Santiago Iniguez - Dean IE Business School

Curriculum Reforms

Yesterday, The New York Times reported that thousands of schools across the US are increasing the time dedicated to Maths and Reading at the expense of other courses, such as Social Studies, Science and Art. This move is supposedly caused by the "No Child Left Behind", President Bush's signature education law, which requires annual exams only in Maths and Reading and punishes schools that fall short of rising benchmarks. These findings have driven many critics to raise their red flags pointing out that social sciences and humanities are at risk and that education at schools will become flat and insufficient. .

Tags(clickable): Education, MBA, Business School, Curriculum

Sun Tzu Revisited

I am writing from Beijing on the fourth day of a working visit to China. The capital city was for centuries the place where Heaven met the Orb (photo: Temple of Heaven) and it seems that it has regained this nature given the profusion of high buildings under construction, in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games taking place here. Amazingly, many of the big works underway are not visible since they are done underneath the city’s surface, including new tube lines, improved infrastructure, new cables and pipes. One of our hosts told me today that there are probably many more workers employed underground than in the open air. At the same time, some people are concerned about the current hectic development of Beijing and whether large parts of the old city will be gobbled by new buildings and disappear for ever. Today’s pleasant and sunny day in Beijing has provided my colleagues and I with enjoyable trips between meetings across the wide but yet heavily congested avenues of this reticulated city.

Yesterday, on my flight from Shanghai, I reread Sun Tzu’s "The Art of War", the celebrated Chinese classic that is highly regarded by managers and academics as one of the pillars of military strategy literature. I first read it while doing my MBA and have come back to it frequently to find passages for use in my classes at IE. It is not entirely clear whether Sun Tzu was a real person who lived two thousand years ago or if the book is a collection of ideas that were passed along by word of mouth with multiple additions in the process, like similar pieces of ancient literature. The book is a brief manual for men in command and leaders, ambitious and with a strong determination to achieve their objectives –whenever the text mentions "warlord" you can read "CEO". The warlord profiled in the book recalls the archetype of post-modern leader that I referred to in a previous post in this blog. The book is composed of 13 Chapters and written as a flow of maxims or advice, quite easy to read although quite reiterative.

Tags(clickable): Education, MBA, Business School, Sun Tzu, China, Beijing

The Rich Experience of Sophisticated Online Education

Yesterday, the Financial Times published an extremely interesting survey on the latest developments of on-line management education. The figures reported show that distance learning is thriving across the board and that many business schools –over 65%- that used to offer only face-to-face programmes are already running online courses. Traditionally, distance learning was the domain of big education providers that played on scale, had a high volume of students and based most of their offerings on self-learning modules. However, the development of new technologies and the entrance of schools that have a leading role in conventional classroom-based learning are not only altering the boundaries of this educational segment but also the very nature of the learning process.

Many people believe that on-line programmes can not entirely match the human experience and vividness of face-to-face education. In addition, on-line education is often associated with cheap, low-quality and massive programmes. Are those two intuitions right? Is on-line education a second or third class education? I do not believe it should be so.

Tags(clickable): Education, MBA, Business School, eLearning, Shanghai

Confucius, A Master for All Seasons

I am writing from Shanghai, attending the Third China-Spain Conference where I will be speaking on "Educational Tourism". This city is a very vivid sample of the pulse of today’s Chinese society and economy: a vibrant cosmopolitan city where growth is reflected in the number and size of skyscrapers under construction. Early today I went to the Bund, the famous boulevard on the western shore of river Huangpu, and watched through the morning mist hundreds of people practicing Tai-chi to the rhythm of the same music, indeed an impressive and somewhat magical spectacle. The contrast between old traditions and new constructions was self-eloquent.

