Mastering a new kind of learning

The number of corporate MBAs is growing as the business world wakes up to the added value of extra training. Steve McCormack reports

Although the phrase "corporate MBA" is banded about colloquially all over the academic and business sector, it can mean different things to different people. At its loosest, it describes an arrangement between a company and a business school whereby the school is on a company's list of preferred providers of MBAs. The relationship gets stronger when a company joins a consortium of firms who, together, regularly send a cohort of students to the same university or college to study for an MBA as a group.

And the closest relationship is when one company and one business school combine to develop a unique course, which sometimes bears the names of the two key partners. Among the first of these to come into existence was the link-up between the BBC and Bradford Management Centre in the mid-1990s. The Henley/IBM Corporate MBA Programme, set up in 1996, is now reckoned to be the largest such programme, with around a thousand IBM executives either present or past students.

Professor Ian Turner, Director of Graduate Business Studies, at Henley Management College, explains the background. "IBM took a strategic decision, that they would have just one MBA programme for their executives in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It guarantees them consistency, and means they can measure the benefits and organise company events around the programme."

The IBM executives are, on average, in their early thirties, with up to 10 years' experience, and well on their way towards senior positions in the company. Their study is modelled on Henley's distance learning MBA course, the majority of the work using materials send through the post or accessed on-line. This is augmented by residential courses of two or more days' duration, at Henley or other locations around Europe. There are two intakes of around 90 students every year.

The core of the course is the same as any other Henley MBA. IBM does, however, influence what's studied in the elective, or optional, sections of the course. This element is currently filled by a module on innovation and creativity.

In a similar agreement Henley has with Vodaphone, who are part of a consortium MBA arrangement, the phone company's executives complete an elective on corporate social responsibility.

At first, the single-company corporate MBAs were not recognised by the main validating and accreditation body, the Association of MBAs, the suspicion being that academic rigor was taking second place to the individual company ethos. That stance changed, though, around the turn of the millennium, according to Robert Owen, the Association's Director of Accreditation Services. "As long as the business school retains control over student intake, curriculum design and development, assessment, and the awarding of the final qualification, we will consider it for our accreditation."

Another factor the Association of MBAs looks for is diversity of students on a particular programme. If a single- company MBA is to pass that test, it has to be shown that the students come from all quarters of the company. A variation on the single-company corporate MBA is illustrated by Lancaster University Management School's relationship with the Royal Sun Alliance insurance company, who send groups of executives to complete a diploma in Business Administration at Lancaster every year.

At the end of the year, a selection of these students, up to a dozen or so, will transfer to the second year of the Executive MBA course and complete the full qualification, as part of a group of 30 or 40 students from other companies and other sectors.

"This is a type of arrangement we have seen increasing in the MBA market," explains Andy Bailey, course director of the Executive MBA. "In order to get a real depth of understanding of business, it is important to mix with senior figures from other companies."

This belief drives the accountancy firm KPMG to provide two streams of MBA qualification for its employees. Accountants working on small and medium-sized business accounts participate in an MBA at Manchester Business School, where they mix with students.

About 30 of KPMG's higher fliers do an executive MBA at Edinburgh University's Management School every year. This consists of two intensive residential four-week summer courses, separated by an assignment completed while the individuals are back behind their desks.

"These are our emerging business leaders," says Akber Pandor, KPMG's Director of Learning. "As they go up the management ladder, it is important they see the breadth and depth of business. Our clients expect senior managers to have the grasp of geopolitical business issues that the Edinburgh MBA programme provides."

Fellow top-drawer accountants Ernst & Young have just begun a relationship with Warwick Business School. Three executives were chosen from 20 applicants to start an MBA programme in April.

"This is the first time that we have strategically said that we want to offer this qualification as a key development opportunity for our best people," explains Alistair Budd, Ernst & Young's HR Director. "It has been such a success that we're looking to significantly expand the programme next year with as many as 10 a year."

Head of audit operations in the UK, Riaz Shah, was the chief mover behind the decision. "I wanted to improve our overall offering to our employees. It's one of a number of initiatives I've introduced in this area. The MBA teaches them strategic thinking and decision-making. It also broadens knowledge across other industries and prepares them for senior management roles. All three have done particularly well."

Accountant Jim Bowden, 26, was one of the three Ernst & Young pioneers. "The MBA is something I have wanted to do for several years. The MBA encourages you to think from a number of different perspectives: financial, operational, marketing, organisational and behaviour. That's fulfilling and challenging."

Another of Warwick's links is with the Ford Motor Company, who send a group of executives on to the part-time MBA programme every year. Students come from all Ford's divisions, including Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin and Ford itself.

Robert Park, 31, a principal production engineer on the S-Type Jaguar at Castle Bromwich in Birmingham, enrolled in spring 2002. "The MBA has given me a high level of management strategies. I now have a 10,000-foot view of the production process, which I did not have before. It forces you to investigate and learn."