The Most Diverse Business Schools

Are MOOCs The Least Of Business Schools’ Worries?

Ah, think back on the good ol’ days. You know, 2005. Back then, companies actually pushed their high potentials into business school. Heck, they even picked up the tab. Talk about a sweet deal! Sure you gave up your evenings and weekends. In the end, you often came away with a bigger paycheck and a promotion – and no debt to boot. When you were ready to switch jobs, that MBA sure looked good on a resume.

What a difference a decade makes. Now, barely a third of employers cover executive programs according to The Economist. And if that wasn’t an ominous sign for business schools, the rise of MOOCs sure got their attention. In the end, MOOCs simply symbolized a decentralizing undercurrent that could be both menacing and promising for business schools. Schools learned content was a commodity and online delivery channels could level the playing field. To survive, they needed to leave campus and customize their offerings. In other words, schools must master a skill that they often struggle to teach: Sales.

Years ago, B-schools simply competed against each other. First, they sold students on the value of the MBA. Then, they moved onto their unique value proposition. Today, the competition is more asymmetrical writes the Financial Times. Business schools are now vying for student – and faculty – talent with startups, partnerships, and in-house arms of deep-pocketed companies:

“Strategy consultancies such as Bain and Boston Consulting Group have long been executive education providers, but now publishing companies, technology start-ups and recruitment consultancies are circling in an attempt to land chunks of a global market worth in excess of $70bn a year. In some cases, the new entrants have arrived through acquisitions — LinkedIn, the professional networking site, for example, recently bought Lynda.com, the training company. Others have arisen through alliances, such as the Financial Times’ partnership with Spain’s IE Business School to deliver corporate programmes.”

As you’d expect, money and opportunity are two forces powering this disruption. “We are beginning to see the emergence of edtech-driven, venture capital-funded start-ups that believe edtech [the use of technology in teaching] is the driver of executive education,” Mike Malefakis, associate dean for executive education at Columbia Business School, tells the Financial Times.

However, that is one part of the equation. MBAs are often described as generalist degrees. And that makes parts of the MBA curriculum – such as financials and leadership – applicable, if not valuable, to disciplines ranging from engineering to education. By pulling this content out of a program, content providers can tap into such markets, since those students simply can’t bear the time and cost of a two-year MBA or one-year specialty degree.

Aside from startups, large companies are also getting into the game. In fact, the Financial Times notes that some companies are establishing corporate universities, using help from business school faculty. “Big companies are calling them academies, while others are saying they want to build their own internal capabilities,” says David Altman, an executive vice-president with the Center for Creative Leadership. “Trends that began before the financial crisis are continuing, such as corporate demand for shorter courses. The trend for companies to eschew open-enrolment courses in favour of ones designed for a single company has accelerated, as has the need for programmes that award a certificate or diploma, which can often be credited towards a degree.”

By taking MBA curriculum in-house, such companies are increasing their control over what is taught – and holding themselves accountable for their return on investment. However, this collaboration between businesses and schools produces unique value says Guy Saunders, associate dean for executive education at Melbourne Business School in Australia. “We do not know how to solve their problems — they know how to solve their problems. We help them think about how to solve their problems better.”

Finally, the evolving and global nature of business is changing what is taught, how it is delivered, and why. According to the Financial Times, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia are becoming increasingly receptive –and lucrative – markets for graduate management educational curriculum. That’s particularly true, as the Financial Times notes, since Asian firms are looking to prepare young leaders to run their overseas subsidiaries.

Even in traditional education markets like the United States and Europe, the model is evolving says Mike Canning, chief executive of Duke Corporate Education, which is part of Duke University. “It is no longer about filling knowledge gaps. It is about rewiring, [which] is not about knowing something, but making sense of things for which we have no model.”

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Source: Financial Times