Aren't All Business Schools the Same?

It wasn't long ago that an MBA was the staple of every business manager's professional diet. As a result, more and more business schools added MBA's to weekend and evening classes in the 1980s and early '90s to accommodate crowded work and personal schedules, and the increased demand for a master's degree.

Today, as undergraduate and graduate business programs pop up on our landscape like strip malls, gas stations and one-stop shopping marts, we forget in the flurry of business school direct mail pieces to ask an important question: aren't all business schools the same? The answer is a resounding No.

The difference between business schools can be like comparing apples and oranges. You need to know what your preferences are, to best determine which business school is right for you.

One basic consideration in choosing a business school should be based on whether or not the school is fully accredited. Although this may at first sound like an obvious requirement for a B school, think again. There are two major accreditation groups in the United States: the Association of College Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), and the American Association of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). Both organizations base their accreditation of schools on a number of factors including curriculum, outcomes assessments, doctorally-prepared faculty and scholarly production. AACSB has higher expectations of faculty research, while ACBSP has a stronger emphasis on outcomes assessment. Only around 25% of the business schools in the US have achieved accreditation.

Is the curriculum relevant to today's e-commerce world? Are the Professors well-versed in a global business environment that is barreling through technological change? And speaking of faculty, it's one thing to be taught by a professor who holds a Ph.D. from a renowned institution and has spent a lifetime in academia. But it's quite another situation, when students are mentored by professors who hold both a prestigious Ph.D. and a successful track record in the world of business or government. Although a school's name recognition can go far in a job interview, did the student listen to lectures while sitting 45 rows away from a teaching assistant?

Oftentimes, a lesser-known business school can provide cutting-edge curricula, presented by accomplished professor/practitioners who enjoy engaging you in conversation and debate. Additionally, these smaller schools may keep class sizes small by design, to ensure an intimate climate and dynamic. And does the B school of your choice focus on improving your communication skills?

"No matter how bright people are, if they don't have the ability to communicate what they know, their knowledge remains locked up inside them," said Sheldon Stahl, professor of business at Aurora University in Illinois. "At one time your competitors may have been down the street. Now they may be halfway around the world. A mouse click away. You need to know how to communicate effectively and be sensitive to differing cultures."

In today's business setting, where effective communication skills and a global awareness are essential components to success, B schools will need to look at the business arena from a holistic perspective, rather than from an individual discipline. For example, a well-rounded business curriculum could examine the various environmental forces, such as technology, legal issues, demographics, and culture that impact global commerce, and then apply knowledge to those forces in the assessment of strengths and weaknesses of an organization to determine the appropriate action. Specialists may become a thing of the past, as the generalist in business copes with the broadest dimensions encountered on the job. A good B school molds good generalists, so they can work in a number of different areas and environments.

And the B school of the future is the one whose professors are most versatile. Now, more than ever before in history, college students are getting degrees for jobs that don't yet exist. Those jobs, tied mostly to information technology, will demand visionaries who can see what the big picture is going to look like before it takes shape. Tomorrow's business executives are learning today how to network with individuals they may never meet in person, but who are a keystroke away.

From intimate classrooms, taught by professors who have walked the walk in business, today's student can graduate heads above his or her peers in the global marketplace. Not all B schools are the same. In addition to the schools that have instant name recognition are even more which are tucked away, like pearls waiting to be discovered. Ask about curriculum, if there are internship opportunities, and what professional background various faculty members can bring to the classroom.

Author
Kasandra Dalton McNeil
Director of Strategic Communication
Aurora University