments so, in a sense, what the MBA is doing is becoming part of what would have been their in-house training, but in such a way that they interact with those from other organisations as well and get a shared learning experience.

You offer The Company MBA, giving firms the opportunity to enrol employees on a module-by-module basis. Please can you further expand on this offering? DG: The Company MBA is something quite

MARTIN MEYER

distinctive. We’re cutting across the grain of the over-individuality of an MBA as training

Sussex MBA

for the student’s next job. So, for example, we don’t have a big careers theme running through our programme as we’re mainly dealing with either entrepreneurs or those who are already employed and are looking to develop within their organisation. Research and enterprise is a key division of Sussex that is involved in all aspects of all of the schools. Externally, one of the main drivers for launching this programme when we did was that one of our customers, the NHS Partnership Trust, is going through a major series of changes. Their director of business development had recently done an MBA, and he wanted to find an MBA that would allow him to develop his commercial teams in every aspect of the Partnership Trust. We’re now helping them to create a new sense of management responsibility, entrepreneurship and ownership of processes within their organisation, and this is a really significant national initiative. MH: We have many companies on our doorstep that are potentially customers, but they’re also laboratories for us to learn from as well. It’s really about making sure that we are invested in them as well as them investing their time and money in us. This is what we are working towards, and it’s a good way of making sure that we are always grounded. DG: We’ve also been talking to Bill Jones at

Wired Sussex, which is an organisation of over 2000 members focussing on digital and broadcast media. It’s a group that we’re very interested in engaging with. We’re talking to big organisations such as the NHS and banks, but also smaller firms such as the incubation section and the wider SME community. We’re engaging with organisations such as Gatwick Diamond, which gets us into organisations such as KPMG and

FLOCK OF STARLINGS OVER THE WEST PIER IN BRIGHTON AT SUNSET

We have many companies on our doorstep that are potentially customers, but they’re also laboratories for us to learn from as well. It’s really about making sure that we are invested in them as well as them investing their time and money in us. PWC who are very warmly disposed towards us. It’s very much a work in progress and we are working on all fronts to develop it.

The Next Step

What can we expect from Sussex University over the next twelve to eighteen months? ID: One of the main focuses for us will be to

develop the MBA electives, and we’ll talk to our students to find out what is interesting for them in respect of their future careers. We may also look at developing executive education further and offer short courses, and this is part of a wider game plan for the school. There are various ways that you can offer these, one of which is through graduate induction programmes.

BIOGRAPHIES ★ Professor Ian Davidson is Head of the School of Business, Management and Economics at Sussex University.

★ David Green is Director of Business Engagement and Associate tutor for the School of Business Management and Economics at Sussex University. ★ Martin Meyer is Head of Business and Management at Sussex University. ★ Michael Hopkins is Senior Lecturer for SPRU and the School of Business and Management at Sussex University.

★ Sally Atkinson is Student Enterprise Manager for the Department of Business and Enterprise at Sussex University. ★ Mike Herd is Executive Director of the Sussex Innovation Centre at Sussex University.

★ Kevin Grant is Lecturer of Business and Innovation at Sussex University. ★ Katie Floyd is Senior Internal Liaison Ofﬁcer for Student Recruitment Services at Sussex University. ★ Adele Browne is Placement Ofﬁcer for the School of Business, Management and Economics at Sussex University.

Here companies can put recently employed graduates on management programmes. You can also offer courses at a senior executive level, which would involve re-skilling and continuing professional development for accountants, lawyers and those in HR. DG: We will also be developing the placement programme, which is piloting this year and is being driven by Adele. Eventually we will be looking at 300-400 students per annum going out for one year professional placements. This also creates another way in which we frequently engage with companies, and hopefully will open up further opportunities. We anticipate that 50 per cent of placements will result in permanent employment, with the 50 per cent that doesn’t being those students who realise that perhaps they may want to do something different. Our alumni are massively important to us – they span 50 years and are located all over the world. We will be pushing out a message through the alumni so that we can be closer to what everyone is doing. AB: I contacted two or three of our alumni in Melbourne for a student who wanted to do a placement out there, and the response has been amazing – they’ve gone to such great lengths to use all of their contacts to help this student. This came through the international consul network, and these are alumni who have agreed to help students who want to do work in those countries. DG: There is a wonderful amount of Sussex goodwill out there, and we have to exploit it. We want to leverage on the good feelings of people that have been to Sussex, and who want to help.

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The ISCTE Energy MBA Semester at Columbia University, NYC Alexandra Skinner talks to Silas Harbo Âť

he Columbia University experience, offered through the ISCTE Energy MBA, has become a cornerstone in my professional and personal development. The high quality of the professors and colleagues, and the general pressure for performance, were decisive in making the time at Columbia so tremendously fruitful. Academically, the strong focus from the professors on developing thorough and solid arguments, and the ability to present and defend them was a great addition to the academic training that I have been exposed to in Europe. Coming from a very theoretical economic school in Copenhagen, Columbia had a more pragmatic orientation which made it much more fun and easy to take things straight into use in a professional setting, and to be able to comply with future requirements in a professional job as an analyst, consultant, or manager in the field of energy. On a personal level, I enjoyed being around other ambitious students focused on energy related topics from many different perspectives, and with a variety of experiences to contribute. There is an immense learning opportunity in the everyday interaction, and indeed in the group works and presentations that students deliver. The school is competitive, but not necessarily opportunistic. Prospective students can expect to receive world-class teaching by highly capable and motivated professors that are able to actually assist

As a result of The Energy MBA, I managed to land a dream position as a consultant at an energy business and policy analysis group where I started straight after graduation. you in learning complex teachings. There is focus on taking the issues all of the way, from identifying a problem, analysing the relevant issues, to discovering the most powerful solutions and presenting an outcome in a comprehensive and convincing manner. From a comprehensive selection of high quality courses, the ISCTE Energy MBA has established a great programme that provides students with an open choice of four to six elective courses from the energy concentration at the School of International Public Affairs at Columbia. The list involves everything from urban energy systems and environmental conflict resolution, to quantitative disciplines such as energy modeling and renewable energy project finance. As a result of The Energy MBA, I managed to land a dream position as a consultant at an energy business and policy analysis group where

I started straight after graduation. To me there is no doubt that the analytical capabilities obtained at Columbia were decisive in achieving that position. Their approach to analysing markets, identifying challenges and developing solutions and strategies, that solves even very complex problems within the energy field, obviously helped to impress and convince the interviewers.

BIOGRAPHY

NEW YORK CITY

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â&#x2DC;&#x2026; Silas Harbo is a Consultant for the Analyst Task Force at the Danish Energy Association. Silas is a 2012 graduate of The Energy MBA at ISCTE in Lisbon, Portugal.

LISBON

youcuting-edgeideas ndpracti esandtakeyourcare rto henextlev l. Your market is changing. Your competition Your market is changing. is changing.

Vistusw w.gsb.columbia.edu/embaorcal usat212.854.171 Your organization Your competition is changing. is changing.

And you? Your organization What are you changing? is changing.

And you? What are youBusiness changing? The Columbia School Executive MBA Program The decision to pursue an MBA is a defining moment in the life of high potential executives looking to enhance their expertise without interrupting their careers. Learn how the Columbia Business School Executive MBA programâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s innovative curriculum, collaborative learning environment outstanding faculty willProgram give The Columbia Business Schooland Executive MBA you cutting-edge ideas and practices and take your career to the next level. The decision to pursue an MBA is a defining moment in the life of high potential executives looking to enhance their expertise interrupting their careers. Visit us www.gsb.columbia.edu/emba or callwithout us at 212.854.1711 Learn how the Columbia Business School Executive MBA programâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s innovative curriculum, collaborative learning environment and outstanding faculty will give you cutting-edge ideas and practices and take your career to the next level. Visit us www.gsb.columbia.edu/emba or call us at 212.854.1711

European MBA Review

Living and Studying

in Aachen

Alexandra Skinner, CEO Magazine » Introduction

Industry

WTH University is situated in the beautiful city of Aachen. Aachen is Germany’s westernmost city, bordering Belgium and the Netherlands. With a population of just under 260,000, it is said that if you stopped pedestrians in the street, one in four will be connected to the university in some way! The city’s title actually means ‘water’ and stems from the name the Romans gave its now infamous hot sulphur springs, Aquis-Granum. The Romans discovered Aachen’s spas, and the springs were used not only for bathing and their therapeutic properties, but also as a social meeting place for Roman legionnaires to come together and discuss matters. Today, this 2,000 year old tradition of bathing remains popular and visitors can enjoy this historic pastime at the Carolus Thermen thermal spas. After the fall of Rome, Aachen became part of the Holy Roman Empire, with Charlemagne liking the area so much that he had a castle built there. The emperor often spent the winter in Aachen in order to take advantage of its hot springs. The chapel from his castle still remains in the city today, as part of Aachen Cathedral where Charlemagne’s remains are buried. The cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

There are around 73,000 companies in the region providing work for more than 363,000 employees. Manufacturing is the largest sector, with the main focus on the paper industry, mechanical engineering, the food industry, the chemical industry, and the production of rubber and plastic goods. Innovative industries profit from the transfer potential between industry and research in the area. The presence of RWTH Aachen University and the Fraunhofer Academy, along with the Jülich Research Centre, means that Aachen really stands out as an innovative technology location, and future-oriented companies such as Denso Automotive, Ericsson, Ford, Microsoft, and Saint-Gobain Sekurit all have offices and research centres based in the area.

A Strategic Location The Aachen region is well developed and lies centrally at the crossroads of several motorways between Düsseldorf, Brussels, and Eindhoven. Within an hour’s drive, the four international airports in Düsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn, Maastricht-Aachen, and Brussels, the high-speed network of the European railroads, and the ports on the Rhine and Maas rivers all ensure excellent transport connections. AACHEN CENTRAL SQUARE

AACHEN CATHEDRAL

Because of this central location in the heart of Europe, the people in the region are used to crossing borders. This is where Europe is lived. Multi-lingualism is part of everyday life here, as are cross-border projects, international business contacts, and university co-operations.

Popular Pass-times Germany is a country known for its love of sports, and Aachen fits right into that mould. The city is home to over 200 different sports clubs offering everything from yoga to horseback riding. The city also has several ice rinks, golf courses, tennis courts and gyms. Professional sports also have a prominent place in Aachen, one of the most popular being football. The city’s team, Alemannia, whose home games are played at Tivoli Stadium, is very popular with the locals. Horse jumping is also popular here, with several professional events being held in the city each year. In 2006 Aachen was also host to the World Equestrian Games. Aachen is home to a few different festivals over the course of the year. During the Christmas season, the city hosts the Christmas Market. Attracting visitors from all over Europe and North America, the Christmas Market offers stalls selling all types of handmade crafts and traditional food, including the popular potato fritters, in the town’s historic centre, as well as live entertainment in the form of dancing and music.

BIOGRAPHY ★ Alexandra Skinner is the Group Editor-in-Chief of the International Graduate Forum and CEO Magazine.

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RWTH MBA

Teaching Germany’s Leading Engineers the Fundamentals of Top Business Management Alexandra Skinner talks to Professor Schuh » The RWTH Difference Kindly define your MBA value proposition and the target group you service.

The RWTH MBA is an Executive MBA (EMBA) designed for top engineers and natural science professionals with strong industry experience. All of our students come from significant senior and leading positions within their firms, and this is a key feature of the programme. The EMBA aims to give them the solid general management skills that they are unlikely to learn within the technical roles that they are employed to do.

Although your EMBA offering is an on-campus programme, to what extent are e-learning tools utilised?

We don’t use e-learning tools, and this has been an active decision. We are quite convinced that the basic skills we teach are those that come through a very high level of interaction and that this is the right approach, not only from a contents, marketing, strategy and financial engineering standpoint, but we believe it is also the best way to deal with any top management topic. In professional roles, decisions are made on the basis of agreements in smaller social groups and through discussion, and so we mirror this in class.

Can you talk about the relationship you enjoy with the University of St. Gallen and the impact and benefit this relationship has on the curriculum and student experience at RWTH?

Actually, I was a professor at the University of St. Gallen, and I was heavily involved in their EMBA programme. During my involvement I became convinced of the positive effects and the quality of that programme. With the help of the University of St. Gallen we were able to establish an EMBA programme at RWTH. As a technical university this is arguably something that we would not have been able to do without their assistance. Even now, the genes, the basic ideas and the general structure of the programme are still the structure that the University of St. Gallen established and used. I loved their programme and felt strongly that we needed to

THE 'SUPER C' STUDENT SERVICE CENTRE

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in a technical environment, and they have two days to work on that. We want to make sure that these skills are developed within the individual as they are vital for the MBA. 2. The second phase involves psychological tests looking at the personality and behavioural traits of the individual. We don’t use this as a basis to refuse potential students, but to ensure that we have an appropriate balance within the cohort. We have so much discussion in the programme, so it is important that the cohort members fit together. The tests allow us to look at the potential make-up of the group and to see if we need to neutralise the cohorts if there are several strong personalities or alpha-types.

PROFESSOR SCHUH

have it for our engineers and former engineers. Naturally we adapted it to have more of a focus on the skills that an engineer in a management position requires. You currently offer an international study trip to Aisa. Can you expand upon the aforementioned options students are given and why you have chosen the destinations in question?

We decided, from the beginning, to keep the options open as we wanted the cohorts to decide where the destinations for our international trips should be. More often than not this would be Asia. We don’t go on the same trips each year, and next year we will be going to Beijing and Osaka. These trips are very heavy on learning, and are not just about industry sightseeing.

(a). Typically, what can students expect from RWTH, in terms of class sizes and student-professor interaction?

We are not interested in increasing class sizes for profitability reasons, and our admission standards remain high. We have had situations in the past where some of our selected students were unable to start the course due to work commitments and we were unable to fill their places because we didn’t want to compromise on our minimum requirements. Our students are of a very high quality, and I receive feedback to confirm this from my good friends at St. Gallen in Switzerland; whenever they teach our course they always tell me that our students stand out as being highly qualified.

CEO

As discussed, we are not running our programme for profitability reasons, it’s a programme owned by the university and we run it for strategic reasons. Class sizes are between 15 and 25 students, and we will stick to that irrespective of the number of applicants we receive and the number of students who pass our admissions tests.

(b). Can you walk me through the admission process at RWTH?

The process starts with a period, typically of five to six months, where we receive applications from students who are considering studying at RWTH. This is an unofficial but very tough part of the admissions procedure as we look at the applicant’s academic degree, their professional and management experience, and their references from managers and directors at their place of work. Following this, the official admissions procedure starts for those who meet the criteria, and this is a three-step approach. 1. We deliver, electronically, a tough case study to each applicant and give him or her a very limited period of time to find a solution to a business problem. It typically covers the technology options involved in decision-making

3. In the final phase we collate all of that input, the formal application, the case study, the psychological profile, and then a member of the management team will have a final one-hour interview with the applicant to conclude. Here we ask any questions that we may have about issues that we have recognised in the earlier stages, as well as digging further into their motivation for wanting to undertake an MBA. It is also important to ascertain whether they have clarified all of the stress and workload for the next two years with their company, with their partner and with their family. We need to discover whether they are really ready for that and prepared mentally, because otherwise they won’t survive. Not everyone makes it through to the third stage, and some people are scared-off when presented with the business case, and they realise that they are unable to do it themselves. However, if a student doesn’t pull out, we wouldn’t suggest that they do so; we do that from our side after the interview. Unfortunately, that’s part of the process, and our procedure every year provides some applicants who are very nice and skilled people, but who aren’t ready yet. Our students are senior professionals, and some applicants are just too young, some are not pre-qualified and some are no, for now, but maybe later.

RWTH MBA

The profile that our MBA has in being designed for technical professionals provides an offering that is still quite rare.

HENRY KOBSCH (CENTRE), HEAD OF SALES AND MARKETING

Today’s (Executive) MBA

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?

For us, there hasn’t been a move as we have always had a 50 per cent focus on functional skills. We are very limited in terms of whom we accept onto our programme; we do not have business administration students, we have people who haven’t had an education in this area before, who are from an engineering and natural science background. This means that we have to teach them functional skills such as financial engineering and marketing. However, the negotiating platform and the discussion work are very much at the core of the programme, and capabilities such as working in a team or social group, providing solutions with significant answers under stress, and other professional, personal and behavioural skills feature heavily in the MBA. It’s very much 50-50 - we need to provide both, and we have done from the beginning, and we’ve proven that this is a very successful format.

Talking Points

The modern business world is becoming increasingly focused on the value of Corporate Social Responsibility. What is RWTH’s perspective on this element of contemporary business?

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the key issue with which we start the programme, and is an area that engineers really need to be taught and developed in. Engineers tend to understand an enterprise as a technical system, and so we start with two weeks of strategic management, which teaches them to understand an enterprise as a social system. This is what I think makes our programme very powerful. We strongly promote the viewpoint that a company doesn’t exist because of the shareholders, and we place a strong focus on all six stakeholders of a company and how to deal

Actually, we don’t feel much of an increase in competition. We are a special and different kind of programme; typically it’s law and business schools that offer an MBA, but we are a technical university. The profile that our MBA has in being designed for technical professionals provides an offering that is still quite rare. We never make any decreases in the number of credits required and, in fact, we would look at increasing it in those courses where we get feedback that they aren’t challenging enough. In this case, we would raise the standards across the board; we would increase the level of the programme, we would look at changing lecturers, and we would increase the exam difficulty.

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 and personal skills?

PROFESSOR SCHUH LECTURES ON THE EMBA

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All of our students come from significant senior and leading positions within their firms, and this is a key feature of the programme.

EMBA STUDENTS IN CLASS

with them. CSR is a key issue and it becomes even more so the higher you go up in management. We frequently have business talks delivered by well-respected guest speakers who come for one or two hours, or for a dinner, to explain to our students how they learnt this on their way into top management.

Looking Ahead

Over the next 12 to 18 months, what can new and existing students expect, in terms of programme innovations, from RWTH?

We are improving our internationalisation. At the moment, 80 per cent of our programmes are taught in German and 20 per cent are taught in English. We will look to increase this, particularly as the number of international subjects such as management, and the number of international subsidiaries that we have, are being increased. On the EMBA, we are planning to include more integrated cases in the programme so that students don’t have to look at so many different cases across different modules. Instead, there will be an overall link so that the integration grade of cases into the different functional and behavioural teaching blocks will be increased.

BIOGRAPHY ★ Professor G. Shuh is Chairman of the Production Systems department at the RWTH Aachen University and a member of the Board of Directors of the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology (IPT).

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The RWTH Helicopter View Alexandra Skinner talks to Helmut Dinger »

In your opinion, what separates RWTH from the competition?

RWTH University is a technologyorientated university that combines technology and management in a very specific and interesting way. Because of this, we are able to offer many disciplines where we can match the management side with the technology side of learning. This is very attractive to students; many of them come from technology-based companies, and so they are able to find their own language and knowledge base and combine it with a management perspective. Another interesting aspect is our co-operation with the University of St. Gallen, which is more of a managementbased school. By working in partnership we can combine their management knowledge with our technology expertise to bring excellence into our MBA programme. This gives us a really leading and competitive edge.

To what extent are you liaising with local and national businesses to try and understand the ROI expectations of companies, and how much influence do they have on the structure of your MBA?

We have many strong and long-lasting co-operations with companies, especially here in Germany. We keep in regular contact with them so that we know what their requirements are, the type of people they employ, and what their future requirements, in terms of resources, will be. We then transport that knowledge into our programme and curriculum and feed it back to our professors. We want to keep these relationships very active in a way that allows us to develop the programme.

Typically, what can students expect from RWTH in terms of class sizes and student-professor interaction? The class sizes are between 15 and 25 people in order to maintain the quality of the learning. We want to have a close co-operation between the professors, lecturers and the students. I believe that 50 per cent of learning comes from the lecture and 50 per cent you learn from the other students. It makes a lot of sense to have classes that aren’t too big in size, and this comes down to selection. We always try to bring people together who have a good fit, as then you can also ensure quality aspects within a programme.

Helmut Dinger is the Managing Director at RWTH International Academy.

Fraunhofer Academy IN PARTNERSHIP WITH RWTH AACHEN UNIVERSITY

Engineering EMBA Harmony Alexandra Skinner speaks to Dr. Roman Götter »

It is essential that we have the partnership with RWTH Aachen and that it is much wider ranging than just the EMBA programme. Introduction

You have partnered with RWTH Aachen University to offer an Executive MBA. What was the thinking behind this joint co-operation?

First of all, we are a research organisation and RWTH Aachen is an extremely important partner for us. Professor Schuh was really the person who started the programme; he is a professor at RWTH and is also a director at Fraunhofer. He runs an organisation of about 700 and is responsible, with three other colleagues, for the whole company. In addition, he has a background in management education. Our President, Prof. Bullinger, had delivered some sessions to students at RWTH and saw what a great programme it was, and that the content that they delivered was very much based on what Fraunhofer does. He thought it would be a good idea to have a co-operation in order to make the fact that Fraunhofer know-how is involved more visible. Fraunhofer started as an academy six years ago, with the aim of becoming visible and active in the area of training

expertise, at various levels. It is essential that we have the partnership with RWTH Aachen and that it is much wider ranging than just the EMBA programme.

The EMBA has received AACSB accreditation. How important do you feel it is for an MBA to be accredited and will you be seeking any further validation?

Accreditations are of course very important, as they demonstrate the quality that the school and the programme really have. Every programme at Fraunhofer Academy has accreditation. This is particularly important in Germany; we have different accreditation agencies and the AACSB is an internationally recognised brand. However, it is important to note that RWTH is a technical university, and is the first of it’s kind to get the AACSB accreditation, which is a great starting point. We consider this to be one of our unique selling points; we don’t just talk about innovation -we really know how to implement it. Again, we’ve partnered with St. Gallen, which has it’s own accreditation as well,

so the real business core of the programme is technically one of the best that you can get in Europe.

To what extent do you liaise with local and national businesses in order to understand the ROI expectations of employers and how much influence do these businesses have on the structure of your MBA offering?

The majority of this is done by the MBA team in Aachen alongside their partners in St. Gallen. If you look at the profile of students, they are increasingly coming from further afield and abroad, particularly with the latest 2012 applicants. We have good relationships with businesses – we recruit from them constantly with the team from the Aachen side, and give company presentations on a weekly basis. Those meetings really give us an understanding of what the companies really need, and what they are willing to invest, and so we are getting constant advice on how we can improve our programme on a regular basis.

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We don’t just talk about innovation – we really know how to implement it.

Of course times change; we started the programme more than eight years ago, in a very, very different world, and you have to react to that. We evaluate each and every session that we undertake, and based on that feedback, which we provide to the professors, we approve it for the next year. The EMBA is a small and elite programme, and other business schools probably have much larger classes. We would rather have one or two people less in a class than include those who do not meet our expectations. We get very good feedback from firms, in relation to how students’ performance has adapted at work.

The Fraunhofer Academy – a Wider View

Please can you detail your value proposition for our readers?

First of all, there are a few benefits that are common to all of the programmes; they are all designed for our customers who are professionals from industry and experts in their fields, and therefore have some prior knowledge. To meet the needs of this group, the programmes are all parttime, and our students expect to get knowledge first-hand from experts who are doing research on a daily basis, and who are able to translate and articulate their understanding in a way that really benefits the student directly, and resonates with industry needs. As a research organisation, we form a huge network of co-operating companies, and this is really key to our applied research and this benefits all of our customers.

The Fraunhofer Academy offering is divided into five themes. Please can you explain this in a little more detail?

When we started, we saw that a lot of our programmes were quite different, and so we separated them according to format rather than content into study courses, certificated courses of a week or more, and smaller seminars. We talked to our

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customers and found that they wanted to know what we had available according to their needs and work background, and so we now arrange our courses according to industry. Through this, we identified five main areas; Technology and innovation, Energy and sustainability, Logistics and production, Manufacturing and testing technology, and Information and Communication. We are currently discussing whether to find institutions that are interested in partnering with us to offer courses in these areas. We provide these essential services to entire organisations and help our partners to get their training, masters or MBA programmes to the market through our central services.

You offer ‘European Innovation Management IMP3rove’ seminars for medium sized companies. What do these involve?

This was a programme that was based with A.T. Kearney, a consultancy firm who focus a lot on innovation in medium-sized companies. It was a starting point and a programme sponsored by the European government to help SMEs to become more innovative. The co-operation was founded to come up with solutions specifically for smaller companies, and to train their experts to speed up innovation and improve their capabilities. Having done that for several years, and with good success, the consortium decided to create standardised trainings, and we agreed to include them as they were based on Fraunhofer research. We have been offering this for about a year now and we have trained several hundred people.

BIOGRAPHY ★ Dr. Roman Götter is Managing Director of the Fraunhofer Academy in Germany, partners of the RWTH Aachen EMBA.

The lecturers go into companies and there is a ‘train the trainer’ type of approach. Here you are not only getting a consultant to come into a firm - the consultant will teach the employees to continue to use their learnings, as innovation is a continuous process.

Looking Ahead

What can readers expect from the Fraunhofer Academy over the next 12 to 18 months?

We have a very good track record of improving and increasing our offerings year on year, and we have a pipeline of institutes talking to us about new initiatives. There is a large funding programme in Germany for the best lifelong learning organisations, and we are happy to have received one of these grants. This is a joint grant with two universities, which allows us to create quite a few new programmes. We were awarded €3 million over a period of three years to come up with new master programmes, but also smaller certificate programmes. We have focussed those on the area of sustainability, and in total there are six new programmes that are currently being developed. There are some smaller programmes that we expect to be piloted first, early 2013, and for the master programmes we would probably look at two years before we can get the first students enrolled. The Fraunhofer Academy started at the right time. Six years ago, people were thinking about problems and the crisis was kicking in, but we were really not affected; our approach of not just complaining about the shortage of experts, but of working on giving good people the latest understanding, is extremely popular. We were entering a new market, which was a great opportunity. We started off small, but now we have 17 institutes that co-operate with us, we offer 25 programmes and last year we trained about 1500 different people. We are still small, but for a research organisation, these figures are really something.

ISCTE MBA

The ISCTE Energy MBA – Students’ Perspective Alexandra Skinner talks to Tyler Wunsch, Carla Pimenta and João Ferreira

What was it about ISCTE’s MBA offering that made it stand out from its rivals? CP: The ISCTE Energy MBA is very different to other MBA programmes in Portugal. It is the only programme that combines the core subjects of an MBA with a focus on energy, and so it really highlighted itself to me. I felt that I wouldn’t learn as much with a straight MBA, and the Energy MBA seemed a lot more interesting. The trade-off of not working and taking a regular MBA was not well balanced for me, but this one fulfils all of the requirements that I wish to achieve.

JF: I applied to three different MBAs, one international and another in Portugal. I decided on ISCTE as it is very well known and regarded as being a top business school, but also because my education is too generalist. I felt that the specialisation offered at ISCTE would benefit my career more. TW: I’m from California and I’ve always been interested in Portuguese culture. I considered staying at home to study, but I knew that all of my case studies would draw on Portugal and so that really helped me to make my decision. Even though I work in oil and gas, I’m passionate about all sources of energy, and so wanted to come somewhere where I could further my learning in the area.

From this programme, I expect to be well versed in renewable energy, so that if I wanted to start my own venture and move into, say, wave technology, then I have the knowledge to be able to do so.

