Stacy Blackman’s Weekly Roundup of B-School Intelligence
“Green” MBAs still a bright spot in economic downturn – Although MBA programs with an environmental focus emerged as a way to connect with sustainability-minded students, today such programs thrive, more often than not, for the access to wider job opportunities they afford come graduation. UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School will celebrate the tenth anniversary of its sustainable enterprise in the MBA program in fall 2009, and enrollment in sustainability electives has doubled over the last four years even though the size of the MBA student body has remained the same, BusinessWeek reports.
European business schools bring expertise to Middle East — Geographical proximity is one reason European MBA programs have a stronger foothold in executive education than their American counterparts in the region. The Middle East is an ever-growing financial market, and long-standing cultural and historical connections with Europe have allowed schools such as INSEAD, London Business School and the Judge Business School at Cambridge to step in to create an educational infrastructure there. (FT.com)
New degree program at Tel Aviv University — With the launch of its Sofaer International MBA Program this fall, Tel Aviv University hopes to attract Israeli and international students to a course of study focused on entrepreneurship, strategy, high-tech, marketing and finance. Taught in English, the Sofaer International MBA is a one-year (three semesters), full-time program rooted in the innovative entreprenuerial culture of Israel’s business environment.
Complexities of business require a bit of humanity — A growing number of MBA programs, particularly in Europe, have tailored their curriculums to include other elements that make for a well-rounded CEO: moral philosophy, modern art, eastern and western civilization and literature, to name a few. The idea that management education over the past two decades might have contributed to the excesses and meltdowns of late has schools looking toward culture as a remedy for today’s ills. (The Independent)
“Keeping the ‘BS’ in HBS” — This week’s edition of Harvard Business School’s newspaper The Harbus has a great bit of humor by John Colman, the fall 2008 champion of the Public Speaking Club’s “BS Competition”. He offers a few tips on effective BS that should elicit a chuckle or two, and possibly a bit of self-recognition…
