DISTANCE-LEARNING SPECIAL 2010 - WHICH MBA? docx

Distance-learning special 2010 Including a rating of selected distance-learning programmes Contents Distance-learning special 3 Introduction 4 A triumph of democracy? Should an MBA be open to anyone? 5 How a distance-learning MBA works A programme director gives the inside track 7 Distance-learning diary Home, not quite alone 9 Programme profiles and ratings 10 How we rated the programmes Schools 11 Aston Business School 11 Bradford School of Management 12 Curtin University Graduate School of Business 12 Euro*MBA 13 University of Florida—Hough Graduate School of Business 13 Henley Business School at the University of Reading 14 IE Business School 14 Imperial College Business School 15 Indiana University—Kelley School of Business 15 Open University Business School 16 Royal Holloway School of Management 16 Thunderbird School of Global Management 17 Warwick Business School 25 St James’s Street London SW1A 1HG Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7830 7000 E-mail: whichmba@economist.com Distance-learning special 2010 © 2010 The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of The Economist Newspaper Limited. Published by The Economist Newspaper Limited. Where opinion is expressed it is that of the authors and does not necessarily coincide with the editorial views of the publisher or The Economist. All information in this magazine is verified to the best of the authors’ and the publisher’s ability. However, The Economist Newspaper Limited does not accept responsibility for any loss arising from reliance on it. 3 Other ways of taking the degree Distance-learning special Which MBA? 2010 Introduction Distance-learning business education is a resounding success story. In America, specialist universities, such as the University of Phoenix, have hundreds of thousands of postgraduate business students enrolled. In India the total is probably in the millions. If, perhaps, the very top tier of universities are yet to offer distance pro- grammes, still some very notable ones do: Carnegie Mellon or Thunderbird in America, Warwick or Insitito Empresas in Europe, for example. Yet students who take their MBAs at a distance can find themselves railing against some intense snobbery. Full-time counterparts often decry that the only way to take the degree is to immerse oneself in the experi- ence—to take time out from one’s career to contemplate. Perhaps, in an ideal world. But many people don’t find themselves in the happy position to be able to take such an expensive sabbatical. Distance-learning programmes fall into two distinct camps, both of them laudable. The first might be labelled “democratic” (see page 4). These are programmes that are open to all, regardless of geographic location, previous work experience or, because they are often cheap, ability to pay. It is easy for an MBA at a prestigious institution to sneer, but there is nothing to say that business education should be the bastion of the elite. Of course, there will always be a demand for Har- vard MBAs in the boardrooms of McKinsey or Barclays. But business education is fundamentally about personal betterment. And that is something to which everyone should be able to aspire. Nevertheless, such programmes can be thought of as a distinct branch of distance learning, and are not intended to be the focus of this report. It is the second type of programme that we are concentrating on here; those that are somewhat less democratic. Programmes that apply stricter entrance criteria and are offered by more traditional universities. Where students are expected to have good first degrees and significant work experience. And where the degree they receive will be of an equal standing to the full-time variety. Students might choose such a pro- gramme because they are in a part of the world which lacks high-quality schools, and it is the only option available to get a good degree. Or they may just prefer the idea of working at the time that suits them best. Students on these programmes are less likely to change careers than their full-time equivalents. But they would expect to rise up within their own company. Indeed, many students will be sponsored by their current employers with just this is mind. And it is here that we see one of the most important benefits. Rather than squirreling themselves away in academic isolation, distance-learning students can apply what they learn on their programmes the very next morning in the workplace, making it the most practical way to study. Distance learning isn’t for everyone. It is very difficult to juggle work, family and study. Students need plenty of self-discipline. Choosing a school means considering more than a school’s reputation: does the school keep you engaged? Is the technology effective? Does it offer value for money? Hopefully this report will go some way to helping answer those questions. Bill Ridgers Business education editor, The Economist 4 A