Inflight Magazine of Brussels Airlines

The business of learning

As candidates from every continent flock to Europe to enrol in master of business administration (MBA) programmes, Scott Berman reports on how courses are adapting to meet new demands in the wake of the economic crisis

Change is the only constant’ might be a cliché, but that doesn’t make it any less true when it comes to European MBA programmes. Educators in London, Milan, Prague and Copenhagen are seeing an increasingly diverse pool of candidates, in search of fields of inquiry almost as wide-ranging. The programmes haven’t been completely reborn, but they are responding in kind, and had better do so, according to the educators.

First, there’s the borderless nature of today’s MBAs. “Business practices are international by definition, since we live in a globalised economy,” says Valter Lazzari, director of the full-time MBA programme at SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan. “What has changed is the interest in the peculiarities of emerging economies, especially Brazil, Russia, India and China.”

Then there’s the fact that European programmes are now attracting candidates from every continent, who in previous years would have headed to the United States. “This trend has been happening for a few years now, particularly since the Bush administration slashed the number of visas for graduates to stay and work,” says Ross Geraghty, managing editor of topMBA.com, a postgrad service in London. The result, according to a survey this year by his organisation, is that “people who would have gone to the US are now picking Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and France.” This includes candidates from India, Latin America, China and Russia, but, Geraghty adds, “It could be that an influx of foreign business schools in those areas will stem that flow in the mid-future.”

Applicants across Europe are motivated by factors that are making for brisk business at MBA programmes, such as waiting out tough economic times and gaining crucial edges in their careers. In 2009 at least, those factors fuelled a reported 10% increase over 2008 in European MBA applicants. And there’s another motivation in 2010, says Geraghty: “Cautious optimism across most industry sectors that hire MBAs, including banking and consulting.” Furthermore, recruiters from finance houses and consultants “are going back to business school campuses almost as much as they did before.”

People power

So what are these diverse new candidates seeking in their programmes? “Students’ demands remain generally the same: finance, strategy, business development and marketing are the preferred disciplines,” says Lazzari. But these fundamentals are now being applied to areas now of keen interest to students. Take corporate social responsibility (CSR), for example. According to Geraghty, the economic crisis hasn’t taken the shine off CSR lines at MBA programmes. “The new generation of MBAs is actually insisting on change, on internal regulation, on ethical business practice, corporate governance and CSR,” he reports. And MBA programmes are responding, “bringing CSR… into their courses, either as a specific module or sewn into the fabric of all of their courses.”

“If you want to keep up with other top universities, you have to keep your eye on contemporary developments in business,” says Tomas Martykan, international coordinator of the City University of Seattle at Prague’s University of Finance and Administration – one of the Seattle MBA’s 43 affiliated institutions around the world. This doesn’t come easy; business schools don’t turn on a €1 coin. Yet Martykan describes his institution’s MBA as being designed to be flexible in changing times – flexible enough to include CSR in its marketing management tracks in Prague, and localised business practices across its 43 campuses. Similarly, MBA candidates at the Copenhagen Business School (CBS) in Denmark encounter CSR in coursework and research, and have the option to pursue the topic through a required integrated strategy project. Associate dean Torben Juul Andersen says this area of inquiry is “in many respects considered a hallmark of a particular Scandinavian approach to leadership.”

Businesses don’t want to be left behind, either. Geraghty notes more emphasis on “the triple bottom line” (people, planet, profit). “But what impresses me,” he says, “is that it’s the first of those stakeholders, the MBAs themselves, who are insisting on change, and change is happening.“

Green shoots

Regarding another hot MBA topic, sustainability, Geraghty puts it bluntly: “Business schools are climbing over themselves to proclaim their green credentials to potential students, and businesses are doing the same.” Martykan echoes the point, arguing that “green is [so] sexy from a marketing point of view” that educators need to be ready and willing to engage the topic with students. In the Prague programme, he says, there is no green emphasis, but students delve into it in case studies, where they “have to recognise the weaknesses and strengths of green business.”

In other changes, Geraghty also sees a shift in the direction of entrepreneurial study, noting in his company’s research “an almost 8% increase in MBA candidates looking for dedicated entrepreneurship modules, or schools that are known to be strong in this sector.” Why? “So that they can learn to start that business they’d always dreamed of and hit the ground running when the inevitable upswing occurs, and when lenders start being more amenable to small businesses again.”

