HOW TO... CHOOSE AN MBA

Look for courses with a strong industry focus taught by people who have current business experience. Note the experience and calibre of fellow students and ask colleagues for course recommendations. Seek out a business school where you are tested in a p

GQA has partnered with the Australian Institute of Management to help senior professionals get recognition for their skills and knowledge so they can undertake an accelerated MBA. GQA claims this can halve the time, cost and effort.

One-year MBA programs are becoming increasingly popular and they don’t necessarily mean you skimp on quality. This year, French school INSEAD, well regarded for its “transformational” MBA, topped the Financial Times’ global rankings with its one-year course, pipping the two-year degrees at London Business School, Harvard, Wharton and Stanford. Programs are ranked on measures including salary growth, career progress, value for money, research, faculty and student diversity and alumni recommendation.

In a sign of the times, seven Chinese MBA programs featured on the Financial Times list. And how did Australia fare? The Melbourne Business School, AGSM and Macquarie Graduate ◖ School of Management all made the cut, the latter making big strides in gender balance through its Women in MBA corporate partnerships. Bloomberg, Forbes and The Economist also publish lists, while the Melbourne ◖ Business School and University of Queensland Business School top Boss magazine’s biennial rankings. Rankings are a cat-andmouse game, though, and business schools dislike them as ◖ much as they use them. In the US, the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business has just released a DIY ranking that lets students determine the measures that matter.

INSEAD’s dean, Professor Ilian Mihov, told the FT earlier this year that a top business school has five characteristics: it promotes diversity, has a global perspective, displays entrepreneurship, creates a transformational experience and teaches problem-solving and analytical skills. In a world prone to fads, he says, “problem-solving skills will still be in fashion 30 years from now”.