Globalization of the MBA

An MBA degree has been the ticket to success in the U.S. business world for decades. The same is true for most nations, and as the economy has become a global affair so has the development of graduate business schools that operate in more than one national or cultural environment. CNBC Europe recently conducted a survey of business schools and saw a number of patterns developing.

The University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business has campuses in London and Singapore; Duke’s Fuqua School of Business in Durham is also open for business in London, Dubai, New Delhi, St. Petersburg and Shanghai. European schools are also engaged in expansion both by opening new facilities in foreign nations and by partnering with existing institutions.

Students are also traveling to foreign business schools: Warwick Business School in the UK has a student body comprised of individuals from 122 countries. Sixty two percent of their enrolled population is foreign students. In some schools on the Continent, foreign enrollment comprises over 80% of the population. In Europe, graduate business degrees are generally cheaper than the U.S. option and can be completed in 13 months instead of the 21 – 24 month programs at most U.S. schools.

The British term for MBA programs is “management education,” which has a similar history to the MBA as a special educational credential in the business world. A management degree provides the European graduate access to corporate interviews that few other degrees can offer. A decade ago, Harvard and MIT, Cambridge and Oxford were the goals of aspiring business students. 9/11 has changed that, leading to a branding battle among the 10,000 or so business schools that operate around the world.

While some of the American schools have opted for overseas campuses, the European model seems to be consolidation and partnership. In France the CERAM business school in on the Cote d’Azur has teamed with Groupe ESC Lille to create the largest business school in Europe. Their goal is to open facilities on five continents, one of which will be in the U.S. They also intend to market their strengths, which for CERAM is information technology.

In Australia there has been a spate of business school consolidation with an eye towards international marketing. The University of Melbourne recently completed a reorganization and now intends to target the Pacific Asian countries. In Europe, India and many nations on other continents the courses are generally taught in English, the de facto international language of business. And in every case, school administrators see the necessity of focusing on business from a global perspective.

Then there is the option of online business administration degrees. Warwick in the UK has 400 distance learning students, a figure they would be comfortable quadrupling with their present faculty. The large percentage of MBA students that are already working professionals makes online expansion a natural choice for many of the respected schools with high regional recognition. In the U.S. traditional schools are rapidly moving toward the blended degree option and eventually should find a comfort level with degree options that are completely online.

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