MBA education pursues internationalization, practice and technology

The University of Manchester, with a history of more than 180 years, has trained 22 Nobel Prize winners. It is a leader among mainstream universities in Europe and the world, and its academic and scientific research achievements are internationally renowned. The university's business school is one of the pioneers of European business schools, and has trained many leaders in the business and financial industry. The "Manchester Method" created by it is well-known in the world of management, and its MBA courses are more firmly in the forefront of the global MBA rankings. , Top 7 in Europe, top 22 in the world.

Nigel Banister, Global CEO of the University of Manchester Business School, accepted our advice on the development trend of international MBA, the characteristics of the business school's MBA program, and the management style of Chinese managers. interview.

Latest Trends in International MBAs

There are schools with low entry barriers and shorter courses that attract many students. What do you think about this phenomenon?

Like other master's programs, there is a trend in MBA programs to get students to their degrees as quickly as possible. But I think it's misleading people.

The MBA program is a master's program that specifically requires work experience. Some university MBA programs accept fresh graduates and allow them to complete full-time study in one year through various teaching methods. This approach does have the potential to teach students something. However, the MBA program requires students to integrate their work experience into thinking and introspection in order to achieve the best results. If you don't even have work experience, how can you reflect the characteristics of an MBA?

Many low-end universities have been trying to attract students by lowering tuition fees, shortening courses, and lowering barriers to entry, which does nothing to improve the leadership of current corporate management. Students coming out of these programs are definitely not going to be good leaders.

The University of Manchester Business School programme is one of the longest in the UK. We only admit students with extensive work experience who can meet our rigorous academic requirements. At the same time, these people need to have enough self-confidence to be able to join various groups in the school, actively participate in various activities, and be good at learning knowledge and abilities from them. By doing so, the University of Manchester Business School can build better leadership. Therefore, I do not agree with the self-enrollment standards for some low-end courses.

Basically, there are certain standards that top business schools recognize and strive for. The first is globalization, which is the same as those big companies; the second is to further make teaching methods more practical. To achieve this goal, it is not only necessary to work hard on theoretical teaching, but also to combine with practical experience. Focusing on these two key goals will enable top business schools to do better and better in the future.

Besides globalization and practicality, what new trends are emerging in international MBAs?

I am sure that the top business schools in the world will use more active and effective teaching methods, combining courses with various reasonable technical means, so that students have a richer experience in these areas. For example, we hope to be able to apply better and more diverse technologies to broadcast lectures to students all over the world in the future. I think the trend of using more technology, more technical means to strengthen the teaching effect is inevitable.

This question can be understood in two ways. The first is that technology improves the quality of courses and helps students learn. This goes beyond simply testing students by asking questions. Why not let them use the device to motivate or inspire? Therefore, we can make the teaching process more enjoyable; secondly, the communication in the virtual space can make the communication between students and teachers better.

The University of Manchester Business School has increasingly used technology to aid teaching, and we are increasingly moving towards e-learning. Our students are now very web-savvy and able to use a variety of technologies to aid their study and work. In the future, we will use more technology to help them research and work better. While we will reduce traditional teaching methods, we will not give up face-to-face interaction between students and teachers.

Manchester Pedagogy

What do you think is unique about the University of Manchester Business School's MBA programme?

Thousands of business schools around the world offer MBA programs. The MBA programs offered by the top 50 schools in the world are excellent. Applicants who choose any of them will not be disappointed. However, the University of Manchester Business School has its own characteristics, which are mainly in two aspects.

First of all, we have long been recognised as the most international business school in the UK. Our teaching team and our students come from all over the world. The teaching team often travels to different parts of the world to give lectures, which gives them a good understanding of the world economy.

Another feature is the resource-rich practical teaching method. For many years we have called it the "Manchester Method". We not only provide the study of management theory, but also cooperate with many famous enterprises, so that students can learn how to face and solve problems in real business environment. In this way, students not only know the theory, but also apply the theory in practice. I think it's our internationalization and a lot of hands-on courses that make our business school unique.

