Top MBA Programs Adapting to Business Needs

International business schools are gearing their MBA and Masters courses more and more to suit business needs, writes Ross Geraghty. Both in Russia and abroad, top financial institutions are helping to take the lead on business education by informing the top schools what they expect from leaders and managers. And it is clear that they increasingly require an educated workforce that can hit the ground running.

According to Russian MBAs who have studied abroad, top business schools are adapting to these needs by growing flexibility, improving students knowledge of advancing technology, allowing greater targeted electives and becoming more closely involved with careers departments in certain finance institutions.

Ilya Soubbotin, a York Schulich MBA currently at CitiBank in Moscow, and President of the MBA alumni chapter in Russia, says, "It is still possible to do a general MBA, though recent trends in business schools seem to have more of a specific focus. When I first began my MBA there seemed to be 150 different courses to choose from and 85 in finance! Nowadays the trend is towards a more specific focus, helping people who want to go into investment banking or to do CFA."

Evgenia Molotova, a Russian MBA student at London Business School, agrees and says that the more practical nature of MBA courses helps. "MBA courses are aimed at helping you do specifically what you want, mergers & acquisitions, hedge funds and so on. You can select a number of courses that are not far from the job you are aiming to do."

These trends are slightly different from the gradual movement towards "Specialized MBAs", which are still a slightly contentious point dividing business schools. Some believe that the concept of a "Specialist MBA" in finance, wine, sport, even oil & gas management, are missing the point. The MBA, as opposed to a more targeted MA or MSc in Finance, should exist to offer an overall coverage of wide-ranging business skills, improving a graduate's versatility and business knowledge.

One such person is Simon Stockley, Dean of the Full-time MBA Program at Tanaka Business School, London. "We believe that employers are cautious about "MBAs-in" a subject (for example MBA in wine). It's an oxymoron. We believe that the MBA exists to provide a general and in-depth business education. For those who want to specialize, perhaps a Masters degree, such as an MA in Finance, might be more appropriate. It's a more quantitative degree featuring a lot of pure maths to equip graduates for corporate finance and investment banking jobs. It's a direct response to requests we have from the city. Virtually all of these graduates get careers in financial institutions."

David Bach, of IE Business School, says that the general nature of MBA courses, by definition, offers a very firm grounding in the other core skills such as operations, HR and organizational behaviour whereas those simply in finance won't. "The big banks are coming to us for students at the cutting edge of financial skills, derivatives, financial engineering, which are electives in an MBA but a core part of the MA. The banks say they need this as they already have people in HR and operations - the assumption is a graduate of MA in Finance won't have to do that kind of role."

These differences are what aspiring business postgraduates should be looking at. It's important to stress that MBAs may not appeal to you if what you want to do is pure finance. David Bach says: "The MBA trains young professionals in general areas of management and to emphasize personal communication, leadership and management skills that covers all the areas. In the MBA you roughly do 25% class time in finance and accounting where the MA is 90% pure finance."

However for some major players, the specialist option appears to make a lot of sense. PricewaterhouseCoopers in Russia, for example, favours MBAs who have specialized in finance for advisory roles in the firm. The leading investment bank, Renaissance Investment Management also looks favourably on MBAs with finance, particularly corporate finance expertise, as major electives but for them the exact nature of the program is much less important than where it was taught. "A good MBA is definitely becoming more and more valuable here in Russia," says CEO, Andrei Movchan, "but I don't see any sign of employers focusing on specific specializations, but rather on which school the MBA is from. There's a real differentiation between what I'd term plain MBAs and "stars'."

For students themselves the trend towards more focused and targeted electives at their schools, while still retaining the general business overview, is a welcome one. Evgenia Molotova says: "LBS is very flexible with several electives, so I selected finance. There are also targeted options in marketing or general management, so it's becoming more and more flexible. It's helpful because, if you don't know at the beginning what exact area you want to focus in, most electives start in the second year so you have a year to make your choices."

One thing is certain, though: business school graduates, whether MBA or Masters qualified, are seeing an increase in demand year on year in Russia as well as overseas. The Moscow QS World MBA Tour Fairs prove it twice a year, brining over 1000 candidates to meet the admissions directors of over 50 (in Spring, next taking place on 4 March) and 80 (in Fall) top international business schools. The benefits are available to all parties. Figures released in August 2007 by TopMBA.com show that salaries and bonuses for MBA graduates are accelerating away from those who do not have the comparable qualifications.

Average  Reported Salaries (in the EU) at different levels of higher education

Source: QS International Recruiter Survey 2007

4 yrs Exp

Masters

PhD

MBA

Consulting / Prof. Services

$72,129

$65,121

$77,415

$99,154

Media / Entertainment

$53,637

$46,927

$63,745

$97,295

Financial Services / Banking

$66,231

$62,937

$73,002

$93,515

Pharma. / Healthcare

$68,182

$71,287

$72,346

$89,671

Transportation

$50,805

$50,967

$53,933

$88,750

FMCG

$66,528

$45,286

$52,710

$87,329

Manufact. / Automotive

$64,447

$60,716

$70,466

$86,988

Aerospace / Defence

$62,500

$70,000

$97,500

$85,000

Energy

$64,351

$65,074

$70,761

$83,100

Telecoms / High Tech.

$57,500

$72,500

$75,000

$82,500

Public Sector / Non-profit

$66,478

$66,478

$73,188

$82,398

Retail

$56,326

$63,541

$72,388

$79,833