Compensation + Money

2011 turns into an exceptionally good year for MBA demand worldwide with 36 per cent growth. That is a turnaround from the five per cent decline reported for 2009. MBAs are playing a central role in the worldwide battle for talent, with economic growth in emerging markets fuelling the demand for MBAs, claims a report from QS Quacquarelli Symonds Ltd. And as ever more employers seek MBAs in all corners of the world, their salaries are slowly equalizing around the globe.

Academic business research has economic value: MBA students from schools where teachers frequently publish in high-level academic journals tend to earn more after graduation. That is the result of a study published in Booz & Company’s publication “Strategy and Business”. MBA students who go to schools where the research level is high get paid more than peers who went to other schools - as much as 21 percent more after three years in the real world.

How do you prepare yourself for an MBA programme? How easy is it to move from work life back onto the school desk, miss out on bonuses and even a regular salary? Bloomberg Business Week has launched an interesting new series to help MBA candidates ease into their new life. Part one is all about budgeting and avoiding debt.

One of the greatest challenges managers and business leaders worldwide are facing today is to attract, retain and develop talent. At the fourth annual conference of the European School of Management and Technology ESMT in Berlin international experts in business, economy and science discusses success strategies in talent management. MBA-Channel.com talked to some of the speakers.

Blogger Linda Brewer comments on the relative earning capabilities of MBAs: “It seems to me it’s still all about connections. The rich elite get into the rich, elite schools because they are part of rich, elite society. Regardless of the education they receive, they get out of school with those same connections and are hired at top salaries. No way do I believe that a middle-class kid, no matter his abilities or education, can break in to their world.”

Investment banks are once again the top destination for student jobseekers. A survey of final-year students at 30 sought-after universities finds that among those already looking for jobs, investment banking is the most popular choice – with 8.5 per cent applying. Experts say that at least three banks are rumoured to be paying 50,000 pounds in starting salaries before bonuses. All of the banks were back on campus in the last twelve months, promoting themselves hard. Most of the best-known names of the City of London are recruiting at 2006-07 levels.

A survey of 4,000 MBA graduates of top schools in Asia, Europe, Canada and the U.S. highlighted an achievement gap between mentored men and women.

“Let’s be brutally honest,” suggest Morten T. Hansen, a management professor at the University of California’s School of Information, and Herminia Ibarra, professor for organizational behaviour at Insead. The joint idea of these professors is to do away with the usual rankings of top CEOs - who’s the most respected, the best paid, the most popular.

New data from consulting firm Mercer shows that the majority of financial services companies have decreased their annual cash bonus as part of their employee pay mix and increased base salaries and the use of deferred compensation.

Starting salaries in the UK have leapt up to their highest level since the recession began despite the overall number of job vacancies declining in July, new figures have shown. In the strongest sign yet that the ‘war for talent’ has returned to the job market after the recession, employers are being forced to pay premium rates for good staff despite remaining nervous about the economic outlook.

Compensation for executives at large and mid-size U.S. companies is expected to rebound modestly this year following two consecutive years of decline, according to a new survey by Towers Watson, a global professional services company. Additionally, most companies are planning to fine-tune their executive pay programs to further tighten the link between pay and performance as well as address a growing concern over executive retention.

Over the past 30 years, management education has been one of the fastest growing segments of the higher education market. Although the current economic crisis and ethical lapses of some major business leaders have tarnished the MBA, B-schools have done extraordinarily well in the past few decades, increasing in number, stature and influence within the business community.  And, within B-schools, the Executive MBA (EMBA) has been one of the fastest growing and most dynamic programmes.

The London School of Economics (LSE) is offering a series of open enrolment executive programs intended to update managers in the latest thinking on various topics. But not everyone can enroll.