Discussion: View Thread

From: Linda Wing [mailto:lwing@usinternet.com]

Hello colleagues,

I have enjoyed listening to my colleagues discuss something which is of
importance to me personally. I think as faculty, we are all interested in
delivering the best possible learning experiences to our learners. The
vast amount of complexity in delivering that best possible experience is
evidenced in all of your postings to date.

One of the most provacative questions for me as a course developer at the
graduate level is questioning the very nature and expected outcome of an
educational experience at the MBA/MA/MS level of education versus that of
the PhD. I have been schooled by some of my colleagues that the Masters
level, especially the MBA, is not about scholarship, but rather developing
a set of skills for practice. I have resisted the adoption of this notion.
I believe that it is important to create skills of scholarship as well as
the skills necessary to lead in today's marketplaces.

I don't say this lightly, as though looking through rose colored glasses.
Rather, I say it from an individual who both practices scholarship as a
member of the Academy as as a practicing consultant to today's workplaces.
I say this seriously, as I believe as are on the cusp of fundamental change
in the practice of business globally. In order to understand this
transition and to achieve the best of outcomes, whatever that might mean, I
believe that we need to develop MBA/MA/MS programs which reach for the best
in practice and scholarship.

As always, once a fundamental vision for what we are attempting to create
in the various institutions we teach in, we can proceed to develop a
vision, objectives and learning plans to achieve those objectives. Many
MBA programs that I have participated in as a learner, or those in which I
teach, have become "mills", turning out MBA's with skill sets of one kind
or another. I am concerned that the learners go wanting for the thinking
and leadership skills necessary for good application and good outcomes.

Food for thought.

Linda Suzanne Wing, PhD

From: Romie Littrell [mailto:littrelliaccp@yahoo.com]

Re: What is your market? & What are the
characteristics of good MBA programs?

In terms of "starting with the end in mind" and
producing graduates who are useful, we have many
market segments to sell to:

1. Existing faculty
2. Prospective faculty
3. Grant givers
4. Consultant fee givers
5. Prospective students
6. Enrolled students
7. Your institution, who funds the programme and
pays the faculty
8. Employers
9. Consultants to employers, e.g. McKinsey,
Boston, etc. (if you're an etc., please do not be
offended, indulge my prejudices)
10. Graduates
11. Postgraduates, Alumni/Alumnae
12. Whomever is paying for the MBA
13. The Media, such as the BusinessWeek MBA
programme evaluators.
14. Ph.D. programmes who might accept our
graduates
Etc., continue on your own.

I haven't paid attention to the geographic region
of the original poser of the question, but you
will need to take a look at the above, maybe do a
SWOT analysis of your school (why shouldn't we
use our own tools), look at your
input-process-output requirements, and start to
design your programme.

This isn't a ONE MINUTE MANAGER question, or WHAT
THEY DIDN'T TEACH YOU AT HARVARD". It's what
they DID teach you at Harvard.

If you have an MBA, or a PhD, you will know that
simple answers to complex questions create
short-term energy, activity, and output, but you
probably want to produce something sustainable.
With the end in mind, I would take a look at the
BusinessWeek article produced a few days ago,
look at the demographics of my stakeholders, look
at similar schools in similar regions, and spend
a little time figuring it out for myself.

Press on, regardless,
Romie Littrell

=====
Prof. Romie F. Littrell, Ph.D.
Department of Managaement
Fh-Aalen University of Applied Sciences
Beethovenstrasse Nr. 1
D-73430 Aalen
Germany
Fax: (49)7361-576-330