3 Tips for MBA Aspirants to Choose the Right Program

Professor Ralf Boscheck, Director of IMD’s MBA program, has more than 20 years of teaching expertise in a number of executive programs at the business school. He presents three tips to help MBA aspirants choose the right program.

In a blog post on IMD website, Prof Boscheck points out that in an increasingly commercialised market for MBA programs, some will continue to offer good value, despite not being exactly popular in the market.

According to current trends, full-time MBA application numbers seem to be levelling out while specialised master programs are on the growth path along with tougher competition among the GMAT +600 applicants.

Yet another factor is the advent of the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offering far-reaching, low-cost access to good content. The downside to these programs is the absence of valuable networks and direct group learning.

While the MBA rankings aim to create a useful benchmark, by and large, fail to differentiate between the providers.

“On the one hand, a growing number of traditional, academic institutions have ‘followed the money’ into the MBA arena. They have scaled-up the enrolment of junior participants and often struggle to institutionally support faculty able to link academic respectability and business relevance,” he says.

“On the other hand, more and more conventional training providers and consultancies present professionals and freelancers with academic laurels and a platform to share their personal experience,” he adds.

According to Prof Boscheck, while the former often fail to attract and retain the attention of experienced executives, the latter’s processes and case insights seldom add up to genuine thought leadership.

However, in between these extremes, there exists a small number of teaching institutions that combine academic and client-based research with focused executive and leadership development, he points out.

able to link academic respectability and business relevance,” he says.

“On the other hand, more and more conventional training providers and consultancies present professionals and freelancers with academic laurels and a platform to share their personal experience,”

They create lasting value and stay relevant to the more seasoned MBAs and senior executives. Their main challenge is that business relevance is hardly the focus of major MBA rankings that typically play to the strength of the traditional academic institutions and large size, junior programs.

Clearly, selecting an MBA program requires a closer look behind the ranking façade. So what should potential MBA candidates look out for?

Prof Boscheck identifies three fundamentals that lead to the creation of a solid foundation for business leadership.

MBA programs are expected to deliver the technical competence that allows executives to assess the state of a business and devise an adequate response.

These skills and context knowledge must be based on sound theoretical foundations, empirically tested across diverse industrial and cultural settings, and be integrated and ready to meet the requirements of everyday business practice, he says.

However, business, being a team sport needs effective business leaders to be aware of their own motivations, behavioural pattern and derailing threats.

They must also recognize the same in their team members and counterparts. This goes beyond the usual leadership curriculum. It forces the rational “rider” to acknowledge and explore the subconscious world of the “elephant” that he or she is attempting to stir. It calls for deep, personal introspection, he adds.

Yet, even that is insufficient for dealing with the often ethical dilemmas of real life. Problems can be solved, but dilemmas must be navigated.

Leadership education may offer alternative perspectives on how one could rather than ought to look at ethically challenging issues, but it must give future leaders an opportunity to realize what their own moral compass is.

Thus rather than teaching the students ethics, the aim should be to broaden the leader’s self-awareness. When considering an MBA program, look out for the delivery of sound technical competence and the professional support given to your personal development, he says.

Graduate studies in arts and sciences scale up and deepen the theoretical knowledge acquired by previous scholarship. The MBA presupposes work experience and some meaningful, international exposure to business.

Without the right experience, one converts the MBA into a mundane academic exercise with little reference. Hence, candidates looking for the best programs, must ask themselves is ‘Who will be taking this journey with me?’

He says IMD’s view on “Real World, Real Learning” has always challenged the standard MBA ranking logic. “We believe that there is significant value in selecting a small group of experienced and broadly diverse participants.

“Every year, our MBA program enrols 90 mature individuals, with an average work experience of 7 years, broad international exposure, and recognized leadership potential.

They invest 11 months of rigorous work to acquire a solid and actionable education that is research-based but practice-focused. They work with coaches and analysts to develop themselves and each other.

“We offer a state-of-the-art career counselling process and access to IMD’s community of business executives and corporate sponsors. At the end, we aim to provide the skills to know, the confidence to act and the humility to lead,” he adds.(Image Source:flickr.com)