The MBA, your education, radical change and career ambiguity

"If we were logical, the future would be bleak indeed." This statement by the innovator, oceanographer, explorer, educator and founder of the whole new global industry of recreational SCUBA may be interpreted as relevant to the modern MBA. In it, Jacques Cousteau unintentionally encapsulates how many experienced business people view the MBA.

Frequently, it is seen as providing a toolbox that can be opened with the logical spanner being applied to the defined problem - a bleak view of the future of business and an even bleaker attitude to what should be the most stimulating degree program in a business school or a university.

Business is about people, and society today is undergoing the most exciting, rapid, radical and fundamental change that has ever been experienced in the history of humanity. The impact on individuals, their careers, aspirations and family welfare has been extraordinary. For the first time, participants in such change find themselves setting exciting precedents rather than being bound by them and will be judged by how successful their decisions are.

Moreover, the skills or tools that apply today have shorter and shorter life spans. The result is that business education has to provide leaders and managers with both skills and the ability to manage ambiguity leading to successful growth through periods of sustained instability.
In short, the traditional MBA education is not effective in helping people lead today's global organizations and this has been highlighted by the recent performance of many in the global economy.

One leading globally ranked business school has addressed the challenge in an imaginative, assertive and effective manner. Founded in Boston in 1964, growing into the Hult International School of Business, it was previously a very well known boutique school.

The series of decisions it took between 2004 and 2010 to meet the career needs of individuals and requirements of employers in our modern society included:

• Opening five integrated global campuses providing international experience to its students in Dubai, Boston, San Francisco, London, and Shanghai
• Working with partners to create applied student projects in industry bringing practical learning to specific tasks with bottom-line implications for clients
• Establishing exceptionally close contact with industry and regional business leaders who act as student mentors
• Providing integrated career services enhancing student self-presentation skills in the employment market while also giving them access to global opportunities
• Encouraging rotation of students to different countries and campuses during their electives introducing them to the local industry and economy as well as social and cultural norms
• Focusing on applied education and the use of faculty with extensive industry leadership experience who currently hold, or have held, positions as CEOs, directors or leaders of organizations
• Utilizing faculty members drawn from such universities as Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, Duke, Northwestern and MIT.

This led to an 82% offer rate from employers to the first Dubai graduates within two months of completion of the program at the height of the recession. Moreover, this success is reflected in the growth of the School from 165 applications in Boston in the whole of 2005 to 11,250 applications by business leaders across all campuses in the first four months of the current
academic year.

Hult established its campus in Dubai in 2008. Accredited in 2009 by NEASC, the same rigorous body that accredits Harvard, MIT and similar universities, it is also accredited by the UK body, AMBA.

Students on both the one-year full-time program and the two-year part-time program come from more than 40 countries and all describe the program as incredibly intense covering 57 credit hours - more than almost all other business schools.

The focus is on case studies, and the ultra modern campus houses lecture theatres seating 65 students each. Core to the School are the 20 "break out rooms" where syndicates of up to six students from different industries, professional backgrounds and countries can learn from each other and experience the softer skills of teamwork, negotiation, team leadership and conflict resolution.

One of the most exciting aspects of Hult is the Global Rotation where full-time and part-time students who meet certain GPA requirements are encouraged to take the opportunity to undertake their elective courses on other Hult campuses. They are briefed carefully on the likely experience and requirements before moving. Again, use is made of Hult's global faculty who teach internationally. The highlight tends to be the visits to other organizations, meetings with local and regional business leaders, experience of the local culture and introduction to the languages - Arabic and Chinese for example.

The wider development of the student is achieved through an active social program encouraging students to develop one of the most important outcomes of a top business school program - a network of colleagues and access to an alumni base that can help support and enhance the career of the new graduate. As always, this is based on trust achieved through the shared experience of participating in an intense, innovative and challenging program focused on helping the individuals investing their time to achieve concrete outcomes in their career progression in the radical new world in which they have to fulfill their dreams and those of their families.

President of the School, Dr Stephen Hodges, has inculcated an ethos of making the student a key stakeholder in a School focused on rigor, relevance, excellence, and achievement. Leading to student pride in their achievement and employer recognition, this approach will continue to ensure the success of the School. Similarly, Global Dean, Richard Joseph has reinforced this pride in the School among faculty and engaged the very best teachers who are constantly evaluated on their classroom performance and contribution to its life.

In short, Hult reflects the future of business schools in a new and exciting world where students enhance their abilities to make a real difference to their organizations, their own lives and the future of the global society in which they live. The fact that they are highly employable and employment-ready reflects this - a far cry from the traditional approaches.