OneMBA featured in MBA Innovation magazine
The following article was published in the Summer 2009 issue of MBA Innovation, a publication of the MBA Roundtable.
OneMBA: A Study in Cultivating a Global Mindset
By Bethanie Anderson
Over the past three years, the percentage of cross-continent programs in the Financial Times executive MBA ranking has nearly doubled. During the same three-year period, the number of GMAT tests taken in the US has increased by 13%—while the number has increased by 40% in East and Southeast Asia, 152% in Central and South Asia, 43% in Eastern Europe, and 38% in Mexico, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
In a fall 2008 Rapid Response survey of MBA Roundtable member schools, 88% of respondents indicated that developing a global mindset in their students is a strategic priority for their MBA program. Yet only one-third of those schools felt that their school’s MBA curricula addressed the dimensions of global mindset to a great extent.
Although management education may not be keeping perfect pace with the real world of business, the fact is that MBA programs—and their students—are getting more global every year. From curricula to admissions to faculty resources, many business schools are teaming up with fellow institutions in the worldwide MBA community to establish cross-continent educational programs.
In light of the crucial nature of this topic for MBA Roundtable members—and building upon the Summer 2007 MBA Innovation article “Managing International Programs: Creating a Seamless Student Experience” and the November 2008 MBA Roundtable Symposium “Cultivating a Global Mindset in MBAs”—this article seeks to bring best practices to light by examining one successful approach to cross-continent MBA education.
Whether your school is grappling with the prospect of partnering with another school, the need to incorporate effective overseas experiences within existing curricula, or the challenge of simply helping students to become more effective global thinkers and leaders, the purpose of the MBA Roundtable’s work in this area is to provide you with fresh ideas that will help you determine the best approach to cultivating a global mindset in your MBA students.
OneMBA: A Five-School Partnership
One of the most successful executive MBA programs in the cross-continent niche—and the program with the largest number of partners worldwide—is OneMBA. Now in its ninth year, OneMBA represents an MBA education partnership among the Faculty of Business Administration at The Chinese University of Hong Kong; the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University; Tecnológico de Monterrey Graduate School of Business Administration and Leadership; the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School; and Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo da Fundação Getulio Vargas.
From Idea to Implementation
In 2000, UNC Kenan-Flagler—an MBA Roundtable founding member school—made a strategic decision to position itself more globally. The choice to partner with schools abroad, says Penny Oslund, UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Executive Director, MBA for Executives Programs, was largely based on the belief that no single school knew everything needed to create a program with both global and local strength. “We knew that we certainly didn’t have all the answers, and that we weren’t going to find them on our own. We thought if we could involve a group of partners from key regions in the process, we could each leverage our strengths to inform one another and make a program that gave students the breadth of understanding to manage multinational businesses spread around the world and depth of knowledge in specific global markets.” The decision to partner programmatically was also driven by a philosophy, explains Oslund, that the best way to provide global education would be to provide students with diverse locations, faculty members, peers, site experiences, and world views—hands on. A cross- continent program would be unmatched in its potential to do this successfully. Lastly, UNC Kenan-Flagler had university approval and seed money from its Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, which provided the buy-in and resources required to get a massive effort like OneMBA off the ground.
With the structural model chosen, UNC Kenan-Flagler set out to find the right partner schools. “Our first consideration when choosing partners,” reflects Peter Brews, UNC Kenan-Flagler’s OneMBA Program Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, “was to be present in the major economic regions of the world.” Asia, Latin America, Western Europe, and North America were immediately deemed priorities. “Africa was considered at the time, but given the small portion of global GDP that comes from the continent, was not included,” says Brews, who is South African.
Once the geographic scope was determined, Brews adds, “Choosing the partner schools was relatively easy.” UNC Kenan-Flagler enjoyed a strong reputation and market position, as well as extensive personal networks with top faculty and administrative leaders. UNC Kenan-Flagler tapped its collegial networks and invited four partners to come on board—which they did. In less than two years, the program had launched. By September 2002, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Rotterdam School of Management, Tecnológico de Monterrey, UNC Kenan-Flagler, and Fundação Getulio Vargas had together welcomed their first incoming OneMBA class.
The Elegance of Equality
“If I could only share one piece of advice with any business school considering a global partnership,” cautions Brews, “it would be to ensure that the partnership is genuinely equal.” This equality must span from organizational control to intellectual strategy to curricular development, he explains. During his years in the global MBA realm, Brews has observed that founding schools— especially those based in the US—are prone to a unilateral approach that goes something like this: identify a market niche, decide upon a sales approach, establish a curriculum, and then seek out partners in far-away locations who buy into it and can support it. Although such an approach may be efficient for the schools, it risks shortchanging students by delivering an educational experience that’s still very North-American in its focus. “The equal partnership approach we’ve chosen isn’t easy by any means. It’s expensive, it’s faculty-intensive, it’s time-intensive, and the energy that everyone has to put into it increases by about 50 percent. But in terms of the educational result, it’s definitely worth it.” As a practical matter, Brews adds, “If we ask our MBA students to lead organizations this way as members of global teams, doing it this way ourselves sets an important example.”