Western schools, and particularly management training institutions, can learn a lot from Chinese educational culture. In particular, Confucius (551-479 BC) stands as an inseparable part of China’s great civilisation and one of the most influential philosophers and educators in the world’s history. Confucius teaching methodology was grounded on searching inwardly, not in setting out a system to imitate, and he encouraged his students to think, perceive and learn for themselves. Amazingly, there are many parallelisms between two of the grandest educators of all times, Confucius and Socrates: they were contemporaries (around 500 BC), they lived almost the same years -72 and 70, respectively- and they proposed similar learning methodologies, based on introspection and self-reflection. Confucius used a metaphor in order to describe those achievers of the desired inwardness: we all know how to eat and drink, but how many people can truly taste flavours? Discovering flavours, as other valuable intellectual enterprises, requires sensitivity, concentration and careful thought.

Tags(clickable): Education, MBA, Business School, Confucius, China, Shanghai

Cultural Clichés and Their Use for Understanding Diversity

My last working trip to Los Angeles, CA, some weeks ago, concluded with my attendance at a premiere in Hollywood after the kind invitation of an IE alumnus who holds a senior managing position at one of the big studios. The movie presented was "The Pink Panther", a revival of the unforgettable classic of the same name of the 60’s, this time starring a hilarious Steve Martin and a splendid supporting Kevin Kline. Laughing uninterruptedly for one hour and a half was the best relaxing therapy after a long week of meetings and conferences.

Beyond the amusing time I enjoyed, the movie made me think about the importance of humour and satire in order to better understand our neighbours and to accept diversity. Monsieur Clouseau, the main protagonist of the movie, is a French inspector based in Paris whose bizarre habits, funny and mostly harmful to others, help him solve all his cases by chance. The movie is a sequence of gags, many of them based on a cliché of the incompetent policeman and the caricature of the quintessence of the "French", as seen from a critical American perspective. Certainly, nobody will believe that Clouseau is a plausible portrait of the French archetype, i.e. ridiculous as it is featured in the movie. In fact, French people are very diverse and one of Western epitomes of sophistication. However, Clouseau is funny because some of his traits are based on common beliefs that people have about the French.

Tags(clickable): Education, MBA, Business School

The Difficulties of Diversity in the MBA Class

David Dinwoodie raises interesting issues in his previous post and suggests that diversity is perhaps replacing "internationalisation" as a business driver in the corporate world. I certainly agree. However, diversity confounds many people and I would like to comment on its complexity in MBA groups.

I highly recommend the book "Our Underachieving Colleges", which has the subtitle "A Candid Look at How Much Students Learn and Why They Should Be Learning More". Its author is Harvard University’s President Emeritus Derek Bok, holder of the "the 300th Anniversary University" chair at the same university and also a prolific writer on educational issues. Incidentally, you probably know that he will become President of Harvard University again, although on an interim basis, after current President Larry Summers steps down later this year.

Tags(clickable): Education, MBA, Business School, Summers, Bok

The importance of being diverse

A large and decisive part of the learning at an MBA programme is the interaction with fellow participants, in and outside class. This converts the composition of the student body into a vital element. What would be, in your opinion, the ideal profile of your future MBA classmates?

Your ideal class may adjust to one of two major perspectives. The first can be called the "one of us approach". You may be looking to share your programme with people like you, with a similar cultural background, shared interests –even tastes, so that you could spend, for example, your leisure time together-, same language and maybe the same academic preparation. This homogeneity would be good, for example, in order to make teaching more productive: all members of the class would have the same level, say, of finance and this would avoid redundancies and help the general progression.

Tags(clickable): Education, MBA, Business School

Wisdom is knowing how little we know

"You know nothing", imagine that you are attending the opening ceremony of your MBA programme and that was the first sentence uttered by the dean of your school. Would you be shocked? My impression is that many people would, since candidates to MBA programmes have normally a pretty high opinion of themselves, and even some people would find the statement downright disrespectful. Is it the proper way to welcome a group of motivated students who are starting a very challenging learning experience and who have invested an important amount of their time and their resources?

Tags(clickable): Education, MBA, Business School, Socrates

The MBA: 21st Century’s Grand Tour

The MBA is a generic denomination for a common category of programmes, but not all MBAs are the same. In my previous post I deconstructed what, in my opinion, are the four basic components of an MBA: content, delivery, experience and networking. These four elements are interwoven and differ depending on the culture, mission and objectives of each business school’s MBA. If we look at "Contents" for example, an MBA may include entrepreneurship as a core subject or not, or may emphasise the learning of "hard" over soft "skills", or may be internationally reputed for its courses in finance or in marketing. I will pay more attention to the desirable contents of an MBA in future posts, following the comments that are made in this blog. However, my intention now is to concentrate on "Experience" as a distinctive element of the MBA offer.

