|
2004 will see the launch of the
Oxford Executive MBA. This new degree course -
which aims to take its first students in eighteen
months time - will consist of some 14 one week
modules offered over a 21 month period. It is
envisaged that the Executive MBA will have between
50 and 60 students, who will be taught in the
new SBS building whilst living in a selection
of historic Oxford colleges.
Driving forward the programme launch
is its director Paul Willman, 'SBS has set out
to be a world-class business school and to offer
a portfolio of programmes befitting such a school'
he commented. 'That must include an Executive
MBA.'
European business schools have been in the forefront
of developing Executive MBAs. As with the introduction
of its full-time programme, Oxford hopes to enter
an established and competitive market, with a
product that will perform exceptionally well from
the start. Delivering the programme in a modular
format will, Willman believes create a catchment
area, that at the least will encompass all of
western Europe: Willman commented, 'A key component
of the success of the full-time MBA has been its
highly international student body. By attracting
students from around the world who are working
in Western Europe, we aim to have an EMBA constituency
that emulates its full-time counterpart.
The Executive MBA will target professionals in
their first major managerial role, aged about
35, who have been marked out for significant achievement
in the near future by their organisations. 'These
will be people who will reach the peaks of their
careers very quickly - within five years or, at
most, ten.' said Willman.
High calibre students will be a key element in
the new programme. The EMBA will apply the same
rigorous entrance requirements as for the full-time
programme. One of the characteristics of executive
students says Willman, (who has taught executive
MBAs for fifteen years) is their motivation and
maturity: It is difficult to balance work, personal
life and study. However, we hope that the week-long
modules, combined with the Oxford location will
allow students to forget about work and immerse
themselves in learning. It should also facilitate
class bonding, the friendships for life that are
created on the full-time programme.
The Oxford Executive MBA will consist of between
12 and 14 modules, the first of which - the foundation
module - will be two weeks long, with the remainder
lasting one week each. To offer individual choice,
the course will provide a wide range of elective
courses in addition to its core courses. Also,
to enhance the practical personal challenge, it
will include two individual projects carried out
in executives' own workplaces, one of which will
be a mainstream management project and the other
geared towards developing individual entrepreneurial
abilities and skills. Both these projects will
be defined in association with participants' organisations
and will be designed to be of direct managerial
and strategic value to them. 'The course will
aim to align personal and business benefits to
mutual advantage.'
At the same time he is very clear that the individual
executive will be the main focus of the new Oxford
degree: 'It will be an executive and not a consortium
MBA.' He is certain that employers will appreciate
and welcome this difference. 'Companies like a
balance between bespoke programmes and their managers
going out and getting independent exposure and
qualifications. Through the Oxford Executive MBA
their employees will get access to a very broad
network, greater international experience and
- very significantly - raised expectations. It
will then be down to the companies to direct and
manage those expectations.'
The final key ingredient in the new Executive
MBA will be Oxford itself. The course will be
taught by the same faculty as Oxford's full-time
MBA, and, says Willman, 'part of the family of
Oxford management programmes and able to draw
on the same broad stock of Oxford intellectual
capital.' In addition, living in a series of colleges
throughout the course will create 'the Oxford
Effect': 'Students will get the flavour of life
in several colleges and see Oxford from several
different perspectives.'
The modular aspect of the programme combined with
the Oxford lifestyle, will, hopes Willman, allow
the programme to offer some benefits to the partners
of many executives, who may otherwise feel isolated
from this experience. 'We hope to arrange a number
of activities throughout the 21 months, for example,
formal dinners at college, or a day's punting
on the river, which partners can join.
SBS's experience in launching its
successful full-time MBA and also the track record
in executive education of Templeton College, Oxford's
specialist graduate college in business studies
provide a strong framework from which to launch
the EMBA. Executive MBA students will get the
chance to draw on Templeton's distinctive strengths.
'Templeton is a key resource in terms of its experience
and capabilities', says Willman.
So how does Paul Willman feel personally about
the demands of directing this ambitious new programme?
'I have run a big programme before. But running
a large, established programme and setting up
something like the Oxford Executive MBA are two
entirely different things. It will bring serious
benefits to business studies at Oxford - and you
have to get excited about it.'
Author: LESLEY Aylward, Said
Business School, Oxford University
|
