London Business School Announces New Masters in Analytics and Management
Earlier this week, the London Business School officially announced the new LBS Masters in Analytics and Management program, which is slated to begin August 2019.
The 12-month LBS Masters in Analytics and Management, according to the business school, “is designed for top graduates with a quantitative degree or work experience, who want to combine a detailed knowledge of data analytics, with the ability to translate big data into bold visions and profit-maximising business strategy.”
The LBS Masters in Analytics and Management (MAM) will be the fifth official specialized master’s program provided by the business school, alongside the Masters in Management and Global Masters in Management (MiM), the Masters in Finance (MiF), and Masters in Financial Analysis (MFA). In a recent press release announcing the newest program addition, LBS’ Associate Professor of Management Science and Operations Tolga Tezcan, who will teach in the program, says:
“There is huge demand from the top recruiters for managers who are not only data literate, but who also have the vision to see how big data can be used to create real competitive edge, product or service transformation. That’s why we’re combining subjects like machine learning and data visualisation with organisational behaviour.”
In the release, Gareth Howells, LBS Executive Director, MAM, Degree Education & Career Centre, also adds, “Jumping into the vibrant London business environment, our students will experience data in action. Using real data to solve real problems on a live analytics project, they will learn how to translate the results of data analysis into insightful, high-impact business solutions.”
The new Masters in Analytics and Management will begