‘No longer the place to be’ the Economist October 6th and ‘Finding Happiness the MBA way’ Management Today October 2012

These two short articles have the same theme, the ways in which the MBA is changing.  The Economist article is the better of the two, because it is based around their own survey of Business School rankings.  The main theme is the way in which the European business schools are struggling to keep up their numbers as the recession continues.  Apparently a recession is good for MBAs if it is short - a convenient break until things recover - but has the opposite impact if it goes on for several years.

The drop in numbers is most serious among Asian students who previously believed that schools like London, INSEAD and IMD had the right cachet but were not so long and expensive as the top American schools.  They are now thinking again for a number of reasons; Europe is not exactly an example of economic success right now and countries, particularly the UK, are tightening up on visa regulations.  This has caused UK schools to suffer an 11% drop in volume this year.

It is surprising where these lost students have gone; not to the USA where many of the above problems still exist and costs are even higher, but to Australia and Canada where the reputations of their schools have grown markedly.  Apparently Australian MBAs are the highest paid in their first jobs after graduation.  Asian students have also decided to opt for the emerging schools in their own region, with China and Indian academic reputations on the increase.

While this is very interesting, it is not borne out by their own ranking survey, a summary of which is shown at the end of the article.  The ranking is based on four factors; career opportunities, personal development, salary levels and networking potential.  Despite their cost and duration, American Schools still take the top 8 places (Chicago 1st, Harvard surprisingly only 5th), Europeans in 9^th, 10th and 12^th places, and the top Canadian school only 16^th.  There is not an Australian or Asian school in the top 25 that is shown.  If the changes they describe in the article are part of a trend, it seems to have a long way to go.

The Management Today article is less well researched and falls into the familiar pattern of such populist magazines by quoting a few examples and suggesting that it’s a significant trend.  The suggested trend is for MBA students to be forsaking the quest for more money after qualification and instead going in for life changing projects, like helping African children or developing ventures in third world economies.

This leads into a broader argument that the MBA is more than a degree, it is a life changing experience and, unsurprisingly, there are senior people from Business Schools - Cranfield and IMD - who agree with this suggestion.  IMD even include in their MBA an option to work with a psychologist, which nearly everyone goes for. There is also mention of an ‘Anti-MBA’ run by the McGill School (Canada again) which was originally developed by long standing behavioural guru Henry Mintzberg; this MBA deliberately sets out to boost a 'reflective mindset' and includes pilgrimages to places of worship, including a spell in India.

These may be examples of life changing opportunities but it is a long way from arguing that this is the norm.  More credible is the assertion that many MBAs from developing countries are tending to go back to their home countries more quickly, rather than looking for higher paid opportunities in the USA or Europe.  This would seem to tie in with the Economist article and is probably more to do with the lack of opportunities in the West rather than a desire to change the world.

The individual who is singled out during the article - the IMD graduate who is working in Africa - rounds off the argument by saying 'I have friends in big companies who earn more than me but that alone wouldn't make me happy; happiness is the ultimate kick'.  I hope that he means it and that this really is the start of a wider trend.  But I would need more evidence to be sure.

Read the original articles;

http://www.economist.com/node/21564203

http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/features/1150352/finding-happiness-mba-way/

‘Learning Alongside the Elite’ by Gayle Robling, Training Journal September 2012

This article covers the benefits of engaging motivational speakers to add to the quality of learning programmes and is a barely disguised marketing message for the author’s firm which recruits such people. I chose this article to review because I have always been highly sceptical of the benefits of such speakers and wanted to see how far the author could change my mind.

The answer is that my scepticism was not entirely removed but a number of my concerns were addressed. However, the glaring omission throughout the article is the issue of cost. Names are bandied about, from Steve Redgrave to Denise Lewis, without any mention of the fact that such people do not come cheap, probably out of reach of many who have restricted budgets. Or maybe the investment in such people means that savings have to be made elsewhere. This omission seems particularly strange as, at several points, the author makes the obligatory mention of the need to achieve 'ROI', which is even more difficult when there is likely to be such a major investment.

The article starts by the message that an effective learning experience needs to be 'high-impact, unique and memorable'. It could be argued that there are other factors that make learning effective - for instance interaction and engagement – and it is also possible to be unique and memorable while still being ineffective; most of us have been involved in sessions that we remember only because they failed to meet expectations in a big way. And the problem with famous people is that they so often fail to match the image, particularly when their verbal skills do not equal their other achievements.

It has to be admitted that the author does address this issue to some extent, stressing that it is important to find speakers with the right presentation skills, and the implication is that her company is the one who knows which of the available celebrities can deliver. She avoids other obvious criticisms by stressing that the starting point must be your learning objectives, rather than the speaker's 'standard spiel'. It is also suggested that you can influence such speakers to tailor their material to your company’s needs, which certainly would overcome one of my concerns if it is really deliverable. In practice I am sure celebrities' willingness to adapt varies widely.

My other concern was less easy to resolve. Throughout the article there is the assumption that we all experience a 'wow' factor when meeting or listening to celebrities; indeed there is the feeling that the author is so inclined. I am not sure how far this applies to a group of high achieving and maybe cynical senior managers who may question the relevance of sporting anecdotes to their own environment. It is true that not every motivational speaker is a sports person but this seems to be the vast majority; the author does suggest that successful business people may be a better alternative for some groups but, in this case, managers may well ask why their own top people cannot put over a more relevant message.

Despite all these reservations, the article does have a lot to offer for those who have thought things through and still believe that a celebrity speaker is right for their learning objectives and culture. The suggestion that you must find a speaker who fits the company context and culture may seem obvious good practice but it must be so tempting to avoid this step and go for the biggest name. The author also suggests that you should reject anyone, however famous and charismatic, if they are not interested in tailoring the message. I would also have added that the biggest names are not always the best speakers and that it is important to get a reference from someone who has heard the speaker deliver a similar message.

So I would recommend reading the article if you are already considering the celebrity route but I would also recommend obtaining costs at an early stage. One hears reports of A-Listers asking for more than £10k for an evening session so you have to be sure that this is the best way of spending your L & D budget. But the overall message is – follow the same principles and disciplines as you would for any other learning session and don’t get carried away by the aura of the celebrity.

Read the original article;
http://www.trainingjournal.com/feature/2012-09-01-learning-alongside-the-elite/