Before you began studying, what benefits did you anticipate the MBA would bring to your career path? CP: My employer, Energias de Portugal (EDP), encouraged me to take the MBA, as they believe that it will improve my knowledge in the field of energy and work well with my economics background. The fact that companies such as EDP are sending their employees to ISCTE reflects their belief and faith in this MBA. I’m convinced that my knowledge in the energy area will improve a lot, and I hope grow within the company upon completion.

JF: To quit a job to undertake an MBA is a big risk, but it was the right time for me. I have a very solid background and so it was a good opportunity for me to take a break to further my education and knowledge. This programme is a consolidation of the practical experience that I already have, and I really think that it will give me a step forward in my career to a more senior level role. TW: It’s because of my work experience that I knew that this was the path that I wanted to choose. I’ve become pretty

much an expert in the refining industry, and what you need in terms of operations and engineering, but I realised that it just wasn’t me. From this programme, I expect to be well versed in renewable energy, so that if I wanted to start my own venture and move into, say, wave technology, then I have the knowledge to be able to do so. Renewable energy is a global issue, and I want to gain an international approach that I can bring back to California.

What are your expectations, in terms of ROI? CP: Even though I am being funded, it is still an investment for me. I am pretty much away from work for a year and a half. For this period of time I won’t be able to keep informed about what is going on in the company, and I won’t be promoted and so I consider this an investment from my side as well. I believe this to be a great opportunity to position myself for a promotion when I complete.

JF: I have been in contact with several headhunters, and there is a good reception to the MBA. I think that the ROI is going to be really interesting, not only after graduating, but possibly even before. Personally speaking, I am expecting an interesting journey. For me, it’s a specialisation into a sector that I already have a few years experience, and afterwards I expect a well-paid position in a good company. TW: For me, it’s more about doing something that I love. Fortunately I have great rapport with the management team at BP. They knew that this was something that I wanted to do and so they supported me. I left with doors still open and so I feel that my ROI has already been met.

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a new way of doing business

International Master in Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility Lead Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility Projects • Devise Sustainability Strategies in private companies, international organizations and NGOs • Identify key indicators to evaluate strategies for Sustainability • Develop engagement strategies to effectively communicate with the different stakeholders Schedule Oct 2012 to Jul 2013 Place Madrid Dedication Full Time Length 700 hours Do you want to contribute to human development seeking to relieve poverty, satisfying the basic needs of all peoples and promoting sustainable economic growth? The purpose of the IMSD programme is to prepare a new generation of responsible business and community leaders that will take organisations and policy makers to meeting the global challenges of the 21st century.

Global MBA Provide yourself with a set of tools to succeed in the current work market • Become familiar with the globalization process • Improve management and leadership skills • Develop an international networking platform among participants, faculty, business leaders and the EOI alumni network Schedule Oct 2012 to Jul 2013 Place Madrid Dedication Full Time Length 780 hours A competitive business manager needs to know the latest trends in technology, understand and commit to the need of a sustainable and social economy and to see the world as a unique globalised market. Moreover, he shall be an entrepreneur both inside and outside its own organization. Having these axes as a starting point, you will enrich your knowledge to become a professional prepared to manage businesses in a complex and international environment.

CAMPUS MADRID Avda. Gregorio del Amo, 6 Ciudad Universitaria 28040 Madrid Tel: (+34) 91 349 56 00 informacion@eoi.es

www.eoi.es

To constantly evolve and adapt to this new changing society, EOI bases its training offering on four basic core themes. Our aim is for the professionals we train to be able, after studying at our school, to conduct business practices and carry out projects based on these four principles. Because we believe these are fundamental keys to understanding contemporary society. Sustainability as a business practice that develops the environmentally-friendly economy. New technologies as a source of global exchange and knowledge enrichment. Entrepreneurshipas an engine of economic development that gives value to creative ideas. And finally the development of a global economy in an international environment that is increasingly interconnected.

PSB MBA

LIVE, LEARN AND LEAD at Paris School of Business Alexandra Skinner speaks to Georges Nurdin, David Russell, Jeanine Brami and Cleopatra Narcisse » Introduction Kindly define your MBA value proposition. GN: The MBA is both a professional and an

academic qualification, and so at PSB we stress not only the management science aspect and the necessary skills that you must have as a manager, but also the decision making process. We bring these elements to the table so that our students can make informed decisions after graduation. We employ both academic learning and professional experience, and use real business cases alongside computer simulations and business games where we introduce unknowns and events, much as in the real world, so that students can learn how to react under stress. The next thing that we bring is international diversity; over 70 nationalities are represented at our school. Students learn to work across cultures, as within cohorts there are foreign nationalities and business skills that view a problem and its solutions in different ways. The groups have to come together to come up with one solution, as they would in a business. We are also accredited by the IACBE. This is a quality stamp for our students internationally.

DR: The value proposition stands on a couple

of key pillars. One is the city of Paris. Students come to PSB because they want to study in Paris; it’s a very exciting city to live in, there are a lot of professional opportunities and, of course, it’s just the simple pleasure of spending a year in Paris. The second part of the value proposition is that we offer a self-contained one-year programme. The third element is the cost. We have a very competitive pricing structure. The ability to study in Paris, in English, at a competitive price, in a self-contained one-year programme summarises the key choice elements as to why students come here.

The ability to study in Paris, in English, at a competitive price, in a self-contained one-year programme, summarises the key choice elements as to why students come here.

One of the performance indicators our review panel considers when assessing a business school is cultural diversity, an area in which you excel. To what do you attribute this success? GN: This is a reputation that we’ve built over

time. We have been running our MBA for some years and students know that we are international – that’s our forte. However, Paris has a tradition of being a very cosmopolitan city, and

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and their own qualifications. One of the only things that will never deteriorate in value is a quality degree. We have, in fact, had to refuse some candidates as we must make sure that once we reach the desired number of students, we don’t dilute the quality of the cohort.

The Programmes

A number of academic commentators have stressed the importance of holistic MBA programmes, i.e. those which manage to incorporate all of the essential elements of international business practice, differences and similarities. Do you feel that the PSB International MBA has achieved this balance? DR: Very much so. We design our programmes

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Being international is our main vocation and Paris is an extremely attractive place. I think that if you asked any student across the globe if they would like to study here, none of them would say no!

there aren’t that many cities in the world that are truly international. Europe is a mystery for many people in the world who want to understand the continent and it’s economic activity; it is a large economic power and it’s an economic zone that you cannot do without. In Europe there are three main choices for those who wish to study in a cosmopolitan environment; the UK, Germany or France. The UK is, of course, in Europe, but it is so very British, so if you want a real continental experience then you can either go to Germany or France. They are the two main powers and have been since before the euro crisis, and you can see that it is even truer today. Although Germany is a possibility, it is not as international as Paris, and so this is one of the main attractions for students.

In recent decades, the trend for enrolment in MBA studies has been directly influenced by economic flux. Has PSB observed this relationship and how has it affected your MBA offering? GN: It has definitely been affected, and it has

been affected positively. We have seen a 65 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of applications for the PSB MBA. People are being affected by the economy, particularly those who are in contract roles, and the more troubled the economy is, the more security you want. So many people take the decision to invest in themselves

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so that we can cover intercultural aspects. We have professors who have a lot of intercultural experience and have worked on other continents. They bring that experience to their courses. Furthermore, we have students who truly come from every corner of the world and they also bring their cultural background and experiences with them. So the interchange within the cultural classroom context is enhanced. GN: David is a great example of this himself;

he is American, he’s been living in France for over twenty years, part of his heart belongs to the Czech Republic, and he is an external professor at the University of Birmingham teaching in their offshore programmes in Hong Kong, Mauritius, Singapore and Greece. He is just one example. You don’t qualify to teach for us as a professor if you don’t have a real and significant cross-cultural dimension; our lecturers have to be able to walk the walk.

Your International MBA programme is accredited by the IACBE. Do you have any plans to increase the recognition of this programme through additional accreditation? GN: There are two that we could consider. The

first is the British AMBA. However, we aren’t really seeking this as, and this is just a personal opinion, I don’t feel that it will add value, in terms of quality, to the accreditations that we already have. The second is EQUIS, a European accreditation, which focuses on different aspects to the American IACBE. The IACBE is tough but consistent. Furthermore, IACBE is more outcome based, meaning that the quality is checked through external independent audits. We are fully accredited, not just on one or two

PSB MBA

We offer students the opportunity here in Paris, the heart of the luxury brand market, to visit the world’s major luxury brands and discover how they operate and give them the chance to make contacts within the industry. courses, but across the entire programme. I have nothing against the marketing strategy of bodies that accredit single modules, as they have to find something to differentiate themselves from the American accreditations. However, this isn’t the way that we want to proceed. Some business schools talk about the ‘triple crown’, but we’re not looking for that; we would prefer to work with one or two professional bodies and work with them well.

Students are given the option of a five-month internship. These can be notoriously difficult to secure, especially with the bigger firms. With this in mind, how many of the students applying for internships through PSB are granted places, in percentage terms? DR: There are a couple of practical issues that

have to be addressed from the beginning. Firstly, our programme is entirely in English, and French isn’t required. This is one of our key value propositions and allows us to recruit internationally as language isn’t a barrier to admission. So, for example, if you are a student in Moscow and you speak English but not French and you would like to study in Paris, then our programme is an option. As students come here without French language skills, it isn’t easy for them to find internships in France, approximately 35 per cent do. Some of them have French language skills, some of them acquire the skills while they are here, and some find internships that don’t require French. We also have students who take internships in their home countries. GN: Not everyone applies for the internship

but, generally, it’s fair to say the more junior the student is the more likely they are to take one up. For some students it’s more about refreshing their knowledge rather than gaining work experience, but others wish to take an internship in a different field. I would say that one third are experienced

THE CHANNEL STORE, PARIS

and so don’t need an internship and two thirds apply for an internship either because they are junior, and so need the experience, or they are looking to get experience in a completely different field. Remember, our cohorts are small – we’re not INSEAD, and so we have anywhere between 30 and 40 students depending on the year. CN: Many of our students already have work

experience, and so the internship isn’t necessarily a priority for them. They come into the programme intending to continue with their careers when they have finished.

Can you talk about the international element attached to this programme and others? DR: Being international is our main vocation

and Paris is an extremely attractive place. I think that if you asked any student across the globe

if they would like to study here, none of them would say no! We are international in virtually every aspect of our function. I’ve been running the MBA programme for about six years, and we’ve had students from all over the world, as far away as the US and Canada, China, India, Russia and Brazil. So, even without trying to be, we’re international - the students find us. Then, as we were saying before, we have the faculty. The professors come from all over; Canada, Australia, India, as well as from the US and Europe. The staff in the school are also international. George is French, but he was born in the South Pacific, studied in Paris, Berlin, and the U.S., and spent many years in Australia growing up. Jeanine was born in Algeria, lived in Germany and is now in France, and then you have Cleopatra and I who are from New York. ‘Multicultural’ is a daily experience for everyone; for the faculty, for the students and for the staff.

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You offer a dual degree option. What does this entail and what benefits are students able to accrue? DR: These are built upon the network of part-

nerships that our parent organisation, Pole ESG, has established. Pole ESG is a well-reputed and large private education institution in France, and we have approximately 100 partner universities around the world. This concerns all levels of the various programmes. For us, with the MBA programme, we have about eight partnerships with schools where we offer dual degrees. This means that a student can do part of their programme in Paris and then continue the programme with one of our partners. Generally this programme will take a little longer, 18 months rather than 12, in order to get the two degrees. We have programmes with partners in the United States, Mexico, Israel, China and Australia.

PSB’s MBA in Luxury & Fashion Management gives students the opportunity to go behind “the velvet rope” and meet the faces behind the brands. This is something that many of the schools operating in this space cannot offer. Therefore, how do you facilitate such activity? JB: We offer students the opportunity here

The more troubled the economy is, the more security you want. So many people take the decision to invest in themselves and their own qualifications. One of the only things that will never deteriorate in value is a quality degree.

Why did you decide to partner IESA? GN: Cultural and artistic activities are a

major industry in the world, both in advanced economies such as North America, Europe and Japan, and emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil. France is undoubtedly a major world hub for these activities. It is fairly natural that a business school located in the heart of artistic and cultural activities would offer a world-class programme in this field, and deliver it entirely in English in order to be accessible to the largest number of international students possible.

in Paris, the heart of the luxury brand market, to visit the world’s major luxury brands and discover how they operate and give them the chance to make contacts within the industry. The majority of our students come from abroad and we teach them the core management courses in relation to the management and development of luxury brands. Being based in Paris, students have access to the entire market and can really profit from the experience and learn how this market works.

GN: For over 2000 years Paris has accumulated

a competitive advantage in a world where there are maybe three to five hubs for luxury and fashion. The main ones are London, Milan and Paris. What we offer is the opportunity, not just to be in Paris but, to open and go behind the doors of these famous fashion brands. We visited Hermès recently and the Global Business Developer of Dior delivered a conference recently. This MBA is very highly regarded. We’re taking advantage of where we are based, particularly as a lot of success in the industry is about networking and who you know. For students who are interested in pursuing a career in this direction, it’s essential to be located at the heart of where it all goes on. Your MBA in Artistic & Cultural Activities Management is offered in partnership with Institut d’Etudes Supérieures des Arts (IESA). Given that Paris is considered by many to be the cultural capital of the world, it is easy to see why the aforementioned programme was created.

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THE LOUVRE MUSEUM

PSB MBA

However, it must also be acknowledged that arts and culture are not in the regular field of expertise of the traditional business schools who are more geared to teaching finance, strategy, operations and accounting. Thus any traditional business school, be it amongst the ‘best’, cannot be considered credible when offering such a programme just because it happens to be located in France or Paris. This is precisely why Paris School of Business partnered with one of the top three schools of arts in France, the world renowned IESA, which has tight links with arts institutions such as Le Louvre, the Tate Gallery and Beaubourg, to name a few. This partnership is deep in the sense that the whole curriculum is tailored to this joint programme, and each course syllabus has carefully balanced applied business and management arts across three tracks; Arts Markets, Curating, and Event Management. In this respect, our joint MBA programme is unique in France. In addition, the PSB/ IESA MBA in Artistic and Cultural Activities

gives students the option to also get the highly coveted French State Certificate in Arts Management, which is delivered by the French Minister of Culture and highly regarded. This creates a truly unique combination. Needless to say, in order to deliver the highest possible standards, our cohort of selected international students is limited in size.