What sort of experience are MBA applicants looking forward to?

Tags(clickable): Rotman, Education, MBA, Business School

Recent Business Week video interview

         Click here to see the video

Business Week: "Feb. 3 - Santiago Iniguez, dean of Spanish B-school IE, discusses the Bologna Accord and the Americanization of European higher education."

The future of the MBA educational experience

Over the next few weeks I would like to discuss my views on the future of the MBA educational experience so I am now jotting down potential topics for discussion that could be grouped into four general areas as outlined below. I know I am probably reiterating some common questions you may have seen elsewhere but here are some "usual suspects" topics and a few "path less chosen" questions. It would be great to hear of some other facets of the MBA that some readers might be interested in discussing.

Content:

Is it possible to teach business ethics in a business school?

What skills are future recruiters looking for and in particular is it worth spending a lot of time studying electives

What importance should final exams play in a course or should group work assignements be emphasised? How would be fostering of competition between students be so affected

How should the spirit of entrepreneurship be instilled?

How important is doing an internship and should I pick a one or two year course?

Should soft skills merit greater attention in what is being taught during a MBA?

How important is it that students be given the change to integrate all that they have learned in final assignments or case studies?

Delivery:

Is the case method still viable or are other methods better i.e. "role-playing" or action-learning?
Action learning could be defined as a process in which a group of people come together more or less regularly to help each other learn from their experience. Role playing is where each participant plays a role in a particular business situation rather then everyone simulating being the central figure in each situation.

It would be interesting to hear the experiences of those who have studied using online learning and their views on same versus face-to-face.

Should iPods, podcasting, blogs, wifis, ebooks and other forms of e-learning be used more and if so are they just an enhancement to the learning process or can they become part of the core process?

Experience:

How were friends made or how do you hope to make some, i.e. was it during student club meetings, during study groups, school excusions etc? Did people generally only get to know those in their immediate class?

Is it better to choose a smaller school for a more close-knit social circle or opt for a more bigger school with more networking opportunites and more opportunites to take electives.

How important is it to have a diverse set of classmates?

I wonder if studying abroad was a major factor in your decision to choose a business school? How many students are interested in studying a foreign language or see it as a valable asset in the business world?

Do students prefer the excitement and job-interview possibilities of studying in big cities or would they prefer the tranquil surroundings of smaller towns and rural settings?

Networking:

The importance of creating a network of contacts to current or future MBA students in their decision to do an MBA?

It has been said that more longer-lasting friendships and greater class-as-a-whole cohesion has been formed as a result of a mixture or online and offline studying experiences. Is this a geneal consensus?

Other

What is the importance of price or other financial considerations in the decision to choose a business school? Does the prestige of a educational establishment merit the extra-cost

Audio - interview of dean of Fudan University School of Management, Shanghai

 

Dean Lu Xionqwen of Fudan University School of Management, speaks about business education in China. 8.8 MB / 9.73 mins

Two Resignations at the Top

Last week, Larry Summers, the then President of Harvard University, resigned. This week, it was the turn of Florentino Perez, ex-President of Real Madrid soccer club. Harvard is probably the most renowned university worldwide, with US $27 billion of endowment and a faculty composed of highly reputed academics in many different fields. Real Madrid is one of the leading brands in the sports business globally, tops Europe’s league table of football operating revenues with almost 276 Euros of revenues in 2004 and has an exclusive list of sports megastars that includes Beckham, Ronaldo and Zidane. The cases of the two respective ex-presidents’ resignations are different but have interesting parallelisms. The type of positions that they held raise certain managment issues that I will comment on in a general and abstract manner as follows.

Tags(clickable): Education, MBA, Business School, Weblog, Harvard, Real Madrid, Summers, Perez