Reforming MBAs to Reflect the Fast-Evolving Business World

TopMBA.com looks at how the world’s top business schools have reformed their MBA programs to better prepare graduates for the fast-evolving business world.

“What we’re trying to do is be responsive to the business environment while maintaining our brand. We want to make sure that people are trained in the things that employers need. Employers are constantly telling us that we’re doing a good job with that,” says Howard Kaufold, vice dean at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

He adds: “A lot of the change within our MBA curriculum is driven by employer and business needs as well as generational change in the way students work today, as opposed to 10 or 20 years ago.”

Responding to global crises

Indeed, recent global events such as the economic downturn have taken much of the world by storm, and it is crises like this that have stimulated many schools to re-assess their MBA programs.

“Change has occurred both organically, as in the MBA curriculum review we just completed, and reactively, in response to the financial crisis,” explains Michael Gibbons, deputy dean at Wharton.

“These changes extend to all academic-related work such as courses, research, seminars, and conferences. In the classroom, we continue to offer an innovative curriculum that reflects its expertise in finance. Students are provided with knowledge that is in-depth but broad enough to be responsive to the vagaries of the market. In the post-crisis financial system, it is apparent that business leaders need to understand governments better given increased regulation in the financial sector.”

This is also one of the reasons why Babson College’s Olin Graduate School of Business has reformed its MBA curriculum.

“The world has changed a lot over the last 15 years – it is very much an ‘unknowable world’. For instance, the numbers of Fortune 100 companies from 10 years ago are no longer in existence today – it is a quickly changing world,” says Robert Turner, associate dean at Olin. “We wanted to overlay the entire curriculum with this idea of entrepreneurial thought and action. We want to push students while they’re students to think about going into a career with an entrepreneurial mindset.”

Supporting business globalization

In preparing students to work in an ‘unknowable world’ and in reacting to recent global events, Olin has added two new courses to its curriculum which explores issues related to business and the economy, as well as business and working with the government.

“Our dean is very keen on the notion of government and institutions working together to solve business and societal problems across a broad range of subjects such as energy or health care. So the new class is a microeconomic course with a real governmental focus,” explains Turner.

Some of the top rated business schools are extending their courses so that they are accessible in other parts of the world in order to support the growing notion of business globalization.

Wharton has developed global modular courses in order to encourage a global and international business mindset. “We currently have a portfolio of about a dozen of these courses in different parts of the world. They’re being offered in countries such as India, China, Brazil, Israel, and South Africa for example,” says Kaufold.

“The modular course is typically one week long so MBA students can go and immerse themselves in that environment. We do it in areas of the world that will enable MBAs to maximize their experience. For example, we have a global supply chain course that is being offered in China, enabling students to go to different parts of China where they can track back the supply demand process of where items are manufactured,” he explains.

Forging global business connections through technology

Technological advances have hastened business globalization, and Olin has incorporated studies on technology and its benefits in obtaining global connections.

“This is going to look at the role of technology and analytics in teaching students how to use technology in making that global connection. We want them to look at how technology has changed the way we do business both locally and globally,” explains Turner.

While a number of business schools have revamped their curricula in response to recent business trends, the delivery of the MBA curriculum has also changed. Schools are increasingly introducing more flexibility and choice to support generational changes in the way students want to study.

UCLA Anderson School of Management for example, has introduced more flexibility in allowing students to choose the design of their MBA program.

“It is a novel approach, intended to give MBAs the most expedient and comprehensive means of preparing for employment opportunities by accelerating preparation for the summer internship interviews in students’ chosen career track, and later, by enabling certificate completion in areas of particular interest,” says Andrew Ainslie, senior associate dean of the MBA program at UCLA.

“With the new curriculum customized around their career needs, UCLA Anderson graduates will be ready to enter the market with deep expertise in their chosen fields when they finish their MBA. Employers expect MBA graduates to be ready, from day one, to add value to their organizations.  They want to avoid investing time and resources to retrain new MBA hires,” he adds.

Flexible MBA formats

Wharton has also applied more flexibility to its MBA programs. “The desire for flexibility is the way of the world today – this is what our students and recent alumni tell us,” says Kaufold.

“All of our changes are based on feedback. Thousands of people were surveyed by faculty in charge of the changing the MBA curriculum. Those surveyed included employers, alumni and current students. We also looked at what other peer institutions were doing in order to keep ahead of that – and increasing choice and flexibility is a key need among students,” he adds.

Wharton has increased flexibility in two ways. With coursework projects, MBA students are given the choice of two pathways – managing business and finance. Previously, students were required to focus on both. The second improvement on flexibility is allowing students to take electives in their first year.

“We’re allowing people to tailor their two years by allowing some of those electives in year one which means they’re able to move some of the required coursework to year two. We also think we’ll have more market responsiveness toward the required coursework,” explains Kaufold.

With the applied changes to some of the world’s best MBA programs, business leaders of tomorrow will be better prepared to lead in a fast-evolving and globalized world.