Scotland's Top Business Schools Aim to Retain MBA Talent

Dr Iain Docherty, MBA program director at the University of Glasgow discusses how Scots are rigorously inviting top MBA graduates to stay in the country.

Scotland's top business schools are emerging on the MBA scene and establishing a great name for themselves as an alternative to the domination of business schools south of the border in England.

With a high standard and low cost of living, a friendly culture and access to some of the world's biggest markets, why not consider a top business school in the land of Robbie Burns and the Loch Ness Monster. When ye go, will ye come back?*

Scottish MBA programs have become ever more popular over the past five years. More and more people from across the world have come to appreciate the unique value gained from pursuing an MBA in Scotland's vibrant universities, with their blend of history and modern, international outlook. An added bonus is that whilst programs such as the University of Glasgow's AMBA and AACSB-accredited MBA have the same outstanding faculty, high quality teaching and excellent networking opportunities as US and other UK schools, they also deliver outstanding value, since their fees are pitched at a more realistic level than many.

Everyone knows of the Scots expertise in financial management, but the appeal of a Scottish MBA goes far beyond the price tag. With Edinburgh and Glasgow in the top 25 financial centres of the world according to the 2008 Global Financial Centres Index published by the City of London, a growing number of important organisations are expanding in Scotland, with a wide variety of companies becoming more involved with graduate education. The relationships these companies forge with the major Scottish universities translate into work placements and internships, research projects and networking opportunities for MBA students.

At Glasgow, there is genuine knowledge exchange in evidence with companies like National Australia Group, Amazon.co.uk, BT, IBM, and Microsoft, as well as public organisations like the NHS and the BBC, actively collaborating in the Glasgow MBA. After graduation, the Post Study Work visa program (previously known as the Fresh Talent: working in Scotland Scheme) gives our international students the chance to capitalise on Glasgow's business and industry links, by continuing to live and work in Scotland.

Fresh Talent was created to attract and retain the brightest, most talented, hardworking people who can make a positive contribution to the Scottish economy. Scotland has a history of welcoming those from other cultures, because we acknowledge that diversity brings benefits, new ideas, new blood, new ways of thinking.  Since June 2005, there have been 7,953 international graduates from Scottish universities and colleges who have taken the opportunity to apply to stay in Scotland at the end of their studies through the Fresh Talent Scheme, including many from the Glasgow MBA program, who have gone onto senior positions in a variety of industries.

It is an exciting time to be in business in Scotland just now. The Scottish Government has set a demanding and focused target to improve Scotland's rate of economic growth to match the best performing small European countries, and already this is bearing fruit in terms of closer links between government, industry and universities and their students.  Innovation is real and pervasive, with companies from financial services to high technology manufacturing competing strongly with the best in the world. To achieve this, they will need the best people, which is where a Scottish MBA, and the excellent networks you will establish as part of your experience of studying in Scotland, will come into its own.

"Having established Europe's first public education system, Scotland benefits from an unparalleled history of excellence in learning and critical enquiry. The third and fourth oldest universities in the English-speaking world are found here at St Andrews, founded in 1413, and at the University of Glasgow, founded in 1451. This foundation provided the basis for the intellectual tradition that inspired the Scottish Enlightenment possibly the single biggest intellectual leap forward the world has ever seen generating highly significant contributions to philosophy and economics, and establishing the scientific method upon which modern scientific progress depends.

Glasgow played its full part, most notably playing host to Adam Smith, the father of economics, and author of The Wealth of Nations, which remains a classic to this day. With this distinguished intellectual history supporting us, Scots look forward to a new Enlightenment in which our centres of excellence in business, economics and finance will help generate the next wave of progress and prosperity.

"You will most certainly enjoy the intellectual challenge of a Scottish MBA program, but you will also have time to enjoy all that Scotland has to offer in terms of its culture, history, and natural beauty. Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland's largest cities, as well as smaller cities like Aberdeen, Dundee, Stirling and Inverness, offer world-class museums and galleries, music and theatre festivals, excellent restaurants and pubs, and fabulous shopping.

Further afield, you will discover some of Europe's most beautiful landscapes, with rolling hills, crystal clear lochs, and unspoilt beaches. You will find golf, skiing, fishing, distilleries, castles and so much more. A trip outside of the main cities offers a glimpse into Scotland's fascinating history. Come for Scotland's history of excellence, but stay for Europe's Region of the Future, named by the Financial Times fDi magazine, in recognition of Scotland's investment, academic excellence, and business opportunities. A Scottish MBA is the surest investment you'll ever make.

*We've stolen our title from famous Scottish band The Proclaimers. The lyric actually goes: "When ye go, will ye send back a letter from America?"