The Market

Amidst renewed talks of a financial crisis, employees all over the world are more reluctant to give up their positions and go back to school for one or two years. This might be one of the reasons why the Executive Masters in Business Administration (EMBA) is so successful these days.

A new survey by Training The Street (TTS), a corporate training provider, found that MBA graduates needed more hands-on training to prepare themselves for Wall Street careers. The training company conducted its analysis amongst a training class of incoming associates at a global investment bank.

Fear of another financial crisis has caused a slowdown for enrolments at Indian business schools. The impact has been relatively low in the top institutes, but a majority of the approximately 4,000 schools in India are facing a shortage of students. In some cases, they have lost up to 50 per cent of their students according to IIM Calcutta director Shekhar Chaudhuri.

The Ross school of Business at the University of Michigan takes its executive MBA programme to Los Angeles. The programme is a once-a-month format.  Applications will be accepted in January, with the first course starting in August 2012. A key feature of the programme is the so called ExecMAP where students work in teams to conduct high-level strategic projects. These cover a variety of industries and company sizes from multinationals to start-ups. The course enables students to get to know different industries, gain overseas experience, or get inside an entrepreneurial venture.

Public relations has not been the focus of most MBA programmes. Usually most programmes touch the topic briefly, mostly in the way of teaching writing and communication skills. This might change in the near future as new research reveals gaps in MBA hires in this particular area.

Why study for an MBA? Which school to choose? And by which criteria? There is no one better qualified to answer these questions than the programme directors of business schools who observe the industry, its trends and its relative competitive advantages. Therefore the English national daily newspaper “The Independent” and Audencia Nantes School of Management in France asked the heads of 58 business schools in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America, but not the United States for their opinion. The data such collected challenges some of the accepted facts concerning the Master of Business Administration.

“The Financial Times” ranks the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad as the highest placed newcomer in its 2011 global ranking. That is due to impressive salaries for alumni and due to an extensive international network with other prestigious schools like Stern, Booth, WHU, Essec and HEC. MBA Channel spoke with IIMA’s director Professor Samir K. Barua about the school’s image to be one of the toughest business schools to get into and the relative value of international accreditations.

Several Canadian business schools have opened up trading floors for their MBA students. They have installed trusts with real money to allow their students to learn how to trade stocks and bonds and handle the risks involved.

Turkey has risen from the ashes like a phoenix. After its worst economic crisis in 2001 Turkey has turned the tables. These days the country is outshining the BRIC* countries reporting higher growth rates than any of the other emerging markets. With nine per cent growth, Turkey’s 735 billion dollar economy is Europe’s fastest-expanding market. Experts explain the country’s economic “miracle” with two main factors: Turkey’s high growth potential and the country’s large size.

Only a few Australian universities offer MBA programs online. Those that do, report significant demand. For example the University of South Australia’s biggest and fastest growing MBA cohort is virtual students. At any given time there are about 300 students studying online, compared with about 200 on campus in Adelaide. The development is driven by the mining boom in Australia, reckon the school’s administrators. Many people working in the country’s fast growing resources sector fly in and out of work in remote communities near mining sites and study in the evenings while there is not much else to do in the outback.

The International Executive Doctorate (DBA) is the highest level business qualification attainable. It is designed for experienced senior managers, executives and entrepreneurs who already have a master’s degree and wish to carry out in-depth research on a key management issue in their field. 

India is one of the most exciting MBA destinations at the moment. The economy has been going strong in the last few years and MBA applications are on the rise. On top of this a new foreign education bill is in discussion which will allow the entry of foreign universities into India. Schools like Duke University’s Fuqua, York University’s Schulich and Georgia Institute of Technology have expressed interest in setting up campuses in India. MBA-Channel spoke with Ajit Rangnekar, dean of the Indian School of Business about the new competition, the lack of quality education on the subcontinent, and a higher number of scholarships.

The FT’s 2011 ranking of global Executive MBA programmes is out and the first three places go to Kellogg/Hong Kong UST, Trium and Columbia/London School of Economics. The winners are all combination programmes where students study in more than one place and often receive a title from more than one university. Of the top 10 EMBA programmes in 2011, seven involve studying on more than one continent.

There is no shortage of MBA graduates in the U.S. these days. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), there are over 150,000 MBA graduates every year in the U.S. alone. The challenge, however, is to create not only graduates but business leaders – something that has been discussed over and over again in the last few years. 

Originally, the MBA was a typical U.S. degree. The Master of Business Administration emerged in the U.S. at the end of the 19th century as America became more and more industrialized. Over time many other Western countries took on the degree and only a few years ago even emerging markets jumped on the train. By now the so called BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) have fully embraced the MBA education for example. These days the trend is spreading further and further. Who would have thought the following possible a few years ago?

Year after year, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (or IIM-A) made it to the top in Indian rankings of its B-schools. IIM Ahmedabad is one of the oldest business schools in India and is nationally as well as internationally well recognized. However, this year, two other schools kicked the renowned school from the top spot.