New Programs

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.

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. 

Asia is developing into a strong market for business schools and Insead has been active on the continent for several years, teaching from its own campus in Singapore and forging ties with universities in China. In 2007 Insead started the so called TIEMBA programme (Tsinghua Insead Executive MBA) that enables students to finish a dual-degree Executive MBA with Insead and the Chinese Tsinghua University.

One-year MBA programmes have risen in demand and new offers reflect the new trend. In 2010, 48 per cent of students preferred a one-year programme compared to 38 per cent that voted for a two-year programme, when questioned for the QS TopMBA.com Applicant Survey.

India was the most active country regarding new MBA programmes and offers last month, but we also want to take a look at what’s new in the US and South America.

“At drinks with some full time MBA students, we talked about how they all have ipads with apps for case studies, websites to elaborate finance models and how they submit coursework online through complex plagiarism software”, writes Wesley Cole, business systems manager for a recruitment company, in a blog from London’s Cass Business School – and admits how baffled he feels. “I quickly realise I have no idea how to learn.”

New MBA offers often tap into expanding and promising industries. If we believe in business school’s talent for analysing future trends, these are the hot new topics of 2011: combined law and management skills, luxury goods management and renewable energies. MBA Channel has looked into what’s new on the market.

Wake Forest University in North Carolina, U.S.A., has a small business school with only 135 full time MBA students but a career management team of 16. The business school has taken the challenges from the Financial Crisis on board and has made career success a top priority.

So far, luxury brand management is a speciality of business schools in France, HEC and Essec are regarded as experts in this niche. Now the home of Armani, Prada and Gucci is joining the competition: Milan based SDA Bocconi School of Management creates a new program in luxury business management.

The trend toward specialization has shaped most industries over the past decade, but few have embraced the shift more enthusiastically than business schools.  Nowadays schools focus on areas such as aerospace, wine management, luxury goods, real estate or even church management.

Many MBA programme directors spent the year after the collapse of the world economy wondering whether they need to re-invent their teachings in response to a financial crisis to which some critics believe they lent a helping hand.

MBA Students at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business can now improve their analysis of a wide range of economic, social, ethical and environmental dilemmas with a handful of new courses to be offered during the 2009/10 academic year.

Online education has a long and winding history. Initially regarded by many institutions as a very interesting possibility to lower costs and offer students a way to learn themselves with interactive materials, it evolved into something that could be described as “education on steroids”.

Thanks to a 12 million dollar donation from Jack Welch – the legendary former boss of General Electric – the brand new Jack Welch Management Institute at the Chancellor University in Ohio offers a new MBA program.

The inaugural class of the “EMBA-Global Asia” beginning of May marks the Asian expansion of EMBA-Global - the top-ranked executive MBA partnership programme offered by Columbia Business School and London Business School. The new course became possible when the New York and London faculties embraced Hong Kong University’s Business School as their Asian partner.

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.