Brews suggests that the most elusive—and important—factor in working with partners is a sense of trust and shared values. All schools must have an equal stake in the program’s success, balanced by a genuine respect for their partners. Within such a multilateral model, everyone can air their differences and share their opinions to the curriculum’s benefit—through both high and low points in the program’s development. “It’s made for some robust meetings,” he says. “But it’s fantastic. It’s elegant. And it works.”
Core Curriculum: A Common Foundation with Global Diversity
When the OneMBA program began, a new curriculum was created with equal input from each of the five partner schools. “It was really a clean slate,” remembers Penny Oslund. “Our first step was to identify the priority areas around which the core curriculum would revolve.” These five areas—leadership, operations management, marketing, finance, and strategy—were agreed upon by all partners as those that were crucial to experienced executives. Each of the five core courses is now taught by faculty members from each partner school. A shared curriculum provides consistency across the five schools. This clean, symmetrical approach results in a group of 25 “key faculty” for the entire OneMBA program worldwide, and a high level of consistency in content and delivery.
All OneMBA students attend core courses simultaneously at their home universities. The core requires students to complete long-distance group projects in teams of 6 to 7 fellow students from partner schools. The global teams rotate 3 times during the 21 months.
The core curriculum is comprised of the following five courses.
- Leading and Managing Global Organizations
- Global Operations Management
- Global Marketing Management
- Corporate Finance in a Global Environment
- Strategy in a Global Arena
In addition, four times during the program, OneMBA students from all five schools meet for a week-long “Global Residency.” During residencies, students visit developed and emerging countries, regional and multinational companies, and local business and government leaders. Each school hosts one residency held in its own world region. The same key faculty who develop and teach courses at each school are the faculty who host and lead the residencies.
The current structure and content of the residencies are outlined below.
United States: Global Perspectives and the US Business Environment
In September of the program’s first year, students convene in Washington, DC to meet (for the first time) their fellow OneMBA participants, as well as faculty and staff members from around the world. UNC Kenan-Flagler hosts this residency. The coursework focuses on the evolution of the world economy and the role of the US in the global business environment.
Europe: Supply Chains and Sustainability
In March, the Rotterdam School of Management at Erasmus University hosts the European residency. Coursework emphasizes the challenges of supply chains and sustainability. The first part of the residency focuses on the Netherlands and other developed European economies, while the second part focuses on an emerging economy such as Turkey —and includes site visits.
Latin America: Global Finance and Cultural Marketing
During the November residency, students travel to Mexico to be hosted by the Tecnológico de Monterrey Graduate School of Business Administration and Leadership. In Mexico, students study marketing in emerging contexts and learn about the business and societal challenges facing Mexico. Students then go to Brazil to be hosted by the Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo da Fundação Getulio Vargas, where they study the Brazilian business climate and financial markets.
Asia: Adapting to a Dynamic Global Environment
For the last residency, held in May of the program’s second year, students are hosted by The Chinese University of Hong Kong. In Asia, students explore the explosive growth enjoyed in the last 50 years or so out of Asia, and get to see first-hand how the Asian “fast dashes” for growth have been accomplished. During this residency, students have gone to Shanghai and to Delhi.
Regional Curricula: Customized Courses
Between residencies, and in tandem with the core, all students are enrolled in a local curriculum. These diverse course frameworks are tailored to suit the needs of students in each particular region. They are designed and delivered in varying configurations.
Degree Structure and Course Schedule
Through the OneMBA program, students earn an MBA from their home university. They also earn the OneMBA degree, reflected by a certificate, issued jointly by the five partner schools. The program duration is 21 months. All five schools are accredited by AACSB International, and English is the language used for all OneMBA courses and communications.
Students at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Tecnológico de Monterrey, and UNC Kenan-Flagler attend classes once a month, Friday through Sunday. Students at the Rotterdam School of Management attend classes approximately once every six weeks, Wednesday through Saturday. Students at Fundação Getulio Vargas attend classes once a month, Wednesday through Saturday or Thursday through Saturday.
Organizational and Curricular Management
The OneMBA program organization is overseen by an 11-person Executive Committee comprised of one academic leader from each school, one administrative leader from each school, and an administrator of common financial resources. The Committee oversees all aspects of the program, and is accountable to all stakeholders including OneMBA students, alumni, and participating universities. The Committee meets face-to-face four times per year during the global residencies, and convenes monthly by phone for a two-hour conference call. An Alumni Board and Marketing Committee have also been formed, and provide input to the Executive Committee on an ongoing basis. To keep the operation agile and fully controlled by partners, OneMBA has chosen to avoid the formation of a high-level “Board of Trustees” or other overseeing board that provides both direction and financial support. Each school is responsible for its own share of financial contribution to the program—a set fee deter- mined each year by student enrollment, and generated via tuition and other sources such as endowments or grants. The five schools’ fees are combined to form the program’s “Common Fund.”
