An MBA for time-starved professionals
Flexibility and reducing stress make Monash SA a worthwhile option for busy workers and parents
The Monash South Africa MBA, launched last month, is the 15th and most recent to be unveiled in the country. As a private higher education institution, we are proud to partner with Monash University Australia and the Laureate International Universities network. The Laureate network is one of the largest private education groups in the world, with 60 private educational institutions in 25 countries and more than a million students.
As the “new kid on the block”, we are competing with well-known, well-established business schools and MBAs. The MBA world suffers from what I call “better sameness”. Everyone is doing the same thing, but they try to do it a little better.
Business schools differentiate themselves by their long track record, their location, their way of working and their external connections, networking opportunities and overseas trips. They promise two things that are, in our opinion, nice-to-knows: the MBA gift of professional development and employability. These two factors are non-negotiables, not motivating factors.
What is motivational? At Monash South Africa (MSA), we have realised that an MBA student is a working professional who works hard and who works long hours. He or she is probably married and has children, is health-conscious, wants a social life and has societal responsibilities. If you add up all these factors, it equates to a person with a lot of stress and little time.
The MSA MBA is designed to offer maximum time flexibility and eliminate unnecessary stress.
Each of our 10 subjects is offered over five weeks in a blended mode. This means the students do one subject at a time for five weeks. During the five weeks, they attend classes on the first, third and fifth Saturdays and study online during the week. If they cannot, for whatever reason, do a five-week period, they simply skip it and do it the following semester.
Every subject is offered twice a year. This means the MBA can be completed in 18, 24 or 36 months. It also means that, with clever scheduling, an MBA student can go on holiday when his or her children are on holiday or attend to work pressures or family commitments.
The blended mode of delivery has the advantage of time flexibility. Although we give students a road map and guide them through each week, they can decide when they want to study and do the assessments. If you’ve had a very busy week at work, you can catch up over the weekend — or, when you have time, you can work ahead of schedule.
There is no exam. Assessments are done throughout the five weeks and they include case studies, discussions, reflections and use-it-now tasks. This is all part of a collaborative learning process guided by the professor. MBA students enjoy a high level of intellectual independence and like to discuss topical issues with their colleagues at work and with their fellow students.
Students do not have to waste time stuck in peak-hour traffic to attend classes during the week, or miss classes because there is a crisis at work.
The time flexibility of our MBA is obviously the most important stress eliminator.
Many students want to complete the MBA in as little time as possible but the records show that the aver- age student takes two to three years.
Students prefer to engage in continual assessments than exams. Many students studying for an MBA do not have the writing skills to write a good exam, although they have acquired knowledge and skills while doing the MBA subjects. The stress of a written exam is eliminated.
One of the features of the MSA MBA is our “use-it-now” concept, which allows students to apply their knowledge in the workplace. They are encouraged to identify serious problems or opportunities at work or in their industry, and then to solve them by talking to colleagues, senior management, industry bod- ies and leaders. This gives them a serious sense of responsibility and self-worth. Achievement is a stress reliever.
All MBAs in South Africa include a theoretical research dissertation, which is the biggest stumbling block for most MBA students. Many MBA students have completed their subjects over the years but have never completed the dissertation — or they take a long time to complete it. It is very stressful.
At MSA, our students do not do a theoretical research dissertation but they are involved in an innovation project.
This is a practical project focusing on a serious problem or an opportunity at work or in their industry, or even something that is of national interest.
Practical research will be conducted and creative, innovative solutions will be explored that could be captured in a business plan, a marketing plan, a human resources plan or a finance plan.
The innovation project is a lot less stressful than the theoretical dissertation and it involves a mentor at work as well as a supervisor from MSA.
We believe that the modern world requires innovative thinking to satisfy the expectations, needs and problems of the working professionals — and the MSA MBA offers that.