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Biz Ed | - "Three innovating Business Schools"

Della Bradshaw, The Financial Times Business Education editor.

I would like to take up the point Professor Iniguez makes about the increasing respectability of Executive MBA degrees and to ask why that might be.

Last week I was chairing a session at the EMBA Council meeting in Barcelona and in preparation for that I looked through my cuttings book at the articles I have written on the subject over the past decade.

What struck me forcibly was a series of articles I wrote exactly 10 years ago. The first was about Duke's Global Executive MBA, the second about Chicago setting up its European campus in Barcelona and the third about Kellogg's plans to set up a series of joint degree programmes around the globe.

I believe it was the innovation that these three schools showed a decade ago that has helped the EMBA degree become the degree of choice for many executives. By comparison, the style and format of most full-time MBA degrees has changed little in the past 50 years.

While the full-time degree has been designed for the benefit of faculty, the EMBA has been designed for the benefit of the participating executive. And it is clear that executives are prepared to pay through the nose for that.

Biz Ed | - "Comment on Prof. Peter Lorange's post 14 Oct."

Santiago Iñiguez, Dean of Instituto de Empresa.

Let me go back to a previous post in this blog by Prof. Peter Lorange, a widely respected scholar in business strategy and in management education worldwide. He there makes a solid, impeccable statement: Strategy is about choice and each business school should concentrate on those educational activities, segments and markets where it can perform successfully. He also illustrates his statement with the example of IMD, the renowned institute that he has directed in the past decade. I want to comment on two of the ideas he proposes.

First, he affirms that "sometimes strategy means no". I agree with him if "sometimes" is emphasised. I believe that the challenges of globalisation force us to systematically analyse novel options and to carefully scrutinise new market opportunities before rejecting them. Innovation means saying yes to new ventures although they may lie beyond the core of our business as we conceive it today. Let me just mention one example. Two decades ago, Executive MBA programmes were seen by many in Europe as "improper" for truly academic business schools: a search in the annals would bear this up. Today, they are the fastest growing segment within the family of MBAs. The same applies to e-learning and blended programmes that combine on-line and face-to-face methodologies. Not long ago many insider detractors criticised these new formats as destructive to the genuine learning process that could only happen in the conventional class. Evidence however shows that participants in blended programmes have at least the same degree of satisfaction as their fellow students that attend traditional offerings.

I was also interested in reading Prof. Lorange’s point of view about whether business schools should open campuses abroad. I also agree with him. It is very difficult to replicate the same operation that a business school runs at its main campus. Academic institutions have an identity that is tied to its location. Here occurs, if you allow me the expression, the "ivy syndrome": when applicants choose a school they really care about its location, they want to live the experience, to get involved in its atmosphere and to touch the ivy that grows on its walls. The Parthenon of Athens has a perfect replica in Nashville, Tennessee. This later one stands complete and resembles all the sculptures and paintings designed by Phidias twenty five centuries ago, However, the excitement and emotions experienced during a visit to the Acropolis, I am sure you will agree with me, have no comparison.

Biz Ed | - "American visa restrictions make Australia Foreign Students Favorite Destination"

  Santiago Iñiguez, Dean of Instituto de Empresa.

Australia has eclipsed the United States and Britain as the destination of choice among fee-paying foreign students, according to research presented just recently at the Australian IDP International Education Conference, one of the world's leading annual meetings of its kind, which this year drew more than 1,000 delegates.

The study, which was commissioned by the British Council, a government agency, drew on interviews with 332 undergraduates from 10 of the leading Asian markets for higher education in the English-speaking developed world. JWT Education, the organization that collected the data, has been surveying the shifting attitudes among foreign students since 1997.

The study follows up on a previous survey, conducted in 2000, in which JWT found that fewer than half of international students in Australia regarded the country as a destination preferred over Britain or the United States. During the same period, Australia's international-student numbers have doubled, to 200,000, at a time when foreign enrollments in the United States are stagnating. (About 572,000 students enrolled in colleges and universities in the United States in 2003).

The new findings were all the more surprising because, in the five years since the previous survey, the Australian dollar has appreciated strongly against the U.S. dollar. That rise has put a dent in what was often regarded as the principal attraction of Australian degree programs over American counterparts -- their relative affordability.

In the academic year 2003 to 2004 the enrollments of foreign students were 15% of total revenue of Australian universities, which placed Education as the country's fourth strongest exporting economic sector. From EQUIS´list of accredited members it can be seen that several Australian business schools have reached it´s standards.

Incidentally, one other finding was that the Internet is an increasingly popular tool among students seeking information on where to study abroad. Two out of three students reported using the Internet for that purpose in 2005, compared with just one out of 10 in 2000.

These changes are even more interesting in the light of the recent ‘Vision 2020: Forecasting International Student Mobility’ study that stated that the total global demand for international student places will increase from about 2.1 million in 2003 to approximately 5.8 million by 2020,

Bologna Process | - "GATS – and Quality Improvement"

Povl Tiedemann, Head of Department, Association of Danish Business Economists.

With the development of the General Agreement on Trade and Services, GATS, under the auspices of WTO, services and thereby also the services rendered by Universities and Business Schools, will be considered as commodities and priced products.

Thus students are to be considered as customers, demanding value for money.

Through this equation-like array of consequences, it is evident that quality improvement will be of paramount importance for the future performance in the University and Business School sector.

