The fast-changing technology environment is changing the face of management education with many of the top business schools introducing sweeping changes in the curriculum or method of delivery of MBA and Masters’ programs.
At the Imperial College Business School in London, Associate Dean of Programs Leila Guerra, associate dean of programs at Imperial points out that among the big challenges facing every business at present is managing, assessing, and translating big data.
The Data Science Institute at the school, in partnership with KPMG, had set up a Data Observatory, the largest of its kind in Europe, in November 2015, it provides an opportunity for academics and industrialists to visualise data for new insights and to promote the communication of complex data sets and analysis in an immersive and multi-dimensional environment.
It allows for visualisation of case studies ranging from Bitcoin to Chinese Migration to People Flow, Shanghai Metro and Sharing Economy to name a few.
It is expected to be a bridge between engineers and the school’s finance area, which is one of the strongest in Europe. The first cohort will include about 60 students and feature networking opportunities with the broader community
Guerra, talking to TopMBA says the participants are expected to extract the value of big data and use it to improve results and tackle problems facing business organisations. The school places emphasis on the students learning the real-life application of technology.
In a technology-driven world, the students should not be just consumers of technology but must be able to become managers of technology, she says.
Apart from a wide range of electives in its one-year full-time MBA program that includes Advanced Company Valuation, Advanced Corporate Finance, Banking and FinTech: Strategies and Challenges to Clean Technology Investment, Leading Social Innovation and Idea SMARTCamp, a new MSC in financial tech is being offered from September 2019.
Guerra says it is expected to be a bridge between engineers and the school’s finance area, which is one of the strongest in Europe. The first cohort will include about 60 students and feature networking opportunities with the broader community.
The rigorous, analytical curriculum will be complemented by field trips, electives, and the possibility of customizing the program by choosing two research projects that will be carried out with help from a mentor, faculty, and advisory board. Upon graduation, the students will have a firm understanding of financial markets and their future, she adds.
At every stage, Imperial uses technology. During admission, “chatbots,” allow candidates to ask questions and get immediate responses. The robot is capable of responding to questions. It is capable of learning from previous questions and then building on the answers. This same technology is also used in coursework, highlighting the main points of the lectures. This advanced chat technology also allows users to search the entire system.
The school also aims to provide lifelong learning opportunities to its alumni. as in a changing workplace environment, just one degree may not be sufficient. The alumni will have the choice to tailor the learning according to their needs including online electives in big data or machine learning.
Along with developing technical competence, the school emphasizes soft skills that have also undergone changes in the past decade. Increasingly, management students have to imbibe lessons on managing change, flexibility, and critical thinking.