Enrolment and Programme Selection

The level of work experience required by a growing number of schools appears to be in decline. Whilst this may boost enrolment, what impact does this have on the quality of one’s programme? GN: Actually what we are seeing is a segmentation

of the masters market into two distinct divisions according to two very distinct sets of needs of the student population. On the one hand, you have those students who wish to engage in a masters programme immediately after they have completed their bachelor degree in order to enter the job market with a masters in management. This is particularly common in continental Europe, and is the more traditional approach of countries such as France, Germany, Spain, Italy and Switzerland. For them, Paris School of Business offers the MSc. in International Management. On the other hand, you have a population who already have a first degree and who are already engaged in their professional life, such as a chartered engineer, an accountant, a lawyer or biologist. They realise that they want to move up the corporate ladder and prepare themselves to step into more general management positions. For these individuals the Paris School of Business offers the classical International MBA.

Sadly, not all programmes are created equal; therefore, programme selection is incredibly important. What do potential students need to consider when identifying, assessing and selecting an MBA programme? GN: A masters programme has more of a focus

on the science of management whilst an MBA is more about general management; not only the science but also the decision-making and leadership elements that are involved. Relevant work experience is a key criterion as we do not teach the MSc to a 23 year old population in the same way that we would an MBA to a 28 year old plus population. For the latter, you have the chance to build from their experience and so, for example, an organisational behaviour class must be delivered in a totally different way. This would be the same with finance, marketing and strategy. The variety of student backgrounds is an incredible source of enrichment. So to come back to your question, relevant work experience, excellent analytical skills, a

strong capacity to work under pressure (our MBA is one year long and very intensive), and the ability to work in a multicultural (we have 70 plus nationalities at PSB) and international environment (we offer American, Asian, European and Australian tracks) are vital.

The Next Step

What can we expect from PSB over the next twelve to eighteen months?

GN: Paris School of Business will surprise you

positively by delivering a Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) track, giving our graduates the possibility to earn a dual degree with CIMA and thus joining the largest chartered global accounting institution in the world through the newly formed CIMA/ ICPA venture. Finally, to build upon our specific and world reputed forces, and with France being the first touristic destination in the world, we will offer a Hospitality and Recreation Management track.

BIOGRAPHIES ★ Georges Nurdin, Ph.D. is the Dean at Paris School of Business. ★ David Russell is the Dean of the European MBA at Paris School of Business. ★ Jeanine Brami is the Academic Advisor at Paris School of Business. ★ Cleopatra Narcisse is the Admissions and Communications Ofﬁcer at Paris School of Business.

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European MBA Review

The PSB MBA – Students’ Perspective Alexandra Skinner speaks to Ana Paula Araujo Mendes and Israel Hernandez-Arce »

What was it about PSB’s MBA offering that made it stand out from its rivals? IH: I did my first degree here, and I really enjoyed my time at the school. I also think that they offer very good value for money.

AM: I really liked the fact that you had the opportunity to meet such a diverse range of people. This was something that was very important to me. It allows you to not only learn more about French culture, but also other cultures. PSB has the perfect marriage of the opportunity to study a well-respected MBA, and to be in a diverse environment.

Before you began studying, what benefits did you anticipate the MBA would bring to your career path? IH: I’m looking to get a better job when I finish, and I think that we all aspire to get better opportunities. Even for a job interview, some companies may have preferences for those with an MBA, and that will put you at an advantage.

AM: I come from Brazil, one of the countries that are expected to be future big economic powers. We have such a different way of doing business there. When I left Brazil to come abroad and learn English, I realised that it wasn’t enough for me to just have my ‘Brazilian’ ideas and understanding if I wanted to really improve my career. I really like international business, and so I thought it would be a good idea to improve my skills and to learn a different way of thinking about business, and I think that an MBA is the best way to understand what type of job and career you would like to have.

What is it like to study in Paris? AM: It’s a wonderful opportunity. In life and in business, it’s not just about the country that you came from and that being the right way. Being in Paris teaches me about a different country’s culture, economy and politics, and it’s a big learning experience. To me, this doesn’t have any measure in

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I realise that for me, it’s really not about money, or where I am, but about how determined I am to get to where I want to. money, I couldn’t tell you the value – it’s a way to learn more about yourself and to connect with people and businesses. I think that everyone should try to develop themselves personally in this way.

IH: Paris is a very interesting city. You can never get bored here – there is always something to do; cultural events, musical events, everything happens in Paris. In fact there is too much going on to be able to do it all, and a year isn’t enough! If you’re coming to Paris and are coming just to study, then you will most likely be in an expat community. If you want to stay in Paris, my suggestion is that you learn some French so that you can mingle and meet French people and immerse yourself in French culture.

What are your expectations, in terms of ROI? IH: I think that the school gives you great value for money. There are other schools offering MBAs where you have to pay a lot

more. The way that I look at it is that at the end of the programme you will have the same diploma, or the same title. However, when you are immersed in the real world and you are working, it all depends on you. You can come from the most expensive university or business school, but if you are not someone who is committed and passionate about what you are doing, then you won’t go very far.

AM: I realise that for me, it’s really not about money, or where I am, but about how determined I am to get to where I want to. When you talk about investing in study, it is more about investing in yourself and your life.

BIOGRAPHIES ★ Ana Paula Araujo Mendes and Israel Hernandez-Arce are 2011/12 PSB EMBA Students.

Global issues? Globalchallenges? issues? Personal Personal challenges?

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European MBA Review

The ISEG MBA Alexandra Skinner talks to Daniel Ferreira »

What made you decide to embark upon an MBA?

I realised that I had 16 years of professional experience, but always linked to construction and building. I had spent most of my life working for private companies. Three years ago I decided to change and go to a state-owned company, essentially because it was related to a big national project that was of great interest to me. It’s quite different to work for a state-owned company, as you have to be aware of the economic and financial aspects of a project, and it’s also different to lead people. In the private sector there is a lot of structure, but there is less in the public. I felt ready for this move, and I aspired for a position in higher management. So it was obvious to me that a masters in engineering wouldn’t bring anything new to my existing skills set, but that an MBA would help me to reach my goals and would be a natural evolution for my career.

How do you balance study and a family, and how much support does ISEG provide in this respect?

It’s very difficult, although one of the interesting things about this course is that the classes are Monday to Wednesday starting at 6.30pm and finishing at 11.00pm. So it’s not too disruptive. You may have to leave work a little earlier on those days, but it works well and we get to keep our weekends for ourselves whether that be to spend time with our families, friends, or working. I think that this works much better than the alternative structure that other schools have of Thursday evenings, Fridays and Saturdays, as then you have to negotiate four-day weeks with your employer.

What was it about the ISEG EMBA offering that made it stand out from its rivals?

I did some research looking at the main MBAs on offer in Lisbon, and I found four. A key criterion for me was to find a school with a reputation and a solid background in finance, business and economics, and I wanted hard learning in these areas. The ISEG MBA is very dense and very academic. The teachers here are very good and the school and the MBA are well established, so these all had an impact on my decision to come here. I was also very keen on the option to get the dual qualification with the Masters in Management.

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Please can you tell our readers more about the Silicone Valley Immersion course?

This was fantastic. I like to travel and it’s always enjoyable to experience other cultures. It’s very different in San Francisco because you meet students and professors, and you get much more of a sense of how they think and how you may be able to do things differently. It’s such an innovative place and we can really make use of what we learnt over there. The week was intensive, and there was so much information and so much that we experienced. We got to speak with two directors at Cisco to find out about how they innovate, and at Plug and Play we saw the presentation of so many different ideas and ways of pitching. It taught us how to present ourselves, how to explain problems, how to give solutions and how to discuss ideas and feedback. We had ten minutes to present a business case, and it seemed impossible, not only because we felt the pressure, but also because we’re Portuguese and we talk a lot, but we did it!

BIOGRAPHY ★ Daniel Ferreira is a Project Manager for REFER – Portuguese National Rail Network.

ISEG MBA

ISEG

Alumnus Perspective Alexandra Skinner talks to Carla Thomas »

For me, ISEG was more convenient, the price was right, it was part-time and, when I met the MBA faculty, I knew that it was the perfect fit.

s well as really enjoying my MBA experience at ISEG, I feel it was essential for me. At that point in my career I needed something with a core in hard business, such as finance, accounting and strategy, as my undergraduate degree, which I also undertook at ISEG, was in marketing. It was perfect from me and I got everything that I needed from the school, faculty, staff and my colleagues.

How do you balance study and a family, and how much support does ISEG provide in this respect?

It was very hard for me. We had classes from Monday to Wednesday and my group and I used Thursday to study together. I had a husband and a young baby at home and I was leaving the house at 8.30 in the morning and returning at 11.30 at night. It would have been impossible had my husband not supported me. There was no time left for a social life, but I knew that this would be the case and it was a worthwhile sacrifice that I was willing to make. I like to work under pressure, and I believe that when you have to manage many things at the same time you find the time for them all and you learn to prioritise.

BIOGRAPHY ★ Carla Thomas graduated in February 2011.

What was it about the ISEG EMBA offering that made it stand out from its rivals?

I did look at other MBAs and I had two options in Lisbon, ISEG and Universidade Catolica

Portuguesa. For me, ISEG was more convenient, the price was right, it was part-time and, when I met the MBA faculty, I knew that it was the perfect fit.

Before you began studying, what benefits did you anticipate the EMBA would bring to your career path?

At the moment, with the economic problems that we are experiencing in Portugal, it is very hard to change jobs, but when I first undertook the MBA, that was one of my motivations. I had worked for one particular firm and felt that it was time for a change, but I knew that in order to do so I would need to offer more to a new company. This is still my long-term goal.

Silicon Valley I wasn’t aware of the immersion course in Silicon Valley when I began the programme - it was only announced to us in July of the first year and so it was a great surprise. It really was a fantastic experience. The visit to Plug and Play was the shot of energy that we all needed. The Portuguese culture is to be a little afraid of failure and so perhaps we don’t put ourselves out there. It was great for us to witness North American culture; they’re not afraid to try things, or to speak about their ideas, even if they don’t work. I really recommend this component of the MBA to students. Talking with different students and sharing experiences was invaluable.

THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE, SAN FRANCISCO

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European MBA Review

A Bespoke MBA in

Picturesque Salzburg Alexandra Skinner meets Dr. Wolfgang Reiger and Prof. Dr. Gerhard A. Wührer » Getting to Know IfM

A number of academic commentators have stressed the importance of holistic MBA programmes, i.e. those which manage to incorporate all of the essential elements of international business practice, differences and similarities. Do you feel that the Institution for Management (IfM) EMBA has achieved this balance?

The IfM has been trying to fulfill all the requirements of an Executive MBA (EMBA) programme that helps graduates in being more successful in their businesses. Our faculty guarantees maximum quality concerning academic knowledge and practical transfer. In our faculty workshops we discuss the newest developments, coming from various fields of science, according to their practical relevance.

Your EMBA programme is accredited by the Foundation for International Administration Accreditation. Do you have any plans to increase the recognition of this programme through additional accreditation?

Not for the moment. The FIBAA Accreditation is very important especially for students from Central Europe and IfM is proud to have it. The EMBA is designed with the working professional in mind. Consequently, such a programme must offer a high degree of flexibility.

(a). Am I correct in thinking that potential students can apply to your EMBA programme at any time throughout the year?

That’s correct. Our so called “Cafeteria System” allows students to start the EMBA programme every month. Our students are all very busy and we offer them longterm planning of the MBA modules (up to 18 months in advance) and free choice of exam dates at three locations (Salzburg, Vienna, Cologne). Our student office is available

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all year long as are our faculty during seminar meetings and the master thesis supervision. There is always someone to assist the student.

(b). What impact does this have on the existing cohort?

The group dynamic is different. We allow a maximum of 16 participants in an MBA course, and with all the flexibility and choice of different courses our participants get to know about 30 students during their studies. Our Intercultural Exchange Seminar (IES) brings all of the students from one academic year together, and graduates will call themselves after the city where they spent the IES, e.g. Beijing, Charlotte, London, St. Petersburg or Washington D.C.

We think that functional skills are a good basis, but successful managers or entrepreneurs need something more.

Kindly expand upon ‘practice-oriented curricula’ and what this means for the students attending the IfM’s EMBA programme?

Our practice-oriented curricula means that students learn up-to-date knowledge that is useful for their business. Homework can be ‘designed’ for their management problems meaning that they work like consultants for their own business. A typical feature of that practice-orientation is the topic of the master thesis. Here we encourage the students to work on a practical problem that they see in their company, and which has to be solved.

HOHENSALZBURG CASTLE, SALZBURG

You offer something called an Intercultural Exchange Seminar. What does this entail?

The aim of our IES is to become familiar with other cultures. Our students stay a week at a partner university who will organise a special MBA course as well as contact with local businessmen and companies. There is also a certain touristic aspect for the group, but it is always a very special experience that ‘cannot be booked at a travel agency’. Our alumni president and I join the IES to show the importance of the week.

Within integrated corporate planning and management, you refer to the ‘business game’. Can you tell me more about this?

The business game shows the participants the result of their decisions within a certain period. The participants play a different role than in life, which helps them to understand other business functions better. By doing this, students can estimate the impact that management decisions have on other areas within and outside the company, such as on the market and the competition. It is the holistic and systems view that we want to sharpen.

Admissions We have talked at length over the past year about declining admissions standards. Unfortunately, a number of schools have put quantity over quality

IfM MBA

Our practice-oriented curricula means that students learn up-to-date knowledge that is useful for their business. and, whilst this may boost class sizes, it does little to enhance the collective learning experience.