triumph of democracy? Distance-learning special Which MBA? 2010 A triumph of democracy? ❝ “Even if you think it is going to be hard, you can trust me, it is much harder” ❞ Distance-learning student Should an MBA be open to anyone? W hether the revolution in communication technology, with its culture of instant access, has made our lives easier is open to debate. But what is certainly true is that it has changed the face of business education. Once the poor relation of its campus-based equivalent, the distance- learning MBA has become a valuable alternative for students unwilling or unable to invest up to two years of their working lives in the classroom experience. But has the concept of distance learning spun out of control? The sector now boasts a dizzying array of offerings from traditional, established providers like Warwick Business School in Britain to super schools such as the University of Phoe- nix in America, with over 455,000 students around the globe. In India, where universities and corporations are launching courses on a daily basis, distance learners are now counted in their millions, and look set to increase. Many observers expect the Indian distance-learning market to double every year for the next five years. Online degree costs vary wild- ly, from as low as $200 for a set of books and a year of internet study, to $30,000 for a degree programme at an established school. So does pricing indicate the intrinsic worth of some programmes over others, or are we just seeing a logical fragmentation of a vast worldwide market? While it might be easy to sneer at the low-cost providers, do they perform a valuable function in democratising business education? Although President Obama wants America to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by the end of the next decade, William Pepicello, president of the University of Phoenix, warns that for the first time in American history a new generation is in danger of being less educated than the previous one. Left unchecked, this will result in a shortfall of high- ly-skilled professionals—a problem that will not be addressed just through conventional students who go directly from high school to live and study on campus. According to Dr Pepicello, such students make up only 27% of his undergraduate population today. The remainder are those who want to participate in higher education, but who are shut out of traditional institu- tions. They are often in their early 30s, possibly par- ents, working full- or part-time, and likely to be the first generation in their family to get an undergraduate education. Such students need to access classes at times that are convenient to them. This flexible integration of learning is one of the underlying appeals of distance learning, from Kansas to Kolkata. But does student quality drop when targeting such a mass market? The University of Phoenix views its admissions approach as being inclusive, arguing that bricks-and-mortar universities exert a form of elitism by using grades and standardised testing as a way of restricting class size, whereas the distance-learning uni- versity can offer places to a wider student body whose priority is simply to move ahead. Warwick Business School, on the other hand, insists on the same rigorous academic entry criteria for all its MBA programmes, whether distance learning, full- or part-time. Ray Irving, the school’s head of learning Illustrations: Dennis Bailey 5 A triumph of democracy? Distance-learning special Which MBA? 2010 How a distance- learning MBA works resources development, explains that Warwick is tar- geting a different market segment, focusing on experi- enced managers with no option for a career break. An accredited distance-learning programme offers them a good alternative and access to a world-ranked school, no matter where in the world they are based. With stu- dents from over 110 countries, Warwick points to dra- matic growth in the number of distance learners on its programmes from African countries such as Nigeria, as well as from North America. India emerging It is India, though, that is witnessing some of the fast- est rates of adoption for distance learning. Since 2001, 24x7 Learning, one of the country’s leading e-learning technology platforms, has welcomed over a million students to the various courses that they host for both academic institutions and corporate universities. Anil Chhikara, the company’s president, believes the Indian market for online education is just five years behind America’s—and is catching up fast. Inadequate physi- cal infrastructure for India’s 230m potential students, coupled with better technology, has driven a huge and diverse distance-learning market. Many of India’s lead- ing firms from retail to telecoms are also using e-learn- ing to meet their business training needs. Indian legislation ensures that a government or public sector employee who earns an online degree will benefit from an increase in both pay scale