There’s another take on entrepreneurship being examined in CBS classrooms, adds Anderson: ‘intrapreneurship’, or learning how to bring entrepreneurial techniques and instincts to established business organisations. In Milan, SDA’s percentage of MBA candidates actively pursuing its entrepreneurial track has held steady during 2010 from 2009 levels, according to Lazzari. Yet, even given the new interest in Europe in this line, there’s only so much that schools can do to pull even more candidates in that direction. Lazzari sees it simply: “Entrepreneurial spirits are either there or they aren’t.”

Finally, Martykan notes another important educational need: ”to teach students about modesty and lean business.” He adds that MBA programmes and the businesses whose leaders they are training simply cannot “waste human power or money.” It’s a point that seems particularly relevant as European MBAs continue to adapt and grow in a post- financial crisis business world.

FR Le business de la connaissance

Au coeur de la crise économique, Scott Berman examine comment les programmes de MBA en Europe s’adaptent aux nouvelles donnes

Les responsables des programmes de MBA en Europe cherchent constamment à diversifier leurs candidats. Aujourd’hui, ils reculent les frontières en se tournant vers des économies émergentes comme le Brésil, l’Inde, la Russie et la Chine. Résultat : de nombreux candidats internationaux choisissent désormais l’Europe, au lieu des Etats-Unis. Sur tout le continent, les programmes enregistrent une augmentation des postulants. Dans le climat ambiant de morosité économique, ils attendent la reprise en s’investissant pendant ce temps-là, dans des formations essentielles pour leur carrière.

Que recherchent ces candidats ? La demande en matière d’éducation reste globalement stable – finance, stratégie, business development et marketing – mais ces cours fondamentaux se déplacent vers de nouveaux centres d’intérêts. Ainsi, selon Ross Geraghty, responsable du site londonien topMBA. com dédié aux étudiants de 3ème cycle, « La nouvelle génération de MBA se focalise plus sur les règlementations internes… et la Responsabilité Sociétale des Entreprises (RSE). » (…). Sans oublier le développement durable. « Les école de business se surpassent pour mettre en avant leurs qualifications en écologie auprès de leurs étudiants potentiels », explique Geraghty, qui observe également une hausse de la demande pour les formations en entrepreneuriat. « Les étudiants peuvent dorénavant apprendre à démarrer un business et se tenir prêts pour l’éclaircie. »

Enfin, Tomas Martykan de l’Université de Finance et d’Administration à Prague, attire l’attention sur un autre point : « apprendre aux étudiants la modestie et le business version light. » Des qualités louables à une époque où les MBA doivent continuer à s’adapter au monde de la crise post-financière.

NL Kennisbusiness

Scott Berman vertelt ons hoe de Europese MBA’s zich aanpassen aan de vernieuwde behoeften tengevolge de economische crisis

Europese MBA-docenten zien een toenemende verscheidenheid onder de kandidaten. De huidige MBA’s overstijgen alle grenzen en vertonen nieuwe interesse voor economieën zoals Brazilië, Rusland, India en China. Internationale kandidaten die voorgaande jaren naar de VS zouden zijn getrokken, kiezen nu voor Europa. Overal in Europa neemt het aantal kandidaten toe dat de economisch moeilijke situatie nog even wil afwachten maar tegelijkertijd cruciale basisvorming voor hun carrière wil opdoen. “De studievereisten blijven dezelfde – financiën, strategie, business development en marketing – maar deze fundamentele kennisgebieden worden nu toegepast in nieuwe interessegebieden”, aldus Ross Geraghty, managing editor van topMBA.com, de Londense aanbieder van postgraduaatprogramma’s. “De nieuwe generatie MBA’s focust op interne regulering en corporate social responsibility (CSR).” De MBA-programma’s bieden een antwoord door CSR in hun cursussen op te nemen.” Duurzaamheid is een ander belangrijk MBA-onderwerp. Volgens Geraghty overstijgen businessscholen zichzelf door te schermen met hun credentials inzake duurzaam beleid om potentiële studenten te lokken. Geraghty ziet eveneens een toename in het aantal studenten ondernemingsschap. Waarom? “Studenten leren een eigen onderneming op te starten die succes oogt zodra de economie zich herstelt.”

Tot slot wijst Tomas Martykan van het departement Financiën en Administratie aan de Universiteit van Praag op een andere behoefte: “studenten bescheidenheid en lean management aanleren”. Dit is met name relevant gezien MBA’s voortdurend veranderen in een postfinanciële crisis zakenwereld.

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