(a). Typically, what can students expect from the IfM, in terms of class sizes and student- professor interaction?

We have a maximum of 16 students in a course (the minimum is six students) and there is one teacher for every four students. For IfM, the quality and individual contact between faculty, office and the students is most important!

(b). Can you walk me through the admission process at the IfM?

Most of our students already know the IfM and its programme. They often come to us on recommendation from our alumni. We invite them for a personal interview to get know them better, and we look at whether our programme is the best option for them and, if not, advise them on a more appropriate path. All of this is free of charge. The second step is to get all of the necessary documents. Our academic director will then make a decision about admission.

Talking Points

In my opinion, every business school and national ministry is responsible for the quality of the programmes on offer. There is a fundamental difference between political systems, academic titles and reality. Speaking for the IfM, we do not admit everyone who applies.

Some say that the greatest threat to the integrity of business education is the “students as customers” metaphor. Do you concur with this?

When we speak about students, we must think about a 42 year old businessman who wants to be handled as a customer. Therefore our faculty is free to decide upon the results of an exam. However, to ensure the same standards in the master thesis, the defense of the work is open to the public and the academic supervisor of the IfM takes part in it. He is the head of the jury during the oral examination. If a person is only interested in an academic title, they do not come to IfM.

We think that functional skills are a good basis, but successful managers or entrepreneurs need something more. We have the impression that

students want to have a deeper understanding of processes in their managerial work, and want to be able to reflect on their daily work with more insight. Aside from the academic studies, the personal network that students and alumni develop at IfM during events over the years is very important and helpful.

The Next Step

What can we expect from the IfM over the next twelve to eighteen months?

The IfM is planning new MBA courses and more international contacts. Our goal is to attract more students from all over Europe to come to Salzburg and enjoy a good time at Schloss Leopoldskron, the location of our MBA programme. We are looking to the East and West, as Salzburg and Leopoldskron have always been a meeting point for people with various cultural, political and managerial backgrounds.

BIOGRAPHY ★ Dr. Wolfgang Reiger is the Managing Director of the Institute for Management.

★ Prof. Dr. Gerhard A. Wührer is the Academic Director at the Institute for Management.

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IfM – Alumni and Student Perspectives Sebastian Schuller IfM EMBA Student One of the main reasons for choosing IfM was the system of electives, which allows me to focus more on those topics that are interesting and relevant for me. The module options come up twice a year, so if a particular elective doesn’t work for you at the time, you can do it at a later date. In addition to this, the EMBA is blocked with the classes being taught on weekends, which makes it easy to manage around my work.

IFM

alumnus Andreas Ehrlich IfM EMBA Alumnus, 2010

... the IfM EMBA has an internationally recognised sign of quality, and so the EMBA will open many doors for me.

Max Thorineg IfM EMBA Student IfM offers so much flexibility with the modules, meaning that if a work commitment comes up, you can put your studies on hold for a while. IfM also has FIBAA accreditation. This is very important for me; I don’t know where I will be working in two years’ time, whether it be Germany, Switzerland or the US, and it won’t matter, as the IfM EMBA has an internationally recognised sign of quality, and so the EMBA will open many doors for me.

Simone Wueerst IfM EMBA Student I travel in from Cologne in Germany, and there are many institutions there that offer MBAs. However, as I began my current job immediately after completing my first degree, I didn’t want to give up working, or earning! So I was looking for somewhere where I could combine both, and the IfM EMBA met my needs. I went on the study trip to Russia last year. It was an excellent experience; the professor who taught us was Russian, and it was so interesting to see another culture’s way of learning and to get the opportunity to network with students over there as well as to see inside some Russian companies.

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I chose IfM because it’s such a flexible programme. The EMBA consists of a number of different modules and you know the time schedule well in advance. Each course is three days and then there is an exam, so you are able to focus on one topic at a time. This allows you to study alongside your work. Because the course is so flexible, I was able to pick the topics that correlated well with my work at the time. The flexibility also allows you to choose how long you take to study the programme, and the intensity of the study. The course runs on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays and so was easy to manage. This worked perfectly for me.

The teachers are highly qualified and aren’t just from academia; they also come from the corporate world. Another advantage of the IfM EMBA was that, whereas on other MBA programmes you would have a fixed class with 10 to 15 people, here you had 14 participants, and because each course is offered two to three times a year, you would constantly meet different people. This was great for networking with professionals from different countries and industries. The teachers are highly qualified and aren’t just from academia; they also come from the corporate world. This gave me an insight into other experiences and allowed us to discuss a variety of business cases. You always take additional personal skills away with you, whether it be on discussion, presentation, working to deadlines, or learning how to be concise in your arguments as well as self-confidence. I was able to take all of these things from the programme. If you are considering studying an EMBA, I would really urge you to look at what IfM has to offer. It is a highly flexible programme that can be managed alongside a career. You are in control of the course length and intensity, and there is a great deal of exposure, through students and professors, to the practical side as well as the theoretical.

EOI MBA

Alexandra Skinner Talks to Eva Curto Izquierdo and Leda Stott » Introduction

A Masters in Sustainable Development and CSR? Welcome to EOI, Madrid.

Escuela de Organizacion Industrial/Spain’s School of Industrial Organisation (EOI) was established over 50 years ago and was the first business school in Spain. The original concept was to create and develop tailored training programmes to build knowledge in individuals and companies.

(a). How much has the school’s value proposition changed from the original, if at all? EC: EOI was created thanks to an agreement

between the Spanish Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Education, with the aim of helping the technicians and engineers working for the Public Administration to acquire better management skills. Initially MBAs and other management programmes were launched. Following this, we began to get students from the private sector as well. Over time, EOI´s General Director felt that there was also a lack of training in the environmental field, and our school was a pioneer in filling this gap in the country. Following this, new energy and broader sustainability challenges appeared, not only in Europe but worldwide, so the school decided to open new academic programmes in those fields. Today, we can confirm that we are one of the most prestigious business schools in the environmental, energy and sustainability fields, which are in fact considered as strategic areas for our organisation. We also have MBAs and other programmes on innovation and new technologies, but I think that our strength is really the green side. LS. What is also interesting is that the public sector has such a strong involvement with EOI. Essentially it’s a partnership between the public and private sectors. This really gives it a connection to government that a lot of business schools don’t have, and it’s very highly regarded for these links.

(b). What would you say has been EOI’s biggest contribution to the domestic and international business community over the last 50 years? EC: Over the past 50 years, the school has defi-

nitely contributed to the modernisation of the Spanish economy and industry. We have played a key role in the training of many of the current CEOs and managers of the private and public sectors, as well as ministers and former ministers. In fact, the former Minister of Economy, Elena Salgado, is an alumnus.

Today, we can confirm that we are one of the most prestigious business schools in the environmental, energy and sustainability fields. CEO

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In addition, the school has had an essential contribution in the training of entrepreneurs and SME managers across the country. Since 1994, we have helped to create thousands of SMEs, thanks to the European Structural Funds. An important point is that these SMEs have a very high success rate and are sustainable. This shows that the training that the managers receive here is valuable and relevant. One of the priorities now is to help those SMEs in their internationalisation strategies. The Spanish market is complicated and so firms are surviving, in many cases, thanks to the overseas market. It is crucial for them to be trained in international strategy. On an international level, we have expanded our knowledge and activities in more than 14 countries in Latin America, thanks, both to the distance learning methodology (EOI was a pioneer in launching online courses in Spain), but also to EOI´s international network. This network was created in 1992 and consists of a range of agreements and alliances with several universities and business schools in countries such as Colombia, Dominican Republic, Peru, Venezuela, Argentina and Brazil; students can get dual degrees (from the local university and EOI) in the fields of international business, management of technological and ICT companies, quality and supply chain management, finance,

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The IMSD doesn’t just look at environmental development; it looks at social and economic development as well. Those three strands are the real core of the sustainability topic. human resources, logistics and renewable energies. It is very important to these Latin American schools to be able to offer this prestigious title from an organisation in Europe. Our idea now is to expand this powerful network to other countries.

All of your study options have a focus on sustainability, new technologies, entrepreneurship and development of a global economy. How do you bring each of these values into the classroom?

All these issues represent a cross-cutting element in our programmes. To give you an idea, in all of our postgraduate programmes we introduce a pool of subjects related to sustainability and CSR, and entrepreneurial initiative and innovation, even if the core subjects of the programme are renewable energies, water management, or an MBA. The faculty know the EOI approach and our aim is to help create a critical mass in society that really reverses the business model that we have followed so far, as we don’t believe that it’s working; it’s not sustainable in terms of increasing social injustices and the depletion of natural resources. Regardless of whether someone is doing an MBA with a renewable energies focus, this is really a priority issue for the school. Sustainability is a key word at EOI; I am not only referring to the environmental aspect but also to the triple bottom line. The entire business model of the organisation has to be re-oriented into a more ethical, transparent and fair one. Fortunately some organisations are already doing this, but there’s still much to be done. As an institution, we want to contribute to this change;

therefore we aim to create managers who are aware of the social and environmental challenges, before designing their strategies, whether in the private or the public sector. LS: There are also practical skills in all of the

common subjects such as project management, managerial skills and marketing. So in the IMSD for example, you’ve got the corporate responsibility and sustainable development elements, but also very hands-on topics as well. The idea is to make the students aware, but to also equip them with very solid practical skills.

The Area of Green Economy at EOI

(b). This is one of the most important areas in your school. What portfolio of programmes does EOI offer in this area? EC: We have a wide range of programmes in

these fields, not only aimed at junior postgraduates but at executive managers as well: ❯ MSc in Environmental Management and Engineering. ❯ MSc in Water Management and Engineering ❯ MSc In Renewable Energies ❯ International Master in Sustainable Development and CSR ❯ Electric Vehicle Programme ❯ Carbon Footprint Programme

Most of these programmes are given on campus, and some of them are given online. The online tool helps us to spread our knowledge and

EOI MBA

geographical reach, as well as reaching those who do not have time to attend a fulltime programme. The real added value of our programmes comes from the fact that almost 100 per cent of the faculty comes from the professional world and not from academia; our students are taught both theoretical and practical elements. For instance, a student can be well trained in how a solar panel field should be designed, but they also have to know which obstacles they will be facing when they join the workforce. The fact that our teachers are professionals helps to create a solid professional network for our students, and this is very valuable for their future careers.

(b). What has been EOI´s contribution to the Spanish Green Economy? EC: Many of the technicians and managers in

the environmental, energy and sustainability departments of the big companies in Spain come from EOI. In fact, if you ask these departments for their employees’ profile, it would be rare to not find someone that has been trained at EOI. Thanks to the European Structural Funds, there are thousands of SMEs, managers and entrepreneurs that have been trained, this year, in areas of eco-innovation, energy efficiency, environmental management and sustainability.

LS: Companies look to EOI to find these peo-

ple, because of its expertise and learning. Many ex-students have set up small businesses, such as environmental and sustainability consultancies and these have really taken off and are making an impact. With the unemployment situation as it is the combination of sustainable green economy and new work opportunities is really beneficial.

The International Masters on Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility (IMSD).

The IMSD is a relatively new offering for EOI. What was the thought process behind this addition to your graduate studies portfolio? LS. I came to EOI five years ago. At that time

Spain was a little bit behind other countries that I’d worked in in Europe where the whole area

of CSR had taken off in the 90s. The advantage was that Spain was able to see what other countries had done, learn from that and move further forward. EOI decided that rather than just looking at CSR, the areas of green economy and sustainable development were also brought in, and the course was offered in English. This is a real first and it’s the only masters in Spain that does that. The idea was to really contribute to what was happening in Spain in an innovative way, and that seems to have happened. The development side is also unique. The IMSD doesn’t just look at environmental development; it looks at social and economic development as well. Those three strands are the real core of the sustainability topic.

What is the IMSD structure and main contents?

LS: We’ve divided the IMSD into the two areas

IMSD CLASS - 2011-2012

of Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility. The Sustainable Development theme covers environmental and energy challenges and socio-economic development and is taught during the first semester. Corporate Responsibility is taught in the second semester and encompasses its origins and key ingredients, as well as its management, measurement, communication and mainstreaming. Although we are always looking at the crossover between the two areas, they come together concretely at the end of the year when there are a series of modules on topics such as ethical banking, socially

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European MBA Review

want to take advantage of the diversity in the room and so the students must really contribute as fully as possible. Much of what we do is exercise based and involves role plays, teamwork activities, games, and the idea is to get students really active, motivated and participating as much as possible. The essence is not to be lecturing at them or to have students glazed by PowerPoint presentations. We want to move way from that to more interactive classes and peer learning.

We have also recently trialled virtual link-ups with teachers via Skype, and the students loved it. In the social development module that I taught, we spoke to people in Zambia, the Philippines and India. Students were able to get a real feel for an issue or a development project on the ground, and to ask questions. EC: We want to look at this across all masters as there are obvious cost efficiencies, but also in terms of carbon footprint, which is crucial for the school; you get the knowledge, but you don’t have someone taking a plane and travelling thousands of miles to teach for two hours.

How would you define EOI´s IMSD lecturing methodology?

LS: The big emphasis is on participation - we

responsible investment, inclusive business and fair trade. Then, of course, there is the final project that seals together all of the learning, and students are able to choose the particular course elements from which they wish to draw.

For whom is the IMSD designed for, in terms of academic and work background, industry experience and ambition? EC: We have had a huge variety of profiles over

the past seven years. There are three main requirements that we look for in an IMSD student: 1. They must have a very high level of English as otherwise they will be unable to participate in class and to get the most from the programme. 2. They must have a first degree. This can be in any discipline; we’ve had engineers, environmental scientists, business graduates, philosophers, journalists and so on. 3. Last but not least, and this is something that I insist upon, they must have a very high motivation towards wanting to change things in terms of sustainability and CSR. It might sound very utopian, but it really is our objective and I think that, step-bystep, we are contributing towards this.

