Manhattan Review Blog - Test Prep, Admissions Consulting and Career Training

According to a recent article by John Lauerman in Bloomberg Businessweek, Harvard University has named Nitin Nohria to be its new Dean of its business school.  Nohira himself is currently a professor of management at Harvard and was chosen by the university’s President Drew Faust to help transform the school by placing a focus on business ethics, emphasizing responsibility as well as the positive role companies can have within a society.

Nohira earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay and received his Ph.D. in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988.  Part of his appeal is his global perspective and experience, which he will certainly bring to the table as the school’s new Dean.

At a time where business schools are emphasizing a stricter ethics curriculum, Nohira was one of the first to recommend students take a professional oath of conduct in 1996 when he was teaching at the London Business School. 

John Lauerman quotes Nohira as stating: “Throughout history, there has been this notion of the honorable business person.  Business people have taken pride that they can do business on a handshake.  I don’t know where we lost that, and I don’t see why it isn’t recoverable.  I still think business can be done with honor.” 

In terms of the changes on the school’s curriculum, Nohira is looking to experiment with immersion programs and small learning teams, in addition to adding more instruction initiatives. 

Yale University has also chosen a new dean for its School of Management.  According to an article from the Wall Street Journal, Edward Snyder will be coming on as Dean of the school next July. 

Snyder was the former Dean at two notable schools – University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business.  He is known for his fundraising capabilities, with soliciting $60 million from a single donor at Virginia and an astounding $300 million for the Booth School from financier David Booth.

At Yale, his challenges will be trying to attract higher caliber recruiters, in addition to raising money for an ambitious $150-million building project. Synder will also focus on catering to the nonprofit sector, as well as soft skills. 

In regards to raising money, The Wall Street Journal quotes Synder with: “There are not many alumni with deep pockets; I’d say there are very few.  But, on the other hand, a lot of Yale alums outside of the business school are very successful. “

Related posts:

• Younger MBA Applicants (II)
• Younger MBA Applicants (I)
• Decision Brief vs. Case Study
• Yale B-School – Latest Changes
• Wait Listed?!

MBA curriculums nationwide are making some changes, many say due to the recent ’08 economic crisis in an attempt to focus more on business ethics and areas that MBA programs have previously neglected.

According to a recent article from Bloomberg Businessweek, written by Francesca Di Meglio, Haas School of Business at UC-Berkeley is among these schools to make such notable changes, which Dean Richard Lyons hopes will ultimately cause a “revolution” by producing what he terms as “path-bending leaders.” 

The biggest change to Haas’ program is the new emphasis in analytical thinking, flexibility and creativity.  Additionally, two primary courses have been restructured: “Leadership & Communication” and “Leading People.”  Also, a new one-unit course has been added called “Problem Finding and Problem Solving.”  Workshops and coaching sessions on leadership skills are also now included in the new Haas curriculum.

Why the new changes?  Lyons and the Haas community created these changes from a very personal standpoint.  Lyons is quoted with saying: “Society faces a host of [issues] – be it in health care, energy, materials use, demographic implications, safe water, etc.  If paths continue in a straight line, they will hit a wall in our kids’ lifetime, if not our own.” 

Other schools have also been seeing somewhat of a dramatic course overhaul – some of which include Yale School of Management, Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Ross School of Business. 

According to an article by Greg Bordonaro from HartfordBusiness.com, the University of Connecticut School of Business is trying to create a more student-centric curriculum that gives students a larger say in their overall academic plan.  In the long run, the school eventually plans to cut its traditional concentrations, such as finance, marketing, information technology and real estate to allow students to make for themselves a more individual plan of study within those majors or disciplines.

UConn hopes its business school will climb into the top 20 rankings of MBA programs in Forbes Magazine, as it currently remains 27^th. 

John Fernandes, president and CEO of The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, insists that allowing students more ability to choose their curriculum is a must.  According to HartfordBusiness.com, Fernandes also claims B-Schools are attempting to churn out more well-rounded students, who have an ethical compass to guide them in future business decisions.  He says, “It’s not enough to just make money anymore.  You must also be a good citizen.  Many MBA programs are focusing their curriculum on building individuals with enhanced ethical capacity and a stronger commitment to society.” 

Many students at Hass felt like the changes in the program were a long time coming.  Other business schools, such as Yale, implemented a change in curriculum as early as 2006 with interdisciplinary courses around particular organizations or customers and investors.  Stanford began a new curriculum that was focused around customization and flexibility, allowing students to tailor their coursework to their previous education, work experience and future ambitions.

While some critics may question the usefulness of an MBA in today’s society, these curriculum changes seem to be the answer to that question.  Businessweek quotes David Garvin, a professor at Harvard by saying, “We talked to many deans and executives and they all say that there’s a greater need for self-awareness on the part of MBAs.” 

