European business schools shine in international management ranking

This year, international management is the only one of the ten specialization rankings included in the 2012/13 QS Global 200 Business Schools Report that isn’t topped by a US institution.  As in last year’s ranking, INSEAD – France holds the number one spot.

There are 13 European schools in the top 50, with many featuring among the top positions. In addition to INSEAD-France, London Business School, SDA Bocconi, and IE Business School make the top 10.

The success of top European schools in international management reflects their international diversity, which gives students experience of working alongside peers from a vast range of different professional cultures. The four European schools in the top ten are among the most international of all the Elite Global Business Schools, with 83% to 97% of their students come from abroad

Despite the success of top European schools, in terms of its total number of institutions the US still dominates the international management specialization ranking. The US accounts for 20 of the top 50 schools , including Wharton, which has moved ahead of the Thunderbird School of Management to take the number two spot.

Like CSR, international management is an area with strong MBA programs from several schools that aren’t in the Global Elite category for overall employer recognition. For example, the international management MBA programs at the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California and Fox School of Business at Temple University both received substantial employer recognition.

The importance of international management in today’s global economy

The increased importance of international management MBA programs reflects today’s globalized business landscape. “The reality today is all business is global business because practically all firms are multinational,” states M. Moshe Porat, dean of Temple University’s Fox School of Business. In addition, “No matter who you work for, you’ll be working with people from all over the world.”

That’s why it’s become more important for MBA graduates to have international management skills, as well as an understanding of management within the global context.

Working with people from all around the world means that MBA graduates will have to understand the differences in management approaches for each country they work with. Porat cites the example of contracts, since they are handled differently all around the world.

The MBA employers surveyed for the 2012/13 QS Global 200 Business Schools Report agreed about the value of inter-cultural skills. In addition, most employers surveyed stated that they screen candidates based on their language skills.

At Temple, international management is considered a must-have skill set for any MBA graduate. When speaking of the Fox MBA program, Porat states, “We don’t believe that the international component should be optional if we want our students to succeed.”

More top business schools are also seeing the need to emphasize international management. One main way they do this is by creating international classrooms that reflect the international work environment.  Porat says that the international classroom environment is important for Temple because: “There is no better way to learn something than to do it, and our MBAs are learning experientially with students from around the world.