Business School News

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.

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.

“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.

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 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.

Social media has an ever growing effect on our daily life. Business schools as well as MBA applicants feel the pressure to compete in the social net. Recently, MBA Tour conducted a survey amongst B-school students. Its results suggest that a massive 85 per cent of potential students worldwide use social media sites to research their top school choices. The students’ verdict on the schools’ use of social media tools is quite scathing: about 14 per cent said they were disappointed by the schools’ use of Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and LinkedIn and 63 per cent wished for more information while acknowledging that the schools had made an effort.

This year two-year, full-time MBA programmes received less applications compared to 2010. About two-thirds reported a decline in a new survey from the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).

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.

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.

To get into business school you need application essays, letters of recommendation, academic credentials, work experience and an entrance interview. Washington Post interviewed the admission officers of some of the top schools. We have compiled the top tips for you.

The recent news that the TiasNimbasBusiness School will close its MBA programme in Germany came as a surprise to staff, students and the general public. It has now been confirmed that the Duke-Goethe Executive MBA programme will also be discontinued in 2012. Both institutions have offered their programmes as premium part-time MBA programmes and both cite a lack of demand and market conditions as the key reasons for discontinuing the programme. This begs the question: Is the market for part-time MBA programmes trending downward in Germany?

Unaccredited universities in the US often promote themselves as helping students getting a visa into the country. A group of schools—including San Jose’s ITU, Sunnyvale’s Herguan University and until recently Pleasanton’s now-closed Tri-Valley University – have attracted a student body that consists entirely of student-visa holders – most of them from India. But are they genuine universities and their MBA programmes proper courses?

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.

“We are small, but great” - The Leipzig Graduate School of Management wants to grow, but with consideration for quality and a sense of proportion. Bachelor degrees will not be offered but a family-friendly part-time MBA, more personable service and new scholarships. Rector Andreas Pinkwart spoke about his plans to MBA-Channel.com.

At the annual conference of business school in Berlin MBA-Channel.com interviewed Francesca Gino from Harvard Business School. The economist wrote her PhD at home in Italy, in Harvard she researches issues like negotiations and decision making, teamwork, ethics and innovation.