Coping With COVID In Europe’s Top B-Schools

Two months after starting an MBA at INSEAD in France, Aubrey Keller found himself in lockdown at the edge of the forest of Fontainebleau. “I did not expect Covid,” he recalls of those first weeks of the pandemic, “but neither did the world.”

About the same time, Hanna-Lil Malone, a former accounts director at PR company Lansons, was quarantining with her parents in Dublin. Sick of working on Zoom all day, she looked forward to September and the start of her MBA programme at Cambridge Judge Business School in the UK.

But in May, the school gave her an ultimatum: defer, or recommit knowing the experience would be entirely different to what she expected when she was first admitted in October 2019.

“We all knew what we were getting into coming here,” Malone says, speaking before Christmas from the campus cafeteria, where she and other students were studying, at safe distance, for an economics final.

Read the Irish Times story here.

Stony Brook to offer fully online MBA

Starting in fall 2021, the Stony Brook University College of Business will offer a fully online MBA program for the general MBA and the MBA with concentrations in Innovation or Operations Analytics. The fully in-person and flexible scheduling models for all of the MBA programs will still be offered as well.

“The online MBA is a perfect solution for today’s busy working professional who wants to dedicate themselves to their career, while simultaneously ensuring that their learning continues,” Dean Manuel London says. “Stony Brook’s world-class business faculty are well prepared to teach students in an online format, providing interaction and engagement along the way.”

Johns Hopkins Carey announces new dual degree

Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School and School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) have announced the launch of a dual Master of Arts in International Relations (MAIR) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree program. The new program will provide graduates with expertise in international relations as well as leadership and analytic skills gained through both degree programs. Enrollment is open now for fall 2021.

With the Master of Arts in International Relations degree, students are promised the knowledge, skills, and experiences to confront the complex global challenges of today and tomorrow. The flexible curriculum includes core areas of study by examining leadership, international markets, regional studies, decision-making, data analytics, economics, geopolitics, and research methods. Graduates also are promised professional and substantive insights for developing an extensive global mindset to tackle real-world problem-solving.

“Graduates of the MAIR/MBA program will be well-equipped to tackle the challenges of a complex and ever-changing world,” says Alexander Triantis, dean of Carey Business School. “This program strategically blends SAIS’s deep expertise in international relations and Carey Business School’s specialization in the fields of finance, business analytics, information systems, marketing, and the business of health.”

Top-50 European B-school launches new sustainable finance master’s

BI Norwegian Business School, ranked No. 49 in Europe by The Financial Times, has launched an interdisciplinary MSc in Sustainable Finance as sustainability is becoming a core concern for investors, companies, and civil society. Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance plays an increasingly critical role in attracting capital, in responding to owners and stakeholders demands, and in complying with emerging regulatory requirements.

The new program is designed to prepare students for positions at the intersection of finance and sustainability, as well as traditional finance or business careers. The program covers issues related to global sustainable development, climate change and corporate environmental and social responsibility with strong general management, quantitative and finance skills.

“ESG factors have become increasingly important in the financial industry and are rapidly becoming a vital part of the investment process,” says Bruno Gerard, associate dean of the program. “Students looking for a career in finance need to learn how ESG issues affect financial management and how financial constraints can limit or support action towards sustainability. By studying sustainable finance, students will be able to meet this increasing need for expertise in both finance and sustainability.”

DON’T MISS UC-BERKELEY HAAS WANTS TO BE THE TOP B-SCHOOL FOR SUSTAINABILITY