Tomorrow’s MBA
Prospective MBA students
set out their views on what they
think of the MBA qualification,
what they expect from the
business school experience and
what they want to study.
Enter the Entrepreneur
The interest in entrepreneurship is seen in many aspects of the Tomorrow’s MBA study, but especially in valued course content and what candidates seek from a business school and the MBA programme.
Offered 30 pieces of content typical of an MBA programme,
respondents said they most valued Strategic Management, Leadership and Managing People and Organisations; the same three as last year’s study. However, the new entrant to the top five is Entrepreneurship which last year only featured in the top five of candidates from Africa and North America.
Whether it’s in response to a changing job market where there are fewer opportunities in banking and finance than prior to the economic crisis or whether this is a longer term trend away from large
organisations is unclear. However, even among part-time MBAs
entrepreneurship is popular suggesting that the skills of enterprise are valuable as much when setting up a business as they can be within an existing business.
One conclusion that might be drawn is that an MBA is the wrong qualification for someone looking for entrepreneurship. However, those taking part in the survey continue to show great enthusiasm for the qualification. Asked whether they had become more or less positive about the MBA, less than 10% of the sample indicated that they had become more negative.
The MBA in itself is a brand, and means something to most employers. A student with a Masters in Business Entrepreneurship may have just as rigorous an academic experience at a highly prestigious business school, but it may be less clear to an employer how that qualification compares with an MBA from the same school. Only slightly more than 20% of respondents said they would consider studying a specialist Masters rather than an MBA.
Thinking differently
Further evidence about the rise of entrepreneurship can be seen when respondents to the survey are asked what they want from a business school and MBA. While around 60% say that they want an MBA that will improve their career prospects, the second and third choices are that will provide me with new skills and that will challenge me to think differently. An MBA that will improve my earning potential is only the fifth most important factor, chosen by just over a third of all respondents.
Entrepreneurship is not new to the MBA, but for many years the focus for many MBA students has been banking, finance and consulting. The second Tomorrow’s MBA study suggests this focus is shifting and that entrepreneurship may be the trend of the future.
The Tomorrow’s MBA study was first run in 2009/2010 to try and understand if the economic recession, and the criticism that the MBA received following the collapse of several banks, had an impact on prospective MBA students. If anything the study suggested a strengthening of interest in the qualification, especially in Asia.
Research for the second year of the study took place in
November/December 2010. Potential respondents were contacted through social media, online advertising and banner adverts on a number of business school websites. Responses were received from 476 prospective MBA students in 79 countries.
In addition to a global report and executive summary, individual business schools receive data across all questions broken down by preferred delivery mode – full-time, part-time or distance learning, by nationality of respondents and by those respondents interested in studying at their school, providing powerful information for marketing and operations. Schools also received a desk-based review of the marketing of their MBA programme.
For distance learning, schools should include class lectures on DVDs, provide students with school email accounts, create a forum for ongoing interaction between MBA candidates. In other words, make students really feel like they are part of the university / college and their choosen program. 45% 50% 35% 40% 25% 30% 15% 20% 5% 10% 0% 5%
Figure 1.Content considered important for an MBA programme More MBA schools
should offer e-learning MBA’s with an option to specialise. On-line streamed lectures and live workshops should be included with interactivity playing a major role.
However, dismissing ethics and CSR as irrelevant for MBAs would be a mistake. Further qualitative research with current MBAs and MBA candidates suggests that ethics and CSR are only rejected when presented as stand alone modules. Instead, just as candidates expect internationalism to run through all of their studies, they also expect ethics and CSR to be ever present. While few jobs are advertised at business schools for ethicists, responsible management is often highly desired by employers.
Changing and staying the same
The changing nature of the MBA market can also be seen in other parts of the MBA marketplace. The percentage seeking full-time programmes is down slightly on last year, while those wanting the flexibility of part-time study has grown by a small amount. Only in North America do more than 50% of the sample indicate that they want a traditional 2 year MBA programme. Across the sample, more respondents want blended learning rather than traditional academic terms and office hours.
Although career remains important, earnings have dropped back in recent studies carried out by CarringtonCrisp, a result confirmed by this year’s Tomorrow’s MBA study. Driven by the labour market and a narrowing of the salary increases recorded by MBAs from different schools, candidates are seeking a wider return on the investment they make in their MBA.
A wider mix of skills plays to the potential entrepreneur who may need to be able to manage a range of tasks to drive success in their business. Similarly, with flatter corporate structures, those still working when doing their MBA recognise that a move sideways in to a different type of project may be the best way to move up in an organisation in the medium term.
Responsible or ethical?
