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| Changing
Times |
Deans
share their thoughts about future
influences
and trends on business schools
and
Executive MBA Programs |
In
a series of articles that will
appear quarterly, Exchange
will feature interviews with deans
from business schools throughout
the world. In the first installation,
Xavier Mendoza, dean of ESADE
Business School in Barcelona,
Spain, offers his perspectives
on key issues.
Internationally renowned, ESADE
was one of the first business
schools in the world to receive
accreditation from The Association
to Advance Collegiate Schools
of Business (AACSB International),
the European Quality Improvement
System (EQUIS) from the European
Foundation for Management Development,
and the world accreditation of
the Association of MBAs. Wall
Street Journal 2003 rankings
placed the ESADE Business School
third in Europe.
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Exchange:
What are the major influences
on business schools today?
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 Xavier
Mendoza received a doctorate
in economic and business sciences
from the University of Barcelona.
He is also a professor at the
ESADE Department of Business Policy
and at the ESADE Institute of
Public Management and Administration.
His areas of study and research
focus on international strategy
and business internationalization
processes, strategic public management,
and management of professional
organizations. He has published
diverse books and more than 30
articles and book chapters in
academic and professional publications,
both domestic and international.
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Mendoza:
I see five big influences – globalization,
the changing role of business in society,
the supply of faculty, the integration
of technology, and the funding of business
schools.
Exchange: How are these
influences impacting business?
Mendoza: Globalization
is a multidimensional phenomenon, so
it has several implications for business
schools. The first would be the positioning
of the school, not just in terms of
national markets, but also in terms
of the larger international marketplace.
A global school must attract students
from different regions to its programs.
Students in our full-time MBA program
come from more than 30 countries, and
about 55 percent of students are non-Spanish
speaking. Consequently, student diversity
must be matched by faculty diversity.
Currently ESADE has 16 different nationalities
represented in its faculty body.
For business schools, globalization
may mean expanding to new locations
or building international alliances
with other top schools. In executive
education, meeting the needs of large
international corporations is a major
driver for reaching out. Globalization
also means addressing new curriculum
topics that relate to international
and global business.
Exchange:
What about other influences?
Mendoza: As society
increasingly expects companies to integrate
economic, social, and environmental
issues in what they do, those companies
face much greater challenges, and we
need to adapt our curriculum to address
those challenges.
We also are looking at a stagnant supply
of faculty. International accreditation
and rankings are raising the demand
of Ph.D. trained faculty around the
world. A recent AACSB report projects
a 8 to 10 percent shortage of all faculty
positions by 2012. Attracting and retaining
high-caliber faculty has become a major
challenge for every school.
Exchange:
In what ways is your school addressing
those trends?
Mendoza: We are continuing
to push for internationalization of
our programs and faculty. Our Ph.D.
program is taught in English. Our full-time
MBA is a truly bilingual English-Spanish
program. We are increasing the use of
collaboration with business schools
to develop more international components
for MBA and executive education programs. |
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Alumni
Success
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Links |
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We also are addressing changing business
needs by reviewing the curriculum and introducing
core courses on corporate social responsibility,
sustainability, and ethics. We are integrating
information and communication technologies
into our program. Our Career Service is
actively developing collaborative links
with large European and American corporations
and professional service firms. We are leveraging
our location and the school’s reputation
to recruit faculty.
Exchange: Why
are Executive MBA Programs
important to your school and the corporate
community?
Mendoza: We see the MBA
programs as an integral part of the school.
The Executive and Part-Time MBA Programs
play an important role in meeting the developmental
needs of professionals and corporations
within our region. I see the benefits to
the corporate community, as well as to the
school, especially with Executive MBA students
who return to their companies with improved
skills, knowledge, and insight into their
own leadership style and management practice.
Exchange: What
Executive MBA Programs
do you offer?
Mendoza: We offer a weekend
Executive MBA Program in Barcelona and Madrid
that takes five trimesters to complete.
We enroll 55 students at the Barcelona site
and 45 students at the Madrid site.
Students in our Part-Time Program attend
classes in the evenings. In this program,
the average work experience is just over
five years with students who are new to
management or interested in management.
In the Executive MBA Program, the average
work experience is nine years, with five
years of management experience.
Exchange: In what
ways are your Executive and Professional
MBA Programs changing?
Mendoza: Curriculum review
and design is a key element. The international
residency is another. We have been offering
residencies in the United States and Europe,
and we also are exploring expanding the
reach of residencies to Latin America and
Asia as well.
Exchange: Do you
anticipate future growth in these programs?
Mendoza: It is clear that
MBA programs for working professionals in
different formats (part-time, executive,
modular) will continue growing. There is
increasing demand for these programs. The
business community sees them as supporting
the development of managers, and managers
are interested in continuing to learn skills
that help them do their jobs better in a
fast-changing world.
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Exchange
is a monthly e-mail newsletter for Executive
MBA Council members.
2004© by the Executive MBA Council
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