What MBA programs must do to stay relevant

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A globally competitive, fast-changing MBA market – as is the case today – puts pressure on business schools to be flexible, responsive and innovative to prosper in uncertain times.

“Tomorrow’s MBA is being disrupted,” concludes a new report on business education by London-based consultants CarringtonCrisp and the non-profit European Foundation for Management Development, citing shifting demands by students, rising expectations of employers and advances in technology.

“For business schools wanting a strong MBA offer, innovation is likely to be a necessity, because sticking with the past could mean missing out on tomorrow’s MBA.”

Study author Andrew Crisp envisages “a couple of different paths” for MBAs of the future. On one front, top-ranked schools will modify content and delivery but look much as they do today, he predicts, while others will embark on “all sorts of experimentation” to secure their footing in an evolving market.

“Very much out of necessity, there is a drive to innovate,” he says.

This year, for the first time, the annual study of 1,500 prospective MBA students from 75 countries (including Canada) found a slight preference for the full-time, one-year MBA over traditional two-year programs.

As well, what students want to study has changed since the first survey conducted seven years ago. Today, one in four students (no matter their ultimate career) wants to study entrepreneurship, up from one in five just a year ago. Project management, technology management and data analytics are newcomers to the current top-10 list of popular content, joining entrepreneurship as an already-hot topic.

Canadian business school leaders say the study’s findings ring true for their circumstances. Whether old hands or newly-minted deans, they see escalating pressure to stay relevant with new content, new modes of delivery, additional degree offerings and expanded work internships and study abroad opportunities.

Compared to 2013, when he was named dean of the University of Alberta’s school of business, Joseph Doucet says “there is a greater urgency to some of these questions. … We have to move more quickly even though we don’t know how long issue X might be an important issue in the market or what issue Y might be next year.”

Dr. Doucet, recently reappointed for a second five-year term that begins in July, says schools have to satisfy students, employers and donors while operating in increasingly tight fiscal times for postsecondary education. “It’s about being able to offer new and attractive graduate programs, executive education and life-long learning [opportunities],” he says. “Those programs have to respond to the new and evolving needs and demands of the marketplace.”…