Looks like these changes are here to stay.

Related posts:

• Younger MBA Applicants (II)
• Younger MBA Applicants (I)
• Wait Listed?!
• The Path to a Happy First Year in Business School (Part I)
• Student Reports – Manhattan Review UK

If you ever wonder whether you fit the typical profile of an EMBA applicant or want to know more about the latest trends of EMBA programs, take a look at these important facts!

• The U.S.-based EMBA Council lists about 250 EMBA programs from 180 leading institutions around the world on its web site.
• Because of rapid globalization, most EMBA classes comprise students from a wide range of industry sectors and countries.
• An EMBA program can cost up to $100,000.  Customized courses start at a few hundred dollars. An increasing number of executive education organizations offer online courses.
• Customized executive education programs are on the rise.  Duke University’s corporate education division reports growth of 25 percent a year for custom-made courses.
• A typical EMBA student is likely to be in his/her early 30s and will have six to ten years of working experience.
• Employees taking Executive Master’s of Business Administration Programs in the U.S., Europe & Asia have average salaries of $130,000 to $200,000.
• Executives enrolled in the highest-ranking EMBA programs in the U.S. have salaries of $180,000 to $200,000.  Europe is slightly lower at $130,000 to $160,000.

Related posts:

• The Impact Of Recession On EMBA Programs
• Open Your MBA Options (III)
• Open Your MBA Options (II)
• Open Your MBA Options (I)
• EMBA Programs And The GMAT Requirement

Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management has offered a prestigious EMBA degree for working professionals for 32 years.  While the program has a cap of 50 students, enrollment has gone up dramatically since the recession in late 2008.  Many of the EMBA students have corporate sponsorship from the corporations who employ them, making the possibility of paying for their EMBA much greater.  Tami Fassinger, associate dean for executive programs at the Owen school notices a change in this, claiming, “Compared to 34 percent who had complete corporate sponsorship a year ago, only 12 percent had full scholarship in 2009.”

Due to the concern of finding time to complete an MBA, the school changed their schedule from an alternating Friday-Saturday to one on Saturday only.  Fassinger explains:

“We watched the economic stress all businesses were under starting in October 2008.  We thought changing the schedule was the right thing to do: Help people do better work, but don’t make them miss work.  After interviewing students and prospective students, the school discovered 90 percent of interested students wanted a Saturday-only option. “

While the economy isn’t what most people would like it to be at this present time, there is one thing to be certain of: people are going back to school with a hunger to be more qualified for the workforce than ever before.  To address such a trend, business schools around the world are adapting their curriculum, schedule and career services.

Related posts:

• EMBA Quick Facts
• Open Your MBA Options (III)
• Open Your MBA Options (II)
• Open Your MBA Options (I)
• EMBA Programs And The GMAT Requirement

The GMAT ToolKit, a leading mobile GMAT Prep application developed by GMAT Club, has just been featured by Apple® on its “What’s Hot” list. The iPhone® app is part of an ongoing project by GMAT Club to bring high-quality design and execution into the mobile test prep space. The ToolKit was originally released several months ago and has since undergone 3 updates to include additional features requested by users.

Today, the app is no longer a simple GMAT Timer, but a leading GMAT prep tool that includes:

• QUESTION SETS – application comes preinstalled with 111 Hard Quant questions and also includes an option to download free additional SC questions from the GMAT Club forum.
• FORUM – direct access to GMAT Club’s forum using enhanced navigation features.
• BOOKS – a must-have grader/error/time log for Official GMAC books
• TIMER – the most sophisticated GMAT Timer specifically designed for GMAT preparation.
• IDIOMS – an adaptive system to test your knowledge of 240 idioms.
• VOICES – save prep time by getting recommendations from over 78,000 GMAT Club members.
• MATH – detailed review of Absolute Value, Triangles, Circles, Coordinate Geometry, Standard Deviation and Probability.
• RESOURCES – links to the most important topics in the GMAT and MBA community.
• NEWS – receive 2 GMAT questions daily with our “Question of the Day” tool, use the embedded RSS Reader to manage your own feeds and stay current on the latest GMAT and MBA news.
• Just in case this is not impressive enough, new features and improvements are already on the roadmap for another update in 2-4 weeks, which owners of the app will receive for free.

The latest version of the GMAT ToolKit will enable users to easily add custom content and questions to their iPhone or iPod Touch, significantly expanding test preparation options and moving beyond traditional learning styles. For additional screenshots, to learn more about this iPhone App, or to leave a comment, please visit: GMAT ToolKit for Apple iPhone dedicated page.

Related posts:

• Your GMAT Score IV – Scores, Percentiles & Significance
• Younger MBA Applicants (II)
• Younger MBA Applicants (I)
• Wait Listed?!
• Unlimited GMAT Class Access At No Additional Cost