Business School Deans Think Hard to get Ahead - By: Torri Myler

After a decade of unfettered growth and rising status, business schools were subject to a rigorous reality check when the financial crisis shook up most expectations businesses lived by. Employment in high-income jobs in finance or consulting, which was both readily available for graduates and extremely rewarding, become incomparably harder to come by. MBA programs ran into fierce criticism for being overloaded with research-based theories, out of touch with the business reality, and being too long, stalling people's careers at a time when experience started being valued higher than academic credentials. Inevitably, the relationship between the cost of business education, which is not going down by any chance, and the return on investment was badly hurt, with until now nearly immediate gratification associated with holding an MBA degree being delayed further and further. To counter all these trends business schools are banking on a host of new strategies.

One of them revolves around relying on more aggressive fund raising from former students who are now in a position to share their wealth with their alma mater. There has been a number of success stories in this department recently, with David Booth's donation to Chicago Business School topping the list. This support paycheck resulted in changing the name of one of the biggest institutions in the industry, but schools put other privileges up for grabs too. They are no longer satisfied with smaller contributions from their alumni and try to use cleverer incentives to encourage them to give away much more. Deans hope that entire development projects, like a new executive education center or a new campus abroad, will be endorsed financially by donors in exchange for naming rights or other extras.

Another direction top schools are going is betting on overseas operations. There is no single model of expansion abroad, with different countries setting different requirements for cooperation between local institutions and international business schools. Despite regulatory problems, opportunities in developing nations largely outweigh risks and the extra challenge of going through local customs or legislation proves character-forming. In lots of ways, this effort involves building everything from the ground level in an entirely novel environment. Key destinations seem to be Asian countries, China and India being the strongest magnets, and the Middle East, even though there are cultural obstacles to overcome. As business gains ground and prospects for these parts of the world are improving in leaps and bounds, the promise of solid returns is too alluring to resist.

Schools are also beginning to make it up with institutions that they used to snub as boring or irrelevant. With employers in finance or banking struggling, attempts are being made to court government agencies and other institutions into cooperation in an effort to reestablish relationships. Graduates of corporate training programs might soon be seen in the most unlikely corridors if B-schools manage to erase their detached image. Importantly, the fact that the industry reaches out to other settings than Wall Street can be a real assent, with executive training possibly boosting inefficient organizations.

About the Author

I am a web designer and a passionate writer. I write articles and press releases about corporate training. Read more about business educators and executive training programs.

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