Our students come from all over the world we’ve had more than 30 countries represented so far from the five continents. This creates a very rich experience, as not only are their visions varied, but so are their academic backgrounds. The IMSD is not only an academic and professional experience, but it is also a very powerful personal experience. LS: Students always comment on how much they get from the variety of backgrounds in the groups. This year we have students from as far away as Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Costa Rica, and they’re learning from each other. They have totally different perspectives and experiences and it does enrich the masters considerably to have that diversity.

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What is the faculty´s profile? EC: One of the things that differentiates

us is that 99 per cent of our faculty are professionals and don’t come from academia. They work in a variety of fields, NGOs, the private sector, SMEs and so on. The added value is that students are not only learning the theory, but also the real-life difficulties and obstacles that a manager or someone who is entering the labour market is faces. The faculty are also international, and we have experts coming in to teach from all over the world.

LS: I had a series of feedback sessions with stu-

dents in February and many of them said that what they value highly is the experiences that the teachers share. So how they are confronting, for example, the crisis, what they are doing, and what their personal experience is. This gives students a flavour of where they will go in the future and the types of situations that they might face.

How well has the IMSD been received thus far, by both students and the local and international business community? EC: Students know about the masters thanks

to the Internet and Google. However, more and more we are getting candidates that come because someone has recommended the IMSD to them. For international students it’s great because, firstly, Madrid is a lovely city to live in and to spend nine to 10 months in, and secondly, even though the IMSD is taught in English, they learn Spanish. Local and international businesses are very interested in this profile. Many multinational companies based in Madrid want the IMSD students, mostly because of the fact that at the end of July most of our students are bilingual. In addition many of them have their native tongue as an additional third language.

EOI MBA

As with the MBA, the IMSD offers an overseas study option for students. What is involved here and how does it differ, if at all, from the MBA trips? EC: We have agreements with several universities

around the world; The University of Shanghai in China, The University of Portland Oregon in the US, and the ITBA in Buenos Aires. The overseas study options are offered across all of our postgraduate programmes. This is not mandatory as the cost of the study trips is not included in the fee of the programmes. For the students that go abroad, each period of two weeks has a different connecting thread. For instance, the study trip for China looks at how to do business in China, the trip to Portland is on sustainability, CSR and environmental management, and Buenos Aires focuses on how to do business in a Latin American context. The trips are particularly interesting for students who are studying programmes that don’t have a heavy international focus, or are taught in Spanish.

MBA hiring and starting salaries have been increasing. Are you able to talk about the success EOI graduates, and IMSD students, have enjoyed in the job market of late? EC: I am proud to say that I still have contacts

with many former students, and what they are achieving is pretty amazing. Some of them are working for big companies in the CSR sustainability departments, and many work for big consultancy companies such as Deloitte, KPMG and Ernst & Young. The skills and knowledge that they get here is very valuable and the IMSD opens so many doors. LS: Some students come with a very fixed idea that they want to work in an organisation focussed on the environment, but then they’ll attend classes and develop an interest in working within

EL RETIRO PARK

a large business or in the field of social development. The IMSD gives students the opportunity to get a taste of different areas and then make a decision about what they would like to do. One of the things that EOI is very good at is opening the doors of businesses and getting internships for students. Eva has really focussed on ensuring that when every student finishes they will have an internship opportunity and that will then take them to a job, so no student will be left without anything. The emphasis has been on preparing for that as soon as possible so that they can get the practical application of what they’ve learnt. I think that this is very unusual, as often when students complete a masters they are left on their own.

The Next Step

What can we expect from EOI over the next twelve to eighteen months?

EC: We have a new, strategic focus on environment, energy, climate change and tourism. Of course, we are very strong in technologies and innovation and this will continue to be one of our strengths. We want to promote the international profile of the school abroad. We are certain that we will be a strong competitor, in terms of the aforementioned strategic fields, in Europe and worldwide. We have to make ourselves known internationally, as we feel that we have the skills to train people in these fields. We will continue with the excellent training of entrepreneurs and SMEs managers; the European Structural Fund is available for another five years and so we have to take advantage of that. But the main aim is to become well known overseas and market our strategic fields. This could involve launching more programmes in English, but also more in Spanish to try to attract those with Spanish as a second language.

BIOGRAPHIES ★ Eva Curto Izquierdo is the Director of International Affairs at EOI, Madrid.

IMSD AND GLOBAL MBA STUDENTS

★ Leda Stott is the IMSD Academic Director at EOI, Madrid.

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Nebrija MBA

Head To The Spanish Capital For

A Truly Personal

PLAZA DE LA CIBELES, CYBELE’S SQUARE (CENTRAL POST OFFICE), MADRID.

MBA Experience

Alexandra Skinner speaks to Carlos Cuervo-Arango Martinez, Antonio Diaz Morales and Fernando de Vicente de la Casa » Introduction

Please can you give an overview of the Nebrija Business School MBA value proposition? CC-A: Our full-time MBA programme is studied

fully in-house with a mix of students from Spain and abroad and we use the case study method as a basic learning tool. We distinguish the structure of our MBA in two ways. First, we place a lot of importance on personal skills and include at least three full modules on developing, structuring and nurturing these skills, which are so important for today’s professionals to have. Second, each group has a full day of outdoor activities in which they

develop their interpersonal and team-working skills. This works alongside the curriculum, which is a review of the way in which firms operate, and focuses on the most recent issues and solutions for businesses. We try to build up a mix of academic and individual skills, as well as work backgrounds, to give the students a rounded and global learning experience. We now have an Executive version of this MBA (EMBA) that we structure in exactly the same way as the full-time MBA, but in a format that is workable for professionals. It takes place on Friday evenings and Saturdays mornings. It covers the same topics and uses the same instruments

and technologies as the full-time MBA, adapted for people with executive experience. We have a third MBA programme that is designed to be taught in connection with universities around the world, and in particular with investment banks. This is a blended experience in which part of the material is taught by our partner institution in the country where the student comes from. This also involves a block of online learning during which students use our own Nebrija platform. The culmination of the programme is a one-month stay in Madrid during which students develop and present their business cases and receive their certificate.

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AM: Our MBA is an official MBA programme, so it gives students from outside of Spain the opportunity to come to Nebrija to study and to use the programme as a link to any other country in Europe. We place great importance on business ethics and social responsibility in our programmes. One of our commitments in the programme, and across the university, is to ensure that students understand the responsibility that they have to the wider environment the company is in when they are managing it. This is something that we introduce from the beginning, and we want them to see that it is extremely important to have these measurable values.

We believe that a combination of varied techniques, work experience, professional vocations and excellent academics will make up an experience for students that we feel should be personal.

There is a Pre-Master option for those students who have little prior training and knowledge in the fields of business economics. What is involved in the course, and is the cost included in the programme fees? FV: The pre-master covers notions of account-

ancy, mathematics and statistics. Not all of the students that apply for our MBA come from a business background or hold a business degree, so they need to have some foundation of these concepts. The pre-master also allow them to familiarise themselves with our case study methodology so that they are prepared for our learning format when they begin the MBA. The cost is included in the programme fees.

Nebrija MBA students gain practical skills covering outdoor training, personalised coaching and exercises involving business analysis and decision making through the activities of the Development Centre. Please can you outline what is involved in each of the elements? CC-A: This is one of the ways in which we

focus the studentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience into a formation of rounded skills. The outdoor experience teaches them how to interact, how to react under pressure, and how to combine their efforts as a team to solve problems. It allows them to see how the courses in professional skills add real value in terms of developing leadership skills, team building, and other traits that they will need in order to develop their professional careers. Students are able to learn about themselves, and it is the development of these personal attributes, in combination with excellent academic teaching and case studies, that encourages them to intervene in class, to participate and to develop their own personal views, and this moves the learning experience forward.

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EL OSO Y EL MADROĂ&#x2018;O (V, PUERTA DEL SOL, MADRID): THE FAMOUS SYMBOL OF MADRID. THE FEMALE BEAR SYMBOLIZES THE FERTILE SOIL OF MADRID AND THE TREE SYMBOLIZES THE ARISTOCRACY.

Nebrija MBA

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? AM: It is vital that we develop entrepreneurship

in Spain overall, and so as a country in which we have an important role to play with our students. We want them to think about the way in which they approach their careers - working for a company is not the only option for them, they can also become entrepreneurs and build their own businesses. It is so important that we not only create a specific focus on this dynamic throughout our course, but that we make it a primary concern that should be considered across the university. We give our students specific business cases that focus on entrepreneurial companies. We are working on creating business cases for entrepreneurs working for any country, whether small, medium or large. Often when students look at a case, it is based on completely different experiences to what they are familiar with. We want students to have something that they can relate to, and something that is relevant to their cultural backgrounds.

CEO MAGAZINE’S GROUP EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, ALEXANDRA SKINNER, WITH NEBRIJA’S ALUMNI STUDENTS.

CC-A: All of our students participate in the

development of business proposals. They have to create and write a business plan in teams. We have unified and given great coherence to all of the efforts that are being made towards entrepreneurship across the University in order to make it a lynchpin in the structure of our business school.

Enrolment and Programme Selection

graduates so, for the full-time MBA, labour experience isn’t as important. With the EMBA we look for three to five years experience, and here we are feeling the pinch a little. We have a few unemployed students on our EMBA, which is to be expected given the current economic climate. We feel that we have a responsibility to supply students with the opportunity to learn so that they can improve their situation, whether this means moving forward in looking for a job if they are unemployed, or to progress within their careers if they are employed. When you come to do any of the MBA programmes at Nebrija you build up life changing experiences. You’re not building for the year after graduation, or even a few years after; you’re building for your life. The economic situation will improve, and in the meantime students get the experience, personal skills and tools

We prepare students to be better professionals, to be better people, and to develop the theories, values and expertise that are required today. We believe strongly in values and in the culture of effort and developing skills and success through hard work and commitment. necessary to develop in their professional careers. This allows them to be much better prepared to face the future. FV: On both the EMBA and fulltime MBA we try to mix the students in terms of profiles and the number of years of work experience. In each module you have a different group of colleagues to work with as the professors put the students into different groups to allow for networking. Learning how to behave in different situations and with different people enhances the classroom experience.

versities and business schools when making their decision. I think that perhaps 70-80 per cent of

their decision should be based on programme content; however, there are a few key elements that they should also take into consideration. The first is the approach that the university has to the real world and the business world, and the second is whether the institution is creating and building personal skills and people who will be able to find positions quickly once they have completed the qualification. I also think that an institution’s approach to social responsibility is important. We have been experiencing the current crisis across different markets for sometime now. This would suggest that universities and business schools are creating, in some cases, people who don’t have a clear idea of what is going on with regards to this, and who don’t grasp that a different approach is needed. Nebrija can provide a better approach in dealing with individuals and the importance of personal skills. We believe that people need to have measures and values in order to be inline

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European MBA Review

with society and the current realities of the world. We include these skills in our programmes and we develop them constantly, not just in one subject matter but across the programme from beginning to end. We want students to have a clearer understanding of the way that we think and our values so that they are able to react to changes in the world and in business. It’s no longer just about completing an MBA; it’s a journey that not only gives you skills and knowledge, but also measures and values. These are things that you can’t look up on the Internet or in a textbook.

How important are your alumni, from a networking and support standpoint?

FV: The alumni are highly important for us. We

try to include them in all of the activities of our students, and they are frequently invited back to the university. We follow up with them on their employment following graduation to see how they found the programme and whether there are any improvements that we can make. We also have some alumni that work for us who may meet with students who are applying for the MBA to give them the ‘students’ perspective’.

AM: When you are considering investing

money in an MBA, which is a very big decision given the current climate, it is important to meet alumni in order to get a good idea of what you can expect from the experience. This should be considered when making a decision about choosing an MBA. It’s a good approach for us as well as they are the people that can give a true reflection of the experience. We are very proud of our alumni.

Nebrija and the International Market

You offer students the opportunity to do an external placement in the third semester. Is this arranged in partnership with international higher education institutions? CC-A: Not in general. We have our own ser-

It’s no longer just about completing an MBA; it’s a journey that not only gives you skills and knowledge, but also measures and values. These are things that you can’t look up on the Internet or in a textbook.

vices and resources to place students, and it is a requirement for them to take a placement in order to finish the programme. We try to find the best opportunities possible for our students, and they profit greatly from the experience. It gives them an opportunity to put into motion the things that they have learnt on the programme, and to gain real, practical experience. It’s a very necessary complement to the programme. FV: The external placement is for a minimum of six months and is a compulsory part of any masters course and for the MBA. The student, from the moment that they enrol at the university, has a private area on the Internet that they can upload their CV to and interested companies can contact them.

Given the competitive demands placed upon corporations today, and increasing globalisation – both of which require business leaders to be flexible and manage workforces and internal structures that cross cultural and political lines – have you redefined your MBA offering? FV: There are two ways in which we get feedback.

The first is through the placements. Each student has a placement tutor from the university who will follow-up with them and get feedback from the company. We ask the placement company to complete a report on the student in which they give answers to certain questions and advise us on how they feel the placement has gone.

MADRID PLAZA

CEO

Nebrija MBA

When you come to do any of the MBA programmes at Nebrija you build up life changing experiences. You’re not building for the year after graduation, or even a few years after; you’re building for your life.

The second way is by getting in touch with the companies that our students go on to work for. This is done two years after graduation, and we ask them to complete a questionnaire to find out whether the student has fulfilled their expectations. This allows us to amass information on how we should develop our programmes to fulfil, even further, companies’ needs.

These programmes are tailor-made for firms and typically focus on a specific kind of business, such as energy, logistics or communications. The main firms in these industries also want to participate in the teaching process, as some of the topics are very particular to their needs. We work in very close contact and cooperation with the firms involved.

