The master of business administration, the world’s most popular business qualification, is changing in profound ways. Business schools are departing from the one-size-fits-all approach and focusing on fresh avenues for prospective students to attain the highly valued degree.
Top United States publication Business Week confirmed this trend when it published its 2006 rankings of the best business schools in August last year. It reported that ”many [business school deans] are embarking on … the most curriculum reforms in recent memory”, and that ”they recognise that a reassessment is long overdue and vital if the MBA is to remain relevant for the next generation of business leaders”.
This breath of fresh air in top business schools around the globe is contributing to renewed confidence in the MBA. According to the Graduate Management Admission Council’s (GMAC) 2006 Application Trends Survey, released in August, for the first time in three years business schools are seeing applications rise significantly.
Part of this new momentum has been attributed to companies feeling more confident with the state of the global economy, with many reporting that the past year has marked their first opportunity to grow since the dot-com bust in 2000.
The efforts by business schools to change to meet market demands and offer relevant and flexible MBA offerings, however, are also contributing to the rise in applications. Some of these changes have been made at MBA curriculum level, with significant moves away from the one-size-fits-all MBA and programmes compartmentalised by discipline.
Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business for example, ranked at number six in the Business Week survey, has introduced a new model that emphasises flexi-bility and customisation, reports the publication.
And it is addressing this need for flexibility — when one looks at the GMAC global application statistics — which appears to be a key factor for many students today. The 2006 study shows that while full-time programmes are seeing a good upswing with 65% of business schools reporting that full-time applications are up, more flexible programmes are increasing in number too, with 62% of schools reporting more applications.
This is a 35% increase in the number of programmes reporting an increase in part-time applications in 2006, compared with 2005, and a 130% increase compared with 2004. To accommodate the increase in application volume, 55% of part-time programmes plan to increase their class size in the near future.
South African business schools have also felt the effects of this trend and some have responded accordingly with innovation in the MBA curriculum and alternative modes of delivery that meet this new demand for flexibility.
Research conducted by the UCT Graduate School of Business (GSB) in 2003 provided an early insight into the need for innovative ways of delivering the MBA to meet the needs of students in general, and women and African candidates in particular, in South Africa.
The research found that, for African candidates, top of the list of factors standing in the way of studying a full-time MBA were the total costs (that is, tuition and living expenses while forsaking a salary), and the practicality of doing so. According to the study, these factors are barriers to black South Africans in particular, because these candidates are more likely than their white counterparts to have existing financial obligations in the form of family committments.
For women, one of the main barriers that the GSB has identified also revolves around the practicality of doing the degree when family responsibilities beckon.
The result of these findings was a concerted effort to develop flexible alternatives across each of the GSB’s core academic programmes — allowing students from anywhere in South Africa to study and work at the same time. One such programme is the modular MBA, launched in 2005, which saw a 33% rise in applications last year.
In line with the GSB’s research in 2003, the modular format has drawn a higher percentage of women (36%) and African applicants (43%) when compared to the full-time programme. The modular format has now been extended to executive short courses at the business school.
In addition to allowing people the ability to get an MBA while working and caring for their families, the modular format is proving to have an immediate, positive workplace impact. Student feedback has shown that the modular format allows for immediate application of theoretical principles in the workplace, offering tangible real-world results to students and their organisations.
At a curriculum level, it is also proving popular as it offers a balance between distance learning, and classroom contact time, group work and networking opportunities — the latter factors being crucial aspects of the MBA experience.
In the US, the answer to the MBA flexibility question has been dominated by online-based distance learning. This, however, is not the best option available for South Africa’s developmental needs. The biggest shortcoming of internet delivery is the absence of physical interaction. Students miss out on the intense engagement between classmates and faculty both inside and outside the classroom, and the exchange of real-life experiences.
While the internet can offer chat rooms and email access to tutors, it is still a poor substitute for the real thing. In the South African context, effective group-work plays a critical role as a social learning tool — an element not easily reproduced in virtual groups.
The rise of the flexible MBA should therefore be seen as a positive sign that business schools are willing to accept that their traditional offerings in isolation may no longer be the answer to the needs of applicants — and that they are listening and responding to the concerns and needs expressed by the business community.
This is a global quest under way today, but it is especially critical in South Africa, where educational institutions and business schools in particular have a very important role and responsibility in economic and social development.
Creating access is one way of contributing, particularly in the skills development arena.
Dr Vash Mungal is director of the associate in management programme, the postgraduate diploma in management practice and the MBA at the University of Cape Town’s Graduate School of Business