and pension. And for a student at the other end of the scale? Michael Cann, a graduate of the Warwick DLMBA, used his degree to move from middle management at a medi- um-sized pharmaceutical firm, through the executive committee of a leading UK bank, to the recently elected position of chairman of the British Generics Manufac- turer Association. For Michael, distance learning gave him the chance to apply immediately what he learned in the classroom as he moved up the corporate ladder. A case of mission accomplished. Matthew Symonds is a freelance journalist specialising in busi- ness education IE Business School in Spain has been running its distance-learning programme, the International Executive MBA, for ten years. It is aimed at executives with around seven years’ work experience—three of those managerial. The MBA lasts for 13 months and students are spread across the globe. Gamaliel Martinez, the director of the programme, gives the inside track T he structure of our distance-learning MBA is this: students meet for two weeks at the beginning of the programme in Madrid, then work online for six months. The group get together again for a further two weeks in Shanghai in the middle of the programme, before another six months of remote stud- ying. Then the final two weeks are spent in Madrid. The MBA is taught almost exclusively using case- studies—whereby students discuss real dilemmas faced by actual companies. This is similar to many full-time programmes, where the debates are held in classrooms. ❝ “Not only do I get to continue working and earn money, but I can directly apply the knowledge gained from my coursework the next day at my job.” ❞ Distance-learning student 6 How a distance-learning MBA works Distance-learning special Which MBA? 2010 ❝ “The only thing I greatly missed was the interaction between students and faculty in a classroom setting—especially in the classes I don’t have the talent for” ❞ Distance-learning student The difference on the distance-learning MBA is that the discussions are online and last for three or four days. Before the class students must prepare—both individu- ally and in pre-assigned groups. The professor opens up by asking questions and the students then begin dis- cussing the case. We try to avoid real-time interaction. We have stu- dents living in 20 countries—scheduling a session for 7pm is not going to mean the same for everybody. So we try to make as much of it as asynchronous as pos- sible. So cases are discussed in an internet forum. Stu- dents enter the discussion at the time that’s best for them. Sometimes they prefer early in the morning before they go to work, sometimes in the evening or even late at night. Usually they will be involved for two or three hours every day. We have been running the programme for ten years and we don’t like to change the basic technology. We have experimented with multimedia materials and video conferences. But we like to keep the technology light. It is important if you want to have a diverse class. We have students in places such as Nigeria and Turk- menistan who cannot access fast internet connections everyday. And they add a lot of value to the class. We know that the online case discussions go deeper than the face-to-face type used on the full-time pro- gramme. People have time to think about the issues and to find out how things are done within their own com- panies. Surprisingly, the network is also deeper than on a face-to-face programme. This is because the interac- tion is very direct—the students participate in discus- sions outside of working hours when they are relaxed. So they talk about very personal things—it creates a deep contact. It is probably true that you need more self motiva- tion on a distance-learning programme. But our meth- odology—where students work in pressurised teams and professors are always asking questions—means that the programme can become addictive. When any of my students pass by a computer they jump on it. They can’t resist seeing what has been said in the forum and contrib- uting. And they need to participate every day. If they are not participating then they lose track. Professors asses their students in three ways: some- times with an exam—either online or face-to-face; sometimes they grade the teams; or they will grade students on their participation in the online discus- sions. Professors grade every message on the forum. They might award each message a mark between one and three, depending on whether the student has sim- ply read the case and understood it, or whether he has opened up a totally new area of discussion. Students who really want to get the best grades send a lot of mes- sages and sometimes we have to ask them to limit their contribution. They have to learn to give the others the opportunity to contribute. Professor Martinez was speaking to The Economist’s business education editor Professor Martinez 7 Distance-learning diary Distance-learning special Which