THE MBA THAT MIRRORS A DYNAMIC MARKET

There’s no question that the Canterbury region has undergone drastic changes post-quakes.

Skill demand is slowly transitioning from construction to professional services and high tech industries. The University of Canterbury MBA closely mirrors those market changes.

For example, it has developed the PG Cert St ratLd ship to provide easy-to-access post-graduate education for mobile professionals.

Despite the quakes having a significant impact of the University, David Shearer, director, Executive Development Programmes, reports that the MBA and sister programmes within the Executive Development portfolio continue to grow.

“By aligning with the Centre for Entrepreneurship we are building on the entrepreneurial ecosystem that has evolved in Canterbury post-quake. The emphasis of the UC MBA programme is transitioning from developing job seekers to developing job creators. We are disrupting the traditional MBA model,” he explains.

There are two alternative pathways for small business owners and other busy professionals who can’t commit to the full MBA programme: • The Post Graduate Certificate in Strategic Leadership is comprised of six carefully selected courses from the MBA programme that offer a holistic and comprehensive perspective of effective leadership in the workplace. Courses are delivered in modular format on Fridays and Saturdays, fitting in around work and family. • The next step up is the Graduate Diploma in Business Administration which combines the core leadership focus of the PG Cert St ratLdship,wi than additional six courses spanning accounting, finance, operations management, marketing and strategy.

Shearer acknowledges that for many students, the MBA is the first time they’ve ever studied. “Through additional academic support such as consulting skills workshops, we assist our students to transition, allowing them to get the most out of their investment,” he says. “Programme content is specifically tailored to develop students’ leadership and strategic thinking capabilities that will benefit their organisations.

“Integrable on-site projects allow managers to work on projects important to their organisation and which can be implemented post-study,” adds Shearer.

The MBA programme enables significant professional mobility and business opportunities, he says, borne out of the networks created on the programme, the 700plus alumni strong industry connections, and the diversity of delivery offered through bespoke programmes with industry. The UC MBA translates well to industry. The final project strengthens business and community connections and the courses are highly regarded by students and employers.

It’s a culturally diverse programme, says Shearer, with an increasing number of international students and 29 percent of domestic students being New Zealand permanent residents from overseas.

“Maintaining diversity is crucial as it provides the opportunity to learn from fellow students during group work and class discussion, and provides networking opportunities,” says Shearer.

Meanwhile, some 127 kilometres north, Professor Kevin Lowe, director of the Graduate School of Management at The University of Auckland, is posed the same question on macro trends.

He too sees wide-ranging opportunities opening up in response to the fast-emerging digital economy. “The Internet of Things in particular, is influencing everything we do and will do so at an accelerating rate,” he says.

There are business building blocks that will remain timeless, he adds, “but the levers for competition change all the time.”

Lowe points out that the digital revolution is speeding up. “So the longer a manager waits between skill updates, the more out of date they become.”

The advent of Big Data presents a real leadership challenge for management students he says, in that how do they interpret and use it.

The MBA acts as a giant booster shot, he suggests, and says the current speed of change in the business environment is also putting enormous pressures on teaching staff, particularly in the IT field, to keep in touch. CHANGING TIMES The dynamics of the MBA delivery landscape is constantly changing. The gender balance in class, for example, is coming under increasing scrutiny and UoA’s Lowe says although that typically runs at one-third female, two-thirds male, he’s encouraged by his current executive weekend group (on average, more senior than the Auckland evening MBA group) which sees female students outnumbering males.

And although there has been a move to online tuition in recent years, Lowe thinks there’s no substitute for the more intense on-campus ‘face-to-face’ experience. Often a blended/hybrid model works best.

For potential students weighing up the pricetag of a full MBA and questioning its value for money, Lowe offers two arguments.

The first is that quality always comes at a higher price, and institutions such as the UoA place a high importance of quality of delivery, which includes sourcing the very best in tutoring skill-sets. “With more people pursuing an MBA, the degree has become more commoditised. Therefore it’s more important than ever that people shop for a quality MBA,” continues Lowe. “One that’s at the very cutting edge of topics.”

He says the level of grants and funding an institution receives for leading edge research