Another feature of the first Tomorrow’s MBA study was an apparent lack of interest among candidates in Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility in the MBA curriculum. Offered 30 pieces of potential MBA content and asked which they valued most, respondents to the most recent study placed Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility among the five least valuable.
th t h t d t ith id i f i
that has programme content informed by close links with business and industry
th t i l d t f t i l ibilit / thi i b i
with small class sizes that has students with a wide mix of experience
with international study options with work experience opportunities that includes a strong focus on corporate social responsibility/ethics in business
that offers good value for money
with flexible study options (e.g partͲtime, evening, distance learning)
with international study options
that will provide me with new skills that has a good range of modules available for study that offers good value for money
that will improve my career prospects that will improve my earning potential that will provide me with new skills
that combines academic theory with real world application that will challenge me to think differently that will improve my career prospects
that includes a specialist subject as an option that has content I can tailor to my needs that combines academic theory with real world application
that has strong practical content that includes a specialist subject as an option
Figure 2.Factors considered important when selecting an MBA programme
PagalGuy Other LinkedIn BusinessBecause ChaseDream gradschools.com bestbizschools.com LinkedIn accessmba.com MBA.com mbaprograms.org Google Yahoo accessmba.com BusinessWeek.com topmba.com worldclassmba.com MBAworld com Economist.com Masterstudies.com FT.com Facebook MBAworld.com
University/business school website YouTube
Figure 3.Websites used by respondents when deciding where to study
Best insight about MBA programs came from meeting friends of friends via Facebook, connecting with MBA grads on Twitter and visiting schools and going out with MBA students. MBA courses should be
more industry oriented and focused on field work, rather than making students bookish.
However, when it comes to finding out about MBA programmes, tradition still has a role to play. Media titles such as the Financial Times, Business Week and The Economist still play an important part in helping candidates find out about business schools. Although Google and the university/business school website are chosen as the most important tools when seeking information about what and where to study.
Social networks are growing in significance and not just facebook and LinedIn, but services such as Orkut and Xianoei which are strong in particular markets. Blogs are growing in importance, especially in North America and India. Twitter is unused by 80% of the respondents and although iTunes is slightly more popular it too is unused by almost two-thirds of the sample.
Despite the role of electronic media, when asked what had the greatest impact on their perception of the MBA, the answer was overwhelmingly people, either when visiting business schools, meeting MBA alumni or working with MBA graduates. Information gathering may be dominated by electronic media, but decision making still tends to only take place after a conversation with an alumnus or school staff member.
The other highly significant factor in choosing where to study are the rankings with 69% of respondents describing them as important or very important; 61% ascribe the same value to accreditation.
Business schools can also take some comfort from the survey results in that a large majority of the sample prioritise choosing a business school with a strong academic reputation. Rather than look to a private provider of management skills, candidates prefer an academic institution, knowing that a potential future employer will recognise the business school over the private provider.
What flavour MBA do you want?
The MBA market is changing, of that there is little doubt. However, there is uncertainty about what it will look like in the future. The MBA itself remains a popular qualification, but there are likely to be many different flavours of MBA – the full-time, the part-time, the hybrid; delivered in the classroom, at a distance or blended; over one year, two years, three or even more; and with a focus on finance,
entrepreneurship, leadership, people and strategy.
Other
Media coverage of the global crisis
Working with MBA graduates
Visiting business schools
Meeting MBA alumni
General media coverage of business schools Blogs about and by MBA students and graduates
Marketing by business schools General media coverage of business schools
Media coverage about the role of bankers with MBA degrees
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Not at all A little Some A lot A great deal Not applicable
Figure 4.Factors affecting your view of the MBA qualification
Not known Other Asia Pakistan MEast India Pakistan
Not important at all
Oceania Not very important
Neither important nor i
SCAmerica
NAmerica unimportantImportant
Africa SCAmerica WEurope 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% EEurope 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Figure 5.Importance of rankings in decision making split by national group
Too often the well produced brochures do not match the reality. Some staff have very poor customer focused skills.
The MBA brand, in the simplest sense, is strong among both
candidates and employers, especially in Asia and increasingly in Africa. However, there is plenty of room in the market place for schools to differentiate their particular offer and for candidates to choose exactly what they want from the qualification.
International competition is intensifying in the MBA
marketplace at the same time as questions have been posed about the future of the qualification.
• What do future students want from an MBA? • What do they expect from a business school? • What content do they want in their programmes?
• What relationship do they expect beyond business school? The Tomorrow’s MBA study answers all these questions and many more, providing a business school with key information to help them enhance their MBA offer, attracting more, quality students.
To take part in the next Tomorrow’s MBA study in October 2011 and find out what prospective MBA students expect from your business school, contact us at info@carringtoncrisp.com or complete the booking form below. Reports will be available for participating schools in January 2012.
For schools booking before 1 July 2011, get a £500
discount on the usual price of £3500.
All prices are exclusive of VAT which, where required, will be added at the applicable rate.
Participating schools receive:
• a market-wide report on the views of prospective MBAs, • Powerpoint files of charts with analysis as a total sample and
broken down by delivery preference (full-time, part-time and distance learning) and by national group,
• a personalised report on the strengths and weaknesses of the MBA offer at their business school; and
• an on-campus presentation of the survey results.
Name and address of Business School:
Contact: Title:
Telephone Number:
Email Address:
Please accept this completed application form and a cheque or send me an invoice for the amount shown below.
Find out more about CarringtonCrisp, our other
group research studies, creative and marketing
services and consultancy for business schools by
visiting
www.carringtoncrisp.com
CarringtonCrisp
34Ladbroke Square
London W11 3NB, United Kingdom
Telephone:+44 (0) 20 7229 7373
Email: info@carringtoncrisp.com Website: www.carringtoncrisp.com The Association of Business Schools
137Euston Road,
London NW1 2AA, United Kingdom
Telephone:020 7388 0007 Email: abs@the-abs.org.uk Website: www.the-abs.org.uk Telephone:+ 32 (0)2 629 0810 Email: info@efmd.org Website: www.efmd.org