AM: In addition to this, we have a special area

AM: In some corporations it is very important to include culture and values, so these companies prefer to mix their own lecturers with our professors to send a clear message about what these are. This is a very powerful tool for us to think about in regards to our programmes and to see clearly if there are areas that we need to develop or place more emphasis on to come inline with companies’ expectations. You work with the Professional Advisory Centre (PAC) of Nebrija to offer career support to students.

of executive education that has a very important relationship with the heads of recruitment companies. They give us some very interesting feedback about the areas that they are looking for more specific skills and knowledge in, and the reasons for this. We use this feedback to build our programmes.

Nebrija and the Employment Market

You offer in-company training courses that cover some of the MBA topics. With this in mind, to what extent do you liaise with local and national businesses in order to understand the ROI expectations of employers and how much influence do these businesses have on the structure of your MBA offering? CC-A: There are a number of companies for

whom we structure MBA programmes. We combine lecturers from the firms themselves, who will come and teach certain aspects on the workings of the organisation, with our own professors.

(a). Please can you tell us more about this co-operation?

FV: The student is guided by the PAC from enrolment. They are given assistance with interview skills, CV writing, cover letter creation and presentation skills. We use the PAC to get feedback on our students from firms, and we also ask the students whether they felt that they had the tools required for the recruitment and selection process.

The PAC not only teaches students how to behave in companies, but also provides a framework on how they can develop their own firms. We hold sessions with companies who come to the university to tell students what they are doing, and the type of people that they are looking for to join their firms. We also hold an employment forum every year, and this year will be our 17th edition.

(b). How important do you feel it is to have career development courses as part of an MBA programme? CC-A: I think that there is much more of a

focus on career development than there used to be. People look at the MBA programme as a tool to help them with their careers, and we are part of that effort. We prepare students to be better professionals, to be better people, and to develop the theories, values and expertise that are required today. We believe strongly in values and in the culture of effort and developing skills and success through hard work and commitment. We take the view that a combined experience, which is passionate in itself and creates the values, structure, knowledge and experience to develop personal careers, is the best possible framework.

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European MBA Review

Employment success:

Please can you tell our readers about the success that Nebrija graduates have had in the employment market? CC-A: For the full-time MBA we have a rate of 85 percent employ-

ment in the first two years, increasing to just under 100 per cent after three. The experience of EMBA students is different, as the majority are already employed. However, those who are not, tend to find a job in the first six months after completion. We are very happy with these results and feel that our programmes give students a sure footing in the professional world.

One of our commitments in the programme, and across the university, is to ensure that students feel the responsibility that they have to the wider environment when they are managing companies. AM: In addition to this, some students are able to achieve better positions upon graduation as we empower them to begin their own companies. In other cases they may change firms or careers, or achieve a promotion, both during and after the programme. This shows that we give our students the confidence to apply for better positions and to have bigger expectations for the future.

The Next Step

What can we expect from Nebrija over the next twelve to eighteen months? CC-A: There are three main lines in which we would like to develop

ourselves. The first is internationalisation. We currently receive students from overseas, but we want to develop this line of activity so that the experience of the students is fully international, from the cohort mix to the faculty. We are developing programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level with international universities, and we will create more Masters in partnership with these universities. We will also develop our online activities. The Internet has advanced, and will continue to do so. We feel that there are students that we could reach using online products, but mixing them with in-house teaching to create a different learning experience. This will be developed next year. The third line would be driving all types of activity in giving the students an individual experience. We believe that a combination of varied techniques, work experience, professional vocations and excellent academics will make up an experience for students that we feel should be personal.

BIOGRAPHIES: ★ Professor Dr Carlos Cuervo-Arango Martinez is the Dean of the Social Sciences Faculty. ★ Professor Antonio Diaz Morales, Ph.D., is the Director of Nebrija Business School.

★ Professor Dr Fernando de Vicente de la Casa is the Academic Manager at Nebrija Business School.

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NEBRIJA

alumni Victor Fernandez C. Lopez Consultant EU & TMT, Deloitte. Nebrija Business School 2011 MBA. The content of the MBA is in fact very enriching from a professional point of view giving more than enough tools for one to be able to either create their own business or enter any existing one without major complications. In my case, I really appreciate everything I have been taught to the point that at my actual job, consultant, I have a much wider view of not only the business but all my possible professional development. Through my experience at Nebrija Business School I have been able to immerse myself in multiple business experiences involving many different situations, whilst at the same time forming part of a new, small family made up by each of the persons in the Master. It is definitely an experience worth living.

Francisco Garcia de Oro Front Office Manager, Hotel Ritz. Nebrija Business School 2010 EMBA. I was promoted from reception manager to front office manager after completing the MBA. Since graduating from Nebrija, I have gained a clearer understanding of the company that I work for, and I am able to look at things from a general manager’s standpoint. I found the coaching sessions to be particularly helpful, as I was able to work on my weakness and become more productive and proactive. My time at Nebrija was great, from the interpersonal relations to the study materials and the professors. The MBA gave me an idea of real modern management.

William Orr International Relations, Nebrija University. Nebrija Business School, 2007 EMBA. Nebrija offered the tools for understanding the world that was about to come after I graduated in 2007. Crisis struck hard, and had I not learned how to analyse a company’s balance sheet, the amount of leverage it would hold, how to see it’s strategy and organisational behaviour in context, I would have been seriously misinformed as many people are right now. The MBA gave me a critical outlook regarding the business world and it’s implications in everyday life, and made me a curious and avid reader, searching for insights and understanding.

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European MBA Review

A RISING STAR IN THE

PHOENIX CITY

WARSAW ROYAL CASTLE

Alexandra Skinner Speaks to Professor Witold Orłowski » Introduction

Warsaw University of Technology Business School was created in 1991 as a joint venture of London Business School, HEC School of Management Paris, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration and the Warsaw University of Technology. Please can you tell us more about how this joint venture came about?

PROF. WITOLD ORŁOWSKI

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There was a great fascination about economic transition in Central-Eastern Europe in the 1990s. The market-oriented economy at the time created a great challenge for economies of this region, and creating new managerial cadres that were able to act in a completely different environment was a critical demand. The best solution was a know-how transfer from experienced WesternEuropean countries. Among those who were eager to participate in this transition process were professors of leading business schools such as HEC School of Management in Paris, London Business School

and Norwegian School of Economics. They encouraged their universities to form a strategic partnership with the number one university of technology in Poland, Politechnika Warszawska. As a result they created the Warsaw University of Technology Business School (WUTBS), which will celebrate its 20th Anniversary this year. Its success story was mainly a result of great determination in working together for the same strategic mission. Their goals were to transform WUTBS into a leading Polish think-tank in the areas of organisational and technological progress, managing technological change, and developing a knowledge-based economy. In a nutshell, to create a centre of excellence in the areas that would shape the future of business in our country and European communities. Today more than 1600 MBA graduates of the school, operating in leading local and international companies, have helped to transform the Polish economy to a healthy condition, even in times of worldwide crisis.

WUTBS MBA

The WUTBS Difference You offer an Executive MBA and an International MBA. Kindly define your MBA value proposition and the target group you service for each.

The prestigious WUTBS MBA is of the great value for candidates looking for a well-recognised brand institution diploma. The prestige of the four founders implies the quality of the degree and its international standing. In addition, the international reputation of the WUTBS is confirmed by its position in rankings: ❯ Continuous progress in TOPMBA rankings, reaching the following positions in Europe: 35th, 23rd, 15th in 2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively ❯ Second position in global ranking Findyourmba Rising Stars in 2009 and 2010 ❯ Second position in Eastern Europe in “The best Masters and MBA worldwide” ranking

The pragmatic value of our MBAs is in the prestigious EPAS accreditation granted by European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) in Brussels to both our International MBA (IMBA) and Executive MBA (EMBA). This gives confirmation that we fulfil the highest European quality standards in programme design, programme delivery and programme outcome. The opportunity to undertake an MBA in one year is very popular and is one of the reasons why our IMBA programme is so attractive for overseas students coming to Warsaw for one year; about 50 per cent of students on the course are from abroad. An MBA in two years is offered to mature executives, and the EMBA is the best option for busy managers. AT WUTBS we have a community of dedicated international lecturers. This is the school’s greatest asset. We are proud of our professors, both from the founder institutions and new partner schools such as Cass Business School and Oxford Said Business School. They contribute to the outstanding value and quality of the programmes. We also have a curriculum development committee, who work on updating the curriculum of the WUTBS MBA programmes in order to meet the challenges and demands of today’s businesses. The summary outcome of their work leads to the organisation of the learning process consisting of four consecutive steps: managing business functions, integrating business functions, leading people and interacting with external business environment. As a result, students will be prepared to become business function managers, project managers, agents of change, board members, CEOs and consultants.

We have introduced ‘learning through action’. These are new consolidation days that form an innovative approach to the learning process at WUTBS. The spirit of these sessions is based on the application of learning in a managerial context, with the aim of developing personal and group skills in working under pressure, with limited information, to get a result in a dynamic context and proving the value of concepts in practice. The material is presented in a very different way to the standard lecture format. There is no other business school that has such practical learning modules. The school has created the ‘advanced quality assurance system’ in accordance to the guidelines of EFMD. It monitors a quality of design, delivery and outcomes of the MBA programmes. The Emerging Markets Consultancy Project is organised by Cass Business School London together with WUTBS for 80 Cass Business School students and all of our IMBAs. The hosting Polish companies are benefiting by receiving objective consultancy advice prepared by experienced MBA students coming from many different business sectors. Benefits for students are in testing management theories on real business examples. The business ideas exchange opportunity is offered within the very prestigious WUTBS community. This is formed of the students and graduates of both MBA programmes, as well as by participants and graduates of the School’s

Academy of Leadership Psychology, Academy of Investment and Special Studies of Pharmacoeconomics, Pharmaceutical Law and Marketing. We also take a huge amount of care in maintaining the low cost of our operations in order to offer the highest value for money.

WUTBS MBA competitive advantages summary: ❯ Our programmes challenge students with innovative competence-oriented MBA curriculum including: 1. A competence progression scheme – organisation of learning process that prepares a student to play the following roles: project manager, business function manager, agent of change, board member, CEO and consultant 2. Consolidation days – series of workshops to develop managerial skills and leadership potential 3. Innovation management and entrepreneurship modules 4. Broader spectrum of electives is planned – including technology commercialisation modules. ❯ Intensity of the programme: WUTBS offers 1000 hours of MBA lectures during one academic year for the IMBA and 752 hours in two years for the EMBA

To be a leader does not mean just to be perfectly educated in functional skills; it means being able to create a vision, change it into a strategy, and to implement this strategy.

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❯ Multicultural learning environment: our distinguished lecturers from partner schools of worldwide recognition and global spectrum of students’, offer a unique opportunity to become familiar with a variety of European management styles ❯ All of our classes are offered in English ❯ We undertake regular programme reviews and implementation of innovations to prepare students to face the demands of changing business realities ❯ A healthy economic environment (4 per cent progress GDP)

Before each programme commences, you offer an optional business English and mathematics course in September. Who is this pre-sessional course designed for?

The courses we offer upon commencement of the programme are an integral part of the induction process. On the one hand they give students an excellent opportunity to get to know each other and prepare to work together in the latter part of the programme, and on the other they equip students with a useful toolkit of skills and information for efficient organisation of their learning process.

You are a member of EMFD, accredited by EPAS and have the number one MBA ranking in Wprost. What do these accolades mean to the school and it’s students?

Candidates are looking for confirmation that the programme fulfils the highest worldwide standard of quality. The EPAS accreditation for the programme is the most important validation in this context. The school’s full EFMD membership is confirmation that WUTBS belongs to the

elite of business schools in Europe. TOPMBA is the most important ranking for candidates as it shows how the graduates are perceived by global recruiters for managerial positions. The continuous progress of our school is a great achievement. National reputation is also of the great importance. Regardless of the criteria applied by different magazines involved in the rankings of MBA studies, WUTBS has secured its position among the leading MBA programmes in Poland. We are especially of achieving first position for both MBA programmes in the most prestigious

In the fourth semester students participate in field studies with WUTBS’s partner schools. Which schools have visited in the past, and what can be expected from these trips?

WUTBS students visit one of our partner schools: HEC School of Management, London Business School, Norwegian School of Economics, as well as Cass Business School and Oxford Said Business School. During the seminars our students have a unique opportunity to discuss current topics which included: entrepreneurship, social

MBA studies must give value for money, and meeting the ROI expectations of employers is absolutely crucial. Polish MBA ranking, published by Wprost magazine. It was based on the evaluation of contents of the programmes, the position of the school and the quality of didactic methods. WUTBS’s EMBA programme was also ranked in first position as the best MBA programme in Poland in the MBA ranking made by the business and economy magazine, Home&Market, in 2010. We are also very proud that both our EMBA and IMBA programmes achieved the highest quality standard of Mastery Class in the latest MBA ratings conducted by the Association of Management Education SEM FORUM 2010 in Poland. While evaluating the programmes, the authors of the rating took into account the results of detailed questionnaires together with the results of the surveys from students and graduates.

entrepreneurship, international trading with Africa and India and the economic crisis. Special attention is paid to the discussion of the influence that cultural backgrounds take on the business operations in different geographical areas.

Admissions We have talked at length over the past year about declining admissions standards. Unfortunately, a number of schools have put quantity over quality and, whilst this may boost class sizes, it does little to enhance the collective learning experience. It is quite opposite in our case. What we have changed, however, is the number of years of managerial experience (five years for the IMBA and eight years for the EMBA) for those candidates that have a bachelor’s degree. This improved the quality of the candidates and opened the door for overseas students who previously were unprepared for what was required for a masters degree.

(a) Typically, what can students expect from WUTBS, in terms of class sizes and student-professor interaction?