MBA? 2010 Distance-learning diary Home, not quite alone Terri Pepper Gavulic, an alumna of the University of Florida, says don’t be fooled into thinking a distance- learning MBA is anything but tough. But she wouldn’t have had it any other way R ecently I had a mid-life crisis. While many people might buy a sports car or resort to plastic surgery, I went back to school for an MBA. As a manage- ment consultant, working mum and frequent flier, I needed a flexible schedule so decided on distance learning. The list of highly-ranked programmes seemed a short one, but I was delighted to discover the Universi- ty of Florida on it—I’d taken my undergraduate degree there almost 30 years before. Its Internet MBA seemed tailor-made for me—a 27 month programme with on- campus sessions every eight weeks on the weekend. For me, the six-hour drive seemed manageable. Taking the GMAT entrance exam was a wake-up call that I was about to embark on an experience that would require a lot of maths. This, more than anything else, caused the most anxiety throughout my MBA. But my admissions officer was encouraging and thought I could overcome my maths deficiency. He was right. As an older student I had a lot to prove and wouldn’t contemplate failure. So I applied to the pro- gramme as early as I could. That way, the admissions team could make a decision based on my merits, with- out having to compare me to other candidates. The first day we headed out for team building, including rope courses and group challenges. It was a smart way to start the programme. We bonded instant- ly and our cohort was quickly able to size each other up and determine with whom we wanted to work on our class teams. Also, some activities were physically chal- lenging and terrifying. For many of us, overcoming our fear walking a tightrope or leaping off a 30-foot pole gave us confidence that we could do anything, includ- ing succeed on our MBA programme. And then the hard work began. There’s a lot I liked about my MBA. But it is also important to be aware of the drawbacks. If I were to list the toughest challenges they would be: ● Working in a virtual team made it harder to hold teammates accountable and resolve conflicts. ● The curriculum was modified after we’d started and we didn’t have a few promised classes, includ- ing the one I most wanted. Distance-learning pro- grammes don’t usually allow for elective courses. ● Balancing family and work can be daunting. Every- one makes sacrifices. Some classmates dropped out because they couldn’t manage this aspect. ● I wish I had been forewarned about some of the things I could do in advance to prepare, such as learn calculus, relearn algebra and brush up on Excel. ● Our schedule was rigorous. We went for 27 months straight with no breaks at all—not even one day off. ❝ “Surprisingly, you are probably more connected to the programme because the quality and quantity of your participation is monitored.” ❞ Distance-learning student 8 Distance-learning diary Distance-learning special Which MBA? 2010 But don’t let that scare you. The positive aspects out- weighed the challenges: ● Most of our professors were fabulous. They had real-world experience and were not too academic. Several used innovative teaching methods—bring- ing in venture capitalists for us to present to, for example—which kept the interest high. And they were always accessible. ● Visiting the campus only every eight weeks and only on the weekend was manageable for busy pro- fessionals. ● The curriculum was the right blend of the quan- titative (eg, finance, and operations management) and qualitative (eg, marketing and entrepreneur- ship) courses. ● The programme was well-organised and the sup- port staff were incredible. We were always well fed, encouraged, and had no uncertainty about our schedule. ● My classmates and I felt we had an impact on the programme and our feedback was regularly solicited. ● At the end of 27 months with the same cohort, we formed lasting friendships and business relation- ships. When people ask what I thought of the distance learning format I tell them I can’t imagine going to school any other way. Studying from the comfort of my own home allowed me to continue being active in family life and meet my work obligations. But stu- dents require different skills than on a traditional pro- gramme. Distance students must be technology savvy, organised, and self-motivated. In our programme every class involved a blend of team and individual assign- ments, so good communication skills, both written and verbal, were essential to be successful on virtual teams. When we donned our caps and gowns we were a smaller group than when we climbed the 30-foot pole 27 months earlier. Several classmates had dropped out for reasons ranging from job transfers to an inability to do the work. I stuck it out, though there were many times when I felt over my head. In my company we talk about the “big why”. Why do we work hard? What motivates