Variations on the theme of global MBA courses
Prospective MBA students have a vast selection of courses to choose from. They also have access to some interesting alternatives that are designed to offer a slightly different business education experience, but still in a global setting.
The Global Entrepreneurship Programme is a one year course, a collaboration between EMLyon Business School, in France, Zhejiang University, in China, and Purdue University in the US.
According to professor Frederic Delmar of EMLyon, its focus is “entrepreneurship in a global setting.” Students are recruited at the respective schools and provided with international exposure through “travelling and a high international mix in the classroom.” Students work and live on each of the three continents.
Its not the same as an MBA – Delmar emphasises that the programme is “pre-experience.” Typical students are young, and have a “more or less explicit dream to start a business down the line.”
The International Masters Programme in Practising Management (IMPM) is a collaboration between Lancaster University in the UK, McGill in Canada, IIMB in India, Renmin in China, and FGB in Brazil.
It’s “unique,” according to Dora Koop, managing director of the programme. Its driven by “the actual practice of management” in an international setting, rather than theory.
Students benefit from “multi-cultural exposure” and the “opportunity to share ideas with a diverse network of colleagues.” Alongside a managerial exchange programme, students visit firms in the five different countries.
Koop says the IMPM is for managers “who have eight to ten years of management experience.”