Fitting into the International MBA World

How has the globalised world made it more important for MBA graduates to fit into the international arena effectively?

With the world becoming a more homogenized market by the day it is easy to slip into the belief that doing business across borders bears little difference to doing business in your home market. But whilst it is true that ongoing ‘globalization’ has made international markets less complex than in the past, working globally still presents its fair share of problems. With business schools at the forefront of preparing the next generation of business leaders for action, what is being done to make truly international business more attainable in the future?

One of the main trends in the business education world over the last few years has seen many schools open ‘international locations’ in order to spread their reach geographically. From a purely commercial point of view, it is obvious why schools would want to open operations in new markets. But with locations outside of home territories, schools are increasingly able to offer students ‘on the ground’ business experiences in new markets. Something many aspiring business leaders see as invaluable nowadays.

The first business school to declare itself truly international was the French institution, INSEAD. Even though they initially only had a campus at Fontainebleau, the school was always marketed as a school with a global view. However, in 2000, INSEAD decided to extend their claim further by opening a second campus in Singapore. And more have followed since.

One of the most notable entrants to the Executive MBA market over the last couple of years has been the OneMBA, a coalition of top business schools from North America, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands and Hong Kong. OneMBA students attend classes every four to six weeks at their ‘home’ university as well as attending four international ‘residencies’, where all other OneMBA students are present, spread over the 21-month program. Each residency lasts seven or eight days and at the end of the course you earn two MBA’s - one from your home university, plus the OneMBA issued by the five partner schools collectively.

Keith Mahoney graduated from the OneMBA Class of 2008 and says, “When I was researching which business school to apply to, my priority was to find an International Executive MBA program. I looked at some of the top schools in the New York area, and while they are strong academically, I found their internationalprograms lacking. For me, taking U.S. professors and students and offering the same courses overseas doesn’t qualify as a global curriculum. My take is that’s a field trip. I wanted to hear local professors and executives describe what it’s like to do business in Europe, Asia and Latin America. That learning is invaluable.”

HEC Paris has recently launched a new executive education location in Doha, Qatar – one of the most exciting locations in the Gulf region. Many will now be aware that Qatar will be hosting the soccer World Cup in 2022, something many would not have thought possible even a few months ago, but this is only one of many initiatives that displays the county’s enormous ambition. Education City, where HEC will be offering their EMBA and tailored executive education programmes, is part of the wider Qatar 2030 vision which has set a number of social, educational, and business targets for the country to achieve to become a leading global nation.

The EMBA program, which will be situated in Doha’s West Bay zone, has been set up with the aim of developing a strong pipeline of home-grown managerial talent with an international perspective, something that is sorely lacking in a region where many companies are family-run.

Oliver Gottschalg, a professor of Strategy and Business Policy at HEC Paris, says, “Qatari business is, like the rest of the Middle East, growing rapidly. Companies there are becoming more diverse and more international every year. As a result there is a real need for business leaders who understand not only the country and the region, but also the global economy and Qatar’s role in it. Our challenge is to accompany these organisations in their growth, by training local and locally-based leaders, thus contributing to the diversification of the economy and its sustainability.”

Ali Shaher, from the talent development team at the leading Qatari telecommunications company QTel, sees the school’s role as vital to the success of the 2030 vision. “HEC Paris will have professors on the ground full time who will be able to look at how business is done in Qatar and help to provide the tools for further international growth and diversification. The fact that they will be based here means they will get a much better perspective on the local business culture and what they can add to it.”