We have 25 to 30 students in the IMBA class and 50 to 60 students in the EMBA. This is right proportion, as IMBA students require more interaction with the professor. The more mature EMBA students have less academic hours in the programme and require large interaction between students working in groups. They must represent a large spectrum of different business sectors and different business functions. In this case, the exchange of best practices and ideas, in which the professor becomes the discussion moderator, replaces a passive one-way knowledge transfer.

(b) Can you walk me through the admission process at WUTBS?

The admission process at WUTBS consists of three main stages:

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WUTBS MBA

MBA studies must give value for money, and meeting the ROI expectations of employers is absolutely crucial.

The type of managers that we really need as in the modern economy are not narrow-minded specialists, but real business leaders. To be a leader does not mean just to be perfectly educated in functional skills; it means being able to create a vision, change it into a strategy, and to implement this strategy. It also means having the ability to lead people and to be able to develop oneself. Therefore, more and more stress in our teaching goes not to developing functional skills, but rather to forming a leader.

Looking Ahead

Over the next 12 to 18 months, what can new and existing students expect, in terms of programme innovations, from the Warsaw University of Technology?

The world is changing rapidly, and the global economy and finance is undergoing a deep

THE MERMAID SZAWA – SYRENKA, WARSAW

We are also very proud that both our EMBA and IMBA programmes achieved the highest quality standard of Mastery Class in the latest MBA ratings conducted by the Association of Management Education SEM FORUM 2010 in Poland. 1. After registering online the candidate must provide a full set of necessary documents, which are then carefully analysed by the recruiting committee in order to ensure the candidate indeed meets the recruitment criteria. 2. The committee members (the school’s representative and its alumni) thoroughly familiarise themselves with the candidate’s cover letter, their educational background and professional experience. All lectures in our MBA programmes are conducted solely in English and therefore the candidate must also confirm their fluency. 3. If all conditions are met, we arrive at the final stage of the process. An individual interview is arranged, during which the candidate must convince the committee that in addition to being an educated and experienced individual, they are a determined, motivated and versatile personality, who will enrich the WUTBS community.

Today’s MBA

We try to continually be in touch with businesses – after all, the MBA studies have been created to help develop business, and not to help the universities themselves. In our school we follow the best global practice of inviting the business representatives to the special advisory board, as well as to two other bodies – the Curriculum Development Committee, who assess our programme and suggest changes and improvements, and the Quality Assurance Committee, who look after the quality of teaching in the school. This means that not only are the opinions of the business community taken into consideration while shaping our programmes, but in fact the community has a direct influence on them as well.

change. First of all we try to keep our students updated on what is changing, what the issues are, and the state of the disscussion. Our curriculum is being constantly changed to reflect this principle. We also put more stress on the ethical side of the business, and on the role of a leader - real leadership is the most scarce and the most needed asset in difficult times. New MSc programmes, such as Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship, Managing ICT Systems, and the Academy for Family Business will be launched in 2012/2013 academic year. Their subjects will be available to MBA students as electives.

BIOGRAPHY ★ Professor Witold Orłowski is the Director of Warsaw University of Technology Business School.

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European MBA Review

Finland’s Very Own Northern Star – Oulu Business School Alexandra Skinner talks to Antti Kauppila » Introduction Kindly define the Oulu Business School MBA value proposition.

The Oulu Business School (OBS) offers solid and comprehensive MBA content with relevant business assignments, within a large and well-established multidisciplinary university environment, alongside a network of experienced business executives to support your career development.

With any international MBA, the student-learning environment is extremely important. Please can you tell our readers more about what they can expect from living and studying in Finland.

We have, in fact, recently conducted surveys related to the topic amongst our international students. In the questionnaire, conducted by the

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International Relations office of the university, we found that the main reasons why the incoming students chose Finland and Oulu were; our high quality education system, teaching in English, high quality student services, and a high-tech and exotic culture. In our own survey among international students at OBS, we also discovered that their impressions about Finland and Oulu included words like peaceful, pure, honesty, nature, winter, sauna, technology and ice hockey. Nordic or Northern culture is clearly visible in these answers. Based on these two separate surveys, I think we can be proud of our Northern location and that we openly represent Nordic values like equality, transparency and the welfare of society. The University of Oulu is based on a large and easily accessible campus building that hosts six faculties (Business, Medicine, Natural Science,

Technology, Humanities and Education) and some 15,000 students, with excellent library and information technology services and student housing available right next to campus. In addition, the region’s world-class ICT industry and the Faculty of Technology have a visible and strong role, and with a fast growing and strong representation of international students in OBS, there are clear implications that these abovementioned impressions of Finland and Oulu really attract students from all over the world. The student base has internationalised a lot in past years and we actually have more international students come to Oulu than Finnish students go abroad. French, German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Indian and Pakistani students seem to be most interested in the international programmes of the university, as well as in the business school. The diversity of nature and four distinct seasons with cold winters but also warm summers, bring a certain type of cycle to our very lively student experience. Thanks to the smooth-running daily routines such as transportation, shopping,

OULU MBA

In Finland, there has traditionally been an emphasis on education as a key to economic success and the ‘knowledge economy’. A part of the Nordic lifestyle, functionality and values is to support and enable full-time studies for students, which in turn leads to a focus on students’ wellbeing. housing, heating and banking, and the outdoor activities and everyday life in these unique surroundings and environment, the student experience becomes something that is not available elsewhere. In Finland, there has traditionally been an emphasis on education as a key to economic success and the ‘knowledge economy’. A part of the Nordic lifestyle, functionality and values is to support and enable full-time studies for students, which in turn leads to a focus on students’ wellbeing. Recently gathered information from our MBA students suggests that without entertainment and clothing expenses, the monthly budget for living costs adds up to only ca. 500 Euros per month, including housing! This is something that the big metropolises in Europe cannot compete with!

(a). Typically, what can students expect from Oulu Business School, in terms of class sizes and student-professor interaction, and student profiles?

The Nordic approach to teaching is quite different to many other countries. For many years, the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) studies have shown that the educational system in Finland is fine-tuned to provide excellent citizens. One of the distinct features in this system is that the class sizes should not be too big. We follow this guideline in our International full-time MBA (IMBA) programme, and do not have classes exceeding 20 students. This allows for more interaction, enables a very personal student service from the MBA staff, and also allows the professors to get to know students on a personal level. The education structures and ways to perform follow our egalitarian culture, which in itself defines a means to carry out tasks in a very practical and informal, but prompt manner, where the transparency of decision-making plays an important role. This, for one, enables a friendly and

practical relationship between the student and teacher. Additionally, you must bear in mind that the MBA programme is situated in the Martti Ahtisaari Institute of Global Business and Economics, which brings some guidelines that are probably evident from the Nordic culture, but can also be traced to the practices of our Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, President Ahtisaari, in his peace building processes. The IMBA programme is highly international with only a few Finnish natives in the class. We provide interaction between our international students and Finnish natives through our student guilds and with students from other programmes within the university. In our 2011 MBA intake we have students from China, France, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Iran and Finland. Some of the students have over ten years of work experience, though the majority have three years. At the moment we have more ladies than men.

(b). Can you walk me through the admission process at Oulu Business School?

Our admission committee meets monthly to handle applications, and regularly discusses eight to 12 applications per meeting. If the applicants meet the standards and are accepted to the programme, we inform them right after the meeting and they can start preparing for moving to Oulu! During admission committee meetings scholarships are discussed. There are three possibilities for a scholarship during the study-year, with the first being at the start when applying for a study right. This is based on an applicant’s previous study performance and the quality of their application documents. Applicants are considered automatically for this scholarship if outstanding performance is shown in previous Bachelor´s or Master´s level degrees. Average or just above average performance will not fulfil criteria for a scholarship. Additionally, the awarding of scholarships is considered based on students´ study performance on the MBA programme after half a year of studies, and also in graduation ceremonies. Scholarships of up to 75 per cent of the tuition fee are awarded by the admission committee. Applicants and students are automatically considered for a scholarship, and therefore, there is no application process for them.

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European MBA Review

Recently gathered information from our MBA students suggests that without entertainment and clothing expenses, the monthly budget for living costs adds up to only ca. 500 Euros per month, including housing! This is something that the big metropolises in Europe cannot compete with! Even though we accept applications throughout the year, we usually advise our students to start their studies in early September. However, it is possible to start also at other times of the year, and starting times naturally have to be negotiated and agreed upon clearly. As for migration practicalities, the administration fee has to be paid in order to get a permit and visa for applicants outside the EU and the Nordic countries. Student housing can be arranged via the Internet once the student has settled all other administrative matters with authorities.

Today’s MBA

There is a lot of interaction and negotiations within the programme with local businesses, including our programme advisory board members, EMBA programme participants who represent their businesses, and with executives who are mentors of our full-time MBA students. Collaboration covers, for instance, project work, employment or internship placements, and dialogue and efforts related to the enhancement of our programme both structurally and content wise.

There is an increasing demand for entrepreneurship, the lifeblood of the economy, in the MBA curriculum, and at the Oulu Business School MBA you aim to give students ‘a springboard to a successful career in innovation-based start-up business’. With that in mind, how much emphasis do you place upon this important dynamic?

This is an extremely important issue in many aspects, as you said. It is clearly not the only target for us that our students set up their own businesses but, having said that, giving them a thorough understanding on how start-ups actually function provides students with more practical knowledge, courage and enthusiasm. With the network built during the MBA programme, we aim to give students a true picture of the start-up environment, entrepreneurship and, therefore, also lower the threshold for our students to become entrepreneurs. This has

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been backed up for those MBA students that see entrepreneurship as one possibility for their career, through providing them with mentoring from serial entrepreneurs! Innovation based start-ups and the entrepreneurs behind these companies are also brought to the programme by other means. The most important route is the project work course that runs through the entire study year, where project work assignments are provided for small MBA student groups to work on. The assignments take the students deeply into the environment and issues of target companies. During the last year we have worked with companies like Meontrust Inc., focusing on internet personal security issues with their Mepin product; mCard Europe Ltd., focusing on mobile loyalty cards; and Finpeda, which takes the highly awarded Finnish elementary education system abroad by providing tailor made solutions for education purposes. Through working with these companies and their representatives, our students have really received hands-on experience in solving cases of internationalisation, market entry, product development and business-to-business marketing, while studying these contents in classroom.

I do see this change, but I would not call it fundamental. Clearly, it is extremely important that functional skills are included in the MBA curriculum. To become an expert in, say, accounting or finance, an MBA is not the right programme since there are excellent specialised master’s programmes available for students who see themselves as future experts in these professional fields. Therefore, as part of producing a comprehensive business administration training programme, I strongly believe that MBA programmes should provide enough content in these core functional subjects to give the student a sufficient level of knowledge for a career in management and, additionally, the tools for further studies and information seeking.

Please can you talk about the career services that you provide at Oulu Business School?

At OBS we are in a very good position, since we are a part of a multi-disciplinary university where these services have been around for a long time, and therefore, career service processes are well understood and catered for. MBA students require and deserve close attention and tailored services as far as career development is concerned. This is well recognised and provided.

OULU MBA Photo: Aarne Hagman (Kuopio, Finland) DUSK IN NALLIKARI, OULU

There are annual job fairs at campus hallways provided by different university units, and the business school and the Martti Ahtisaari Institute offer matchmaking events for companies and business students. Additionally, several job search events and career counselling services are offered only for MBA students. I would also want to draw your attention to our mentoring programme as one special means to provide career development services to our MBA students. The mentoring programme has proven to be highly appreciated within our full-time IMBA programme. Students apply to take part in mentoring and state their wishes, for example, the mentorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s background, work experience, position and field. Our executive education personnel then look for suitable mentors from our EMBA programme students and alumni. The mentor-mentee meetings typically cover career development issues as well as building networks, and hence enhance possibilities for employment.

How important would you consider this element to be for a full-time international MBA programme?

I would want to look at this issue from a wider perspective; from the statistics of Finnish demography, it has become quite clear that in the near future Finland is facing big problems in finding a skilled workforce to take the place of retirees. Educational programmes such as MBAs are an extremely good means to draw in talented and career-oriented people to help us out on this issue. So, this element of career service is important not only to career-oriented students but, as

With the network built during the MBA programme, we aim to give students a true picture of the start-up environment, entrepreneurship and, therefore, also lower the threshold for our students to become entrepreneurs. we see it, also to local business and Finland in general. This is clearly a win-win situation! As can be seen, we do consider this career service element to be very important, and therefore our MBA programme also provides students with courses of Finnish language as an elective but highly recommended subject. It is always easier to get by if you know the basics of the local language. This in turn makes it easier for our international graduates to be employed by local companies.

Looking Ahead

Over the next 12 to 18 months, what can new and existing students expect, in terms of programme innovations, from the Oulu Business School?

We have taken huge steps in the past years to enhance our MBA programme structurally and content wise. Of course, the most important elements are already in place. Still, a growing number of international alumni will certainly bring more visibility, as will the international accreditation processes that OBS is presently taking part in. Additionally, the interaction between our EMBA and IMBA programme students will

increase to bring an even wider network, and more career possibilities to our students. At the moment, the two programmes combine forces in the mentoring programme but also share some courses on technology management and international business, so there is active and structured coursework that is done together. The full-time MBA programme opens doors for employment through its close connections with businesses. Networking in local business context will be increased further by close co-operation with authorities and key external stakeholders such as the local Chamber of Commerce, start-up societies and business associations.

BIOGRAPHY â&#x2DC;&#x2026; Antti Kauppila is the Programme Director of the Full-time MBA at the Martti Ahtisaari Institute of Global Business and Economics at Oulu Business School, The University of Oulu.

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List of Contributors

Chicago: Booth

Nebrija Business School

Columbia Business School

Oulu Business School

EOI

Paris School of Business

ESSEC

RWTH Aachen University

Fraunhofer Academy

Sussex Business School

GFKM

Warsaw University of Technology

HEC Lausanne

Institute for Management

INSEAD Knowledge ISCTE ISEG 64

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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? That is where AACSB International steps in. Since 1916, AACSB International has set the benchmark for business education. Earned by less than 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