One professor from each school teaches each of the five global courses to the cohort at their school. These courses have an agreed curriculum (approximately 80 percent the same) and the five teaching professors meet bi-annually to consider ongoing changes and innovations to these global courses, where and when needed.
Admissions and Financial Aid
There are typically 115 students worldwide in each OneMBA graduating class. Students apply to the OneMBA school closest to where they live or work. If their careers necessitate a move to another world region, they can transfer to a new local OneMBA partner school so that they can complete their degree on time.
All five schools require applicants to have a minimum of seven years of work experience; a bachelor’s degree or equivalent; and basic knowledge of accounting, statistics, finance, and economics. Applicants to each of the four non-US schools must demonstrate proficiency in English, through the TOEFL or other requirements defined by each school.
GMAT requirements vary by school. The Chinese University of Hong Kong requires a GMAT score only if an applicant’s degree was not originally taught in English. Fundação Getulio Vargas requires GMAT scores. At Rotterdam and Kenan-Flagler, GMAT scores are optional. Tecnológico de Monterrey requires either a PAEP (Prueba de Admisión a Estudios de Postgrado) or GMAT score.
OneMBA students represent an extremely wide range of countries and continents—with only 30 percent of the student body representing the U.S. or Canada. Recent classes have included students from Afghanistan, Colombia, Cyprus, Egypt, India, Kenya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Russia, Sierra Leone, and the Ukraine.
Costs and terms of payment—along with financial aid—for OneMBA are determined by the school in each student’s home region. Financial aid is available through all schools, with opportunities and amounts ranging according to federal, regional, and university guidelines. Approximately one-third of OneMBA students are fully funded by their employers; one-third are partially funded; and one-third receive no employer funding at all. Program base prices by school are listed below. Each school varies in its coverage of local session lodging and meals, global residency lodging and meals, and travel, so the actual program cost for each student is higher than the base price.
- The program at the Chinese University of Hong Kong costs $46,000.
- The program at Rotterdam School costs about $67,400.
- The program at Tecnológico de Monterrey costs $45,000.
- The program at Fundação Getulio Vargas costs about $50,500
- The program at UNC Kenan-Flagler costs $95,000.
The average OneMBA alumni salary three years after graduation is about $182,300. The increase in average alumni salary from before enrollment to three years after graduation is 60 percent.
Student Demographics
“OneMBA students are high flyers,” says Brews. “These people are in their mid-thirties, extraordinarily bright, well qualified, and many are successful global executives. They’ve been practicing business in the real world for years, and they know immediately whether the information they’re receiving is applicable or not.” This level of pressure, according to Brews, keeps everyone involved in the program on their toes. “There’s an initial moment that every OneMBA faculty member faces in the class- room, when they’ve got to prove they have the right to be teaching in this program—that they have something new and important to say, and that they’re worth the students’ time and attention.”
Recommendations for Schools Considering Global Programs
Both Oslund and Brews recognize that cross-continent programs may not be a strategic fit for all business schools, and may not represent an optimal way to deliver business education to every market. In fact, Brews asserts that a model like OneMBA undoubtedly works best with executive MBA students. “The maturity and depth of experience, along with the established careers that these students bring to the program is very different from that of full-time, traditional MBA students,” he says. “It’s difficult for full-time MBA students to immediately apply what they’re learning since they’re not working—even if they have internships—and they often don’t have enough experience to put the information into context.”
For schools considering the establishment of a cross- continent executive MBA program, both Brews and Oslund circle back to the importance of choosing partners who share a similar mission and set of values—in short, partners with whom mutual trust can be built, and with whom program burdens and accomplishments can be shared over the long term.
They also recommend that the school’s leadership group—if it decides to pursue an equal partnership model—conduct a fair amount of introspection to be sure that it is comfortable operating with a lack of authority, hierarchy, or control if they are to achieve the most value from the effort.
If a cross-continent executive MBA isn’t the goal, and a school is simply seeking to incorporate effective over- seas experiences within existing curricula or to improve its cultivation of a global mindset in its MBA students, Brews and Oslund assert that success can be achieved at a number of levels. They offer the following recommendations.
- Increase global diversity in the student body. Caution: The local school culture will still dominate, so this isn’t a be-all, end-all solution. However, especially if budgetary constraints are an issue, this is a great way to start to cultivate a global mindset in students.
- Increase global diversity in the faculty. Caution: Since non-U.S. faculty often complete their business education in North America, students may receive the same worldview and coursework from them that they would receive from local U.S. faculty. Schools should seek out faculty members from diverse academic and geographic backgrounds. Faculty and student exchanges represent a way to do this in a cost-effective manner that yields the greatest educational benefit to students.
- Avoid “educational tourism.” Although a one-week stint in a glamorous city is better than no international exposure at all, it doesn’t necessarily provide students with the depth of perspective they need to become better business leaders. The optimal way to expose students to global business and expand their perspectives is through personal relationships with people who are local to any overseas region. Deans, faculty, and alumni all represent excellent sources of professional networking and friendships, and many are glad to help make such an effort a reality.