London Business School announced today the inauguration of a new degree program to complement its MBA, Sloan Fellows, and EMBA programs. The new Masters in Management promises the same excellence as the other curricula and is taught by the same faculty on a dedicated campus adjacent to the London Business School campus. According to the press release this program, however, is aimed at "top recent
graduates who have less than one year's previous work experience and an
undergraduate degree in a discipline other than business or management
studies."
The website emphasizes that this eleven-month program is for those with no or little full-time work experience who can show leadership through community service or non-professional activities.
The first intake is set to begin in August 2009 and London Business School has already posted application requirements and deadlines for the four-stage application cycle. Deadlines are:
Stage 1: 05 January 2009
Stage 2: 28 February 2009
Stage 3: 31 March 2009
Stage 4: 30 April 2009
My take: This is LBS' answer to Harvard's very successful 2+2 program and an attempt to service early career applicants and recent graduates whom London has not served or earned revenue from in the past. With this addition to its menu of business degree programs, LBS is serving all experience and age levels interested in a graduate business degree -- from those in their early twenties to those into their forties and probably occasionally fifties. This program clearly leverages the career management infrastructure, global reputation, and faculty that already exists in the institution.
Like HBS, London is promising a "transformational experience" that lays the "foundations for a successful career in business and beyond" along with a generous of dose career coaching and guidance. Unlike HBS, it does not insist on work experience prior to beginning this program, and it is not wed to the case method. Furthermore, participants in this program will have access to, but be separate from the regular MBA program; 2+2ers will be fully integrated at HBS. And finally, graduates of this program will earn a Masters in Management, a less well-known and recognized degree than the MBA. Coming from London Business School with its international reputation and connections, I doubt it will matter.