This counts for both public as well as private institutions.

Increased financial commitment from the students / customers naturally will create demand for transparency concerning the products, and their quality.

Although quality development is well placed on the agenda with most institutions, and fulfilled through assessment and accreditations, inevitably the student commitment will focus on an increased quality improvement.

In this context it is worth while to note that in connection with accreditation of an institution or any set of study programmes, a current improvement scheme for the institution or relevant parts hereof, will be necessary to comply with the market demands. Detailed inspiration on this subject and the re-accreditation processes can be obtained from the EQUIS presentation on www.efmd.org.

EU-Commissioner Jan Figel supported above in his address to the EFMD Annual Conference in Brussels, June 2005, expressing points of view concerning the European quality improvement initiatives as follows:

"For its part, the Commission has proposed a Council and Parliament Recommendation on the strengthening of cooperation in quality assurance in higher education. Moreover, encouraged by the successful experience of EQUIS in Management Education, the Commission supports pilot schemes for the establishment of European quality labels in various study fields such as Engineering or Chemistry.

With respect to the European qualification framework (EQF), Ministers in Bergen endorsed a proposal for higher education qualifications. It will serve as a common reference for all various types of first, bachelor-level degrees, for masters and doctorates as well as for short vocational qualifications typical of areas such as management, accounting, tourism, etc.

I would like to take this opportunity to encourage all those who offer higher education qualifications in management to make sure they are in line with these reference levels. This will strengthen internal coherence in the European Higher Education Area."

Staying the Course in Management Education

Yash Gupta, Dean of the USC Marshall School of Business, Robert R. Dockson Dean’s Chair in Business Administration

In much the same way that corporations are being driven to produce immediate returns for stakeholders, many management educators seem compelled to generate instantaneous responses to public criticism. As institutions specializing in intelligent management, we can’t afford the classic marketing mistake of knee-jerk reactions. Our schools are in business for the long haul and we must maintain the breadth of and integrity of our objectives. This doesn’t mean we accept current levels of achievement or that we resist change. Staying the course is rooted in a vision that bolsters and builds upon our unique strengths and hews to these fundamentals.

Leverage what we do best.

In their eagerness to respond to criticism, many business schools have tried too hard to act like businesses rather than acting like business schools that know and understand their mission and assets. Recently, business schools have imported ideas from the business community like hands-on learning programs, but without the benefit of theory. This is the wrong approach. Learning on the job is a centuries-old practice, but one the best business schools in the world cannot possibly match. In a business school, students are free to experiment and err without financial peril. Business schools should provide the "safe laboratory" to take concept and theory, convert them to strategies and tactics, and finally implement them for a "reality check."

Emphasize soft skills.

We are often told that the "soft skills" of leadership, teamwork, and swift decision-making are missing in business schools. Some have argued that these are un-teachable elements but I submit these can be taught and reinforced. We must add these elements to the classroom, not only as separate courses, but as fundamental themes.

Strengthen and expand the hard skills.

Even if we enhance our training in the soft skills, it’s still a given that no one wants fewer "hard skills. Beyond the basics – finance, accounting, marketing, etc. -- we must add a fundamental understanding of economics and international trade.

Broaden our entrance requirements.

Graduate education starts with the premise that entrants have absorbed the foundation of communications and mathematics needed for management. Business schools must broaden and raise entrance requirements. The singular stress on scores (e.g., GMAT), is dangerously narrowing the spectrum of managers we produce. At the same time, however, we must not turn aside applicants who lack outstanding leadership and teamwork backgrounds. If we accept so-called "soft skills" as essential to management, business schools must infuse each course with these skills

Add another dimension to case studies.

How can we compress the knowledge process? In effect, by smarter teaching. The case study approach has been our classic teaching tool but it needs drastic overhaul. Nearly a century old, it remains effective but at the same time is primitive. Technology, thoughtfully applied, can bring a new era to cases and the teaching methodology. Using simulations and computerized models to build three-dimensional, interactive laboratories will more realistically replicate the marketplace.

Integrate breadth of knowledge beyond the business school.

Classic business tools must be welded with fields too often dismissed as separate and exclusive of business -- the arts, humanities, history, environmental, political, and cultural studies. In the end, the top-flight managers are the individuals who can link "hard" and "soft" skills, and who possess a macro-understanding of the global environment.

Obviously, all of us want our business schools to be relevant and attuned to changing needs and environments. It is our opportunity—and indeed our obligation—to create educational experiences that exceed our "customers’" wildest dreams.

Bologna Process | - "What will the Bologna agreement mean for the MBA in Europe?"

Della Bradshaw, The Financial Times Business Education editor.

I was fascinated to read some of the comments made by German academics in Professor Danos's posting from his meeting in Germany. One question that really interests me about the Bologna agreement is what effect it will have on the MBA degree in Europe.

Professor Kieser from Mannheim University says that European governments assumed that under the new bachelor/masters system only 20 to 30 per cent of bachelor graduates would study a masters degree straight after their undergraduate programme.

So, what will happen to the other 70 per cent?

The traditional five-year degrees in continental Europe have always meant that most university students are 24 or 25 before they graduate with their first degrees. This means they are not eligible for the US-style MBA programmes at the age of 27 - the average age for entering an MBA programme - because they do not have the appropriate work experience.

If they enter the workplace two years earlier, will the MBA become an attractive option for them?