How to combine theory with practice in teaching?

Basically, we've done a lot to get there. First of all, our teaching team is not only from the school, some of them have their own business or are in a certain industry. Second, we have outdoor teaching and a large number of commercial projects. These projects come from our working MBA students who, with the approval of their employers, bring these projects to the classroom, enabling students to engage in real management work.

Meanwhile, we work with many companies around the world and have students form consultant teams within their companies. Compete with other consultants in the company. We call it an international project, and this project is not only available in the UK, but also in other countries. Such project experience has become part of the curriculum. Student achievement is measured by company achievement and project success. We put a lot of this international practice into the curriculum. .

Are there any courses specially designed for Chinese students?

Nowadays, the University of Manchester Business School's programmes cover many areas. In addition to the core courses that students must take, there are many more elective courses that students can choose from. We are constantly adjusting these courses to keep them current. These electives cover the same areas as or a wider range of courses at other business schools. What we expect is that the curriculum and teaching will be the same for students in China and for students in the Caribbean. Therefore, I don't think it is necessary to design special courses for Chinese students. The flexibility and richness of our existing courses have been able to meet different needs.

In Manchester, we also have full-time Chinese students. 25% of our full-time students are from the United States, 25% from Europe, 25% from Asia, and 25% from other regions. The campus is very international. Our university has one of the largest number of Chinese students in the UK, as well as the largest Chinese student body in Europe. We also offer management education courses for Chinese managers outside of business schools. Many companies such as Nokia regularly send their Chinese managers to attend courses. These courses of ours have achieved very good results with Chinese students.

In addition, the teaching methods in the UK, especially in top business schools, are different from the traditional teaching methods in Chinese universities. Teaching in most business schools emphasizes interaction. We believe this is a great way for students to build their self-confidence, develop creative thinking skills, and keep them going. Teachers come to Hong Kong every semester to interact with our working students. We will help students adapt to our teaching methods as quickly as possible in various ways, so that they can benefit from it.

Students come from different cultural backgrounds, how does this affect their learning and communication?

Students are encouraged to form study groups. Students from mainland China, local students in Hong Kong, and students from other regions should communicate with each other. Eventually they can form a cross-border or multinational group. In these groups, students can learn a lot of different things. Some students are so financially capable that he can share his experience with other group members. Students can learn from each other. Although they are divided into various groups, the relationship between the classmates is good. So far, this method has not had any problems and works well.

I personally have some experience with this. Before working at the University of Manchester Business School, I worked for a Singapore company. The work culture and management methods of this institution are very different from those in Europe. But working in this institution has taught me to solve problems in a variety of ways, and it has given me a wealth of experience in dealing with a variety of things in a racially diverse environment. This is what I hope my classmates can learn.

Management style of Chinese managers

How do you view the management style of Chinese companies?

I am very interested in the topic of management style and structure. Chinese working in Chinese companies have become very comfortable with a rigid management style that is more hierarchical than European companies. This of course fosters some great things like good morale and work ethic. But at the same time, it also makes it difficult for employees, especially non-senior employees, to have their own voice at times. I think that through our courses, people are more confident in their ideas and perspectives, and can confidently come up with and implement their ideas when they return to work at the company.

Another thing we do in the MBA program is to teach them how to work and to give students practical solutions to problems. I hope we can make students more free-thinking and more entrepreneurial. Many companies now have Chinese managers, and the problem we have to solve is to make them leaders.

In your eyes, what are the characteristics of Chinese managers?

The Chinese managers are some of the brightest and hardest-working students I have ever met. Although unlike other students who have worked in many parts of the world, they have a good international background. But Chinese students perform very well in the classroom, and most of them are among the best.

The University of Manchester Business School wants its students to be highly successful leaders. We want to make them more confident. Our students generally graduate with more confidence than when they started school.

SAMANTHA ZHANG is the associate editor of the CEConline website.