us? Walking across the graduation stage 30 years after I’d received my undergraduate degree, I closely watched my ten-year-old daughter’s face beam with pride. That, in a nutshell, was my big why. Terri Pepper Gavulic is now an entrepreneur and heads three companies ❝ Distance learning is flexible to your pace and mode of study. However, the academic support given is very much equivalent to those on campus ❞ Distance-learning student, UK school 9 Distance-learning diary Distance-learning special Which MBA? 2010 Programme profiles and ratings 10 Programme profiles and ratings Distance-learning special Which MBA? 2010 R ating distance-learning programmes means judg- ing very different criteria than one might look at when ranking other types of MBAs. One of the main differences is that distance-learning students tend not to be career-switchers, so the metrics related to careers services—such as the percentage of graduates finding work or even their salaries—are not of great concern. Equally, while schools offering distance-learn- ing programmes like to claim that remote working is no barrier to networking, this is not, by and large, why students themselves sign up. Instead, we looked at three broad areas: the pro- gramme content; the quality of the students; and a category we have described as the quality of the dis- tance-learning elements. These latter metrics focus on those areas unique to distance-learning programmes, such as the effectiveness of the teaching methods used and the students’ sense of connection to the school. Schools’ ratings have primarily been determined by a survey of distance-learning students. In each category, percentage scores have been assigned to schools. The top rated school received a score of 100% and the rest were benchmarked against it. Schools with a score above 95% were awarded a rat- ing of “excellent”. A score of 75%-94% rated as “good”; 50%-74% “average”; and below 50% “poor”. It is important to note that we deliberately called the survey a “rating” rather than a “ranking”. This is because the list of schools is not exhaustive. As noted in the introduction we have deliberately excluded from the ratings some of those schools with large cohorts and less-stringent admissions requirements. Instead we have concentrated on those programmes offered at the institutions which feature in The Economist’s ranking of the 100 full-time programmes. Results Distance-learning programmes have traditionally been concentrated in Britain and America. Both countries have a tradition of “correspondence courses”, the pre- cursors of distance learning. Of the 13 schools covered in this report, only three do not come from one of those countries. Two programmes achieved our top rating of “excellent”: Florida’s Internet MBA and the Interna- tional Executive MBA offered by IE Business School in How we rated the programmes Spain. Both schools scored well across the board. IE’s students, for example, have an average of 13 years of work experience, and although students are spread as widely as Nigeria and Turkmenistan, they also say they feel incredibly connected to the school. Furthermore, despite its hefty price tag—programme fees of €52,000 ($76,440) make it the most expensive surveyed—stu- dents still consider it to be excellent value for money. It is a similar story at Florida. Although its students have much less work experience than those at IE, they do rate their classmates as being the best of the schools surveyed. They also rave about the quality of the dis- tance-learning materials used by the school. And it, too, scores well on value for money. Both schools also have a low student attrition rate. It is an unfortunate feature of distance-learning pro- grammes that students are more likely to drop out than counterparts on other types of MBA. This is because of the high levels of self-motivation and self-discipline required. At the best schools, which work hard to keep students engaged, one might expect over 90% of those who begin the MBA to finish it. Elsewhere, however, this rate may fall below 50%. Honourable mentions go to Thunderbird School of Global Management, Indiana’s Kelly school (both in America) and the Euro*MBA, which is offered by a consortium of European business schools, all of which rated as “good”. All three got “excellent” ratings for their programme content. ❝ “I found the environment very collegial. Many of my classes incorporated a lot of group work and used discussion forums to spur discussion among classmates.” ❞ Distance-learning student Category Criteria Weight Programme content (33%) Ratio of faculty to students 8% Percentage of faculty with a PhD 8% Student rating* of faculty 8% Student rating* of the programme content 8% Fellow students (33%) Percentage of students who complete the programme 11% Average number of years’ work experience of students 11% Student rating* of culture and classmates 11% Distance learning elements (33%) Student rating* of the effectiveness of the distance-learning materials 11% Student rating* of their sense of connection to the programme 11% Student rating* of the programme’s value for money 11% * Student ratings out of 5 [...]