London Business School’s Big Expansion Plans

A recent review of London’s full-time MBA program brought one new major change, according to the dean. “Every few years we look at each degree program and last year we looked at the full-time program to see what we could do better. We removed one of the things-the compulsory individual project. It is now optional as an elective. Instead, each class now does an international assignment, going away together. One group went to Buenos Aires and another one to Shanghai. It isn’t just a travel experience or holiday. It has real content. We have also done quite a lot in terms of curriculum development to improve choice. We looked at individual courses to see if we can improve those.”

FOUR ATTRIBUTES DEFINE THE LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

Sir Andrew believes that the school’s differentiation lies in a combination of four core attributes. “We are not unique on any of the four, but believe the four together give us a comparative advantage.

“First, our intake is genuinely global. This is not a British school with a few extra people from other countries. When I first came to the school, 90% of the faculty and 85% of the students were from the U.K. The proportions now are exactly reversed. This is a place where people come from all over the world.

“Second is the quality element. As far as I’m concerned, the key element is there was no problem at all on issues of quality at the end of the tail. We are very adamant that we will not fill programs with lesser candidates. There are problems associated with marginal candidates for them and for us. It’s more trouble than it’s worth to add another half dozen people to fill a quota.”

“Third is our combination of theory and practice. We are heavily involved in practice as well as research.

“And fourth, our campus is very vibrant. We have 80 student clubs covering sports to culture to different industries.

“The four elements of global, quality, theory and practice, and buzz on campus from student engagement is what makes it unique.”