Survey Shows Increased Emphasis on Soft Skills in Executive MBA Programs

While executive MBA programs continue to focus on core business functions, they are also investing more course time on development of so-called “soft” skills, according to a recent survey of members of the Executive MBA Council.

The survey found that while requirements for in-class hours in such core areas as finance, accounting, and international business remain strong, time spent studying such areas as leadership and entrepreneurship has also increased. Class hours dedicated to leadership, for example, rose from 21.9 to 36—a 64-percent increase—between 2002 and 2008. Class hours in entrepreneurship rose 105 percent in the same period. The survey found increases also in the amount of class hours devoted to communications skills (up 81 percent) and professional development (up a whopping 183 percent).

A summary of the survey results is available on the website of the Executive MBA Council.

In New Curriculum, IE Business School Teams With Actors and Architects

In recalibrating its international MBA curriculum, IE Business School in Madrid has drawn lessons from both classically trained actors and experts in the philosophy of architectural design.

To help students develop communication skills, IE turned to Shakespeare’s Globe, the famous theatre in London. In an interactive workshop held in a 15th century monastery in Segovia, experts from the Globe train future MBAs in voice, presence, body language, and improvisation.

Also, professionals from London’s Architectural Association School of Architecture help students learn how design thought and work processes can be applied to innovation, creativity, and teamwork in management.

The curriculum, which focuses on change and change management, includes in-depth study of the strategic, organizational, financial, cultural, and personal factors that contribute to organizational change. Students also explore the challenges and opportunities of discontinuous change, including such topics as energy, demographics, nanotechnology, and the rise of user-generated media. In addition to encouraging leadership, critical thinking, and creativity, the program helps students gain deeper appreciation of cultural differences through the study of world civilizations.

Study Finds Women Executives Get Better Pay, Same Promotion Rates as Men
New research from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University has elements of good news and bad news regarding compensation for women. On the one hand, the study found that female executives who successfully break through the corporate glass ceiling reap higher overall compensation than their male counterparts and benefit from the same rate of promotion. However, the study also confirmed that women hold only a fraction of top executive positions, in part because women leave the workforce earlier than men.

Economics Hits Home for MBA Students Caught in the Cold
When Russia suspended shipments of natural gas to parts of Eastern Europe in January, six MBA students from the University of Notre Dame got a bracing lesson in world economics. The students, studying in Sarajevo, Bosnia, as part of a new course called Business on the Frontlines, found themselves trying to survive in sub-zero temperatures in an apartment that had been heated with natural gas. They were in Bosnia to assess the impact that local and international business has on rebuilding war-torn societies. Apart from noticing that the local price of electric heaters doubled during the emergency, the students also found that residents were afraid to collect firewood in nearby forests for fear of landmines left from previous conflicts. The students planned to present a case study of their findings to Catholic Relief Services, which partnered with the university’s MBA program in organizing the course.

UC-Riverside Announces New Strategic Directions
The new strategic plan at the A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management at the University of California-Riverside is based on two broad thematic pillars: Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth; and Leadership, Strategic Thinking and Personal Growth. The school has committed to building, under those umbrellas, distinction in five academic disciplines: supply chain management, web commerce, behavioral-decision research, empirical finance, and auditing and assurance. In addition, the university has identified six values—investment, integrity, momentum, bias for results, collaboration, and community—that it says will provide a framework for approaching new situations and making decisions. The school has pinpointed specific goals, such as starting new programs and building necessary programmatic infrastructure, and intends to measure progress toward them by assessing metrics that include reputation of academic programs, brand equity, alliance with external stakeholders, campus visibility, and employee and student satisfaction. Read an overview of the plan.

BIZ BRIEFS

The J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University has added C-level mentoring to its master’s program in managing information technology. To help the next generation of chief information officers prepare to replace retiring baby boomers, students in the program will be paired with IT business leaders who will share their knowledge gained from work in the field and help the students to network.

With two championships and a host of other laurels under its belt, the University of Auckland Business School has laid claim to be the world’s top performer in 2008 case competitions. The school’s 34-member competition squad, including six first-year students, competed in five international events in 2008, toting up two firsts, a second, and a runner-up prize. Auckland won top honors at the inaugural Champions Trophy International Competition in February at The University of Auckland, and the Marshall International Case Competition at USC Marshall.

Alumni of St. John’s University who have been negatively affected by the economic downturn are now eligible for a 50-percent tuition discount that’s valid for the school’s graduate programs, including those in the Peter J. Tobin College of Business.

Prompted by new AACSB standards that require business programs to establish expectations for ethical behavior by administrators, faculty, and students, the Beacom School of Business at the University of South Dakota has developed and adopted a professional code of ethics that promotes honesty, integrity, and fair and ethical business practices.

FROM THE FUNDRAISING DESK

Beverly and Will O’Hara have pledged US$16 million to the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin to help meet a wide range of goals, including strengthening the accounting department and business honors program.

The bulk of a US$2.1 million grant to Georgia State University will support a partnership between the school’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business and Alexandria University in Egypt. Robinson College faculty will help revamp the Egyptian school’s EMBA curriculum and help train its faculty. The money comes from Higher Education for Development, with support from the US Agency for International Development.
Investor Ed Elliott has pledged US$2 million to support the “strong commitment to academic excellence” at his businesses school alma mater, the School of Management at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

NEW PROGRAMS

The College of Business at Colorado State University now offers students in the Graduate School, USDA, an option to pursue an MBA by distance learning, an alliance designed to develop business and leadership skills in the public sector…. Trustees of Brigham Young University recently approved the creation of a finance department in the Marriott School of Management, a move designed to help the school recruit new finance professors and better address the needs of finance students…. At the University of Pennsylvania, the Wharton School and the School of Arts and Sciences have created a dual MBA/master of environmental studies degree program. The program is designed to groom students in environmental studies for leadership roles in environmental management, finance, and other business specialties.…To help produce business leaders with in-depth knowledge and expertise in the European and Asian markets, the National University of Singapore Business School and HEC Paris have introduced a new double-degree MBA program. Participating students will complete first-year core modules at NUS Business School, then continue with the second-year optional modules at HEC.…To meet the demands of adults in central Ohio’s rapidly evolving business community, Otterbein College will soon offer a new MBA concentration in actuarial science, designed for managers in such fields as insurance, consulting, marketing, and product management…The website AME Info reports that Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates has created eight new graduate programs, including master of science programs in: finance, in partnership with the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University; international business, in collaboration with Thunderbird School of Global Management; and innovation and entrepreneurship, in partnership with Northeastern University.… Portland State University and Oregon Health & Science University have started a joint MBA program in healthcare management.… Inaugural classes started in early January in the new master of supply chain management program at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. The program is part of a collaboration between the Ross School and the university’s college of engineering.... The Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia is now offering certificate programs in business analysis at its executive education center in Atlanta, one of several new executive programs that the university plans to start in 2009.… Students studying for their MBA at Clark University now have the option to pursue a concentration in social change, allowing them to blend preparation for business careers with a focus on major social and environmental issues. The new concentration is a result of a collaborative effort between Clark’s Graduate School of Management and its department of international development, community, and environment….The Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico now offers an accelerated MBA program designed for students with undergraduate business degrees. Eligible students may waive up to 24 credit hours of core management classes and complete their degree within 12 months.