... rating Programme content Quality of fellow students Effectiveness of distance-learning elements Programme content Quality of fellow students Effectiveness of distance-learning elements 10 Rating: Poor 0-5 0 20 30 40 50 60 70 Average 5 0-7 4 80 Good 7 5-9 4 90 100 Excellent 9 5-1 00 0 10 Rating: Poor 0-5 0 20 30 40 50 60 70 Average 5 0-7 4 80 Good 7 5-9 4 90 Programme content Ratio of faculty to students Percentage... Programme profiles and ratings Distance-learning special Which MBA? 2010 Aston Business School Bradford School of Management Birmingham, Britain Bradford, Britain Programme: Distance-learning MBA Website: www.astonmba.com E-mail: mba@aston.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0) 121 204 3212 Programme director: Dr Brigitte Nicoulaud Programme: Distance learning MBA Website: www.bradford.ac.uk/management E-mail: mba@bradford.ac.uk... face-to-face classes, which take place in either London or Hong Kong The degree can be competed within 2-5 years Programme details The Global MBA On-Demand uses web-based technology and lasts between 12 and 36 months Seventy-five percent of the programmes is taken remotely, with the remainder taking place at on-site seminars in locations around the globe 17 Programme profiles and ratings Distance-learning. .. profiles and ratings Distance-learning special Which MBA? 2010 Indiana University—Kelley School of Business Open University Business School Bloomington, United States Milton Keynes, Britain Programme: Kelley Direct Website: www.kd.iu.edu E-mail: kdirect@indiana.edu Tel: +1 317 278 1566 Programme director: Terrill Cosgray Programme: MBA Website: www.oubs.open.ac.uk E-mail: oubs-ilgen@open.ac.uk Tel:... profiles and ratings Distance-learning special Which MBA? 2010 Curtin University Graduate School of Business Euro*MBA Partner schools: Maastricht University (Netherlands), Audencia Nantes (France), EADA Barcelona (Spain), HHL Leipzig (Germany), IAE Aix-en-Provence (France), Kozminski University Warsaw (Poland) Perth, Australia Programme: Online MBA Website: www gsb.curtin.edu.au E-mail: enquiries@gsb.curtin.edu.au... www.thunderbird.edu E-mail: admissions@thunderbird.edu Tel: 60 2-9 7 8-7 100 Programme director: Dr Bert Valencia How the school rated How the school rated Overall rating 0 Overall rating Programme content Quality of fellow students Effectiveness of distance-learning elements Programme content Quality of fellow students Effectiveness of distance-learning elements 10 Rating: Poor 0-5 0 20 30 40 50 60 70 Average 5 0-7 4 80... residential weeks and an introduction seminar 13 Programme profiles and ratings Distance-learning special Which MBA? 2010 University of Florida—Hough Graduate School of Business Henley Business School at the University of Reading Florida, United States Henley-on-Thames, Britain Programme: Internet MBA Website: floridamba.ufl.edu E-mail: floridamba@cba.ufl.edu Tel: +1 352 392 8791 Programme director: Alex... rated Overall rating 0 Overall rating Programme content Quality of fellow students Effectiveness of distance-learning elements Programme content Quality of fellow students Effectiveness of distance-learning elements 10 Rating: Poor 0-5 0 20 30 40 50 60 70 Average 5 0-7 4 80 Good 7 5-9 4 90 100 Excellent 9 5-1 00 Programme content Ratio of faculty to students Percentage of faculty with a PhD Student rating... Effectiveness of distance-learning elements Effectiveness of DL materials Student rating of the sense of connection to the school Student rating of the value for money Programme content Quality of fellow students Effectiveness of distance-learning elements 0.2 94 4.0 4.0 95 108 3.8 3.9 3.8 4.3 0 10 Rating: Poor 0-5 0 20 30 40 50 60 70 Average 5 0-7 4 80 Good 7 5-9 4 90 100 Excellent 9 5-1 00 Programme content... Asian issues Background The Euro*MBA is a two-year programme offered by a consortium of six top European business schools and universities (see above) Programme details The Curtin distance-learning MBA can be combined with other delivery methods, including face-to-face, and can be earned in one year (full-time) or 2 years (part-time) There is a required two-week capstone unit residential in Perth Not . ❞ Distance-learning student, UK school 9 Distance-learning diary Distance-learning special Which MBA? 2010 Programme profiles and ratings 10 Programme profiles and ratings Distance-learning special. participation is monitored.” ❞ Distance-learning student 8 Distance-learning diary Distance-learning special Which MBA? 2010 But don’t let that scare you. The positive aspects out- weighed the challenges:. from my coursework the next day at my job.” ❞ Distance-learning student 6 How a distance-learning MBA works Distance-learning special Which MBA? 2010 ❝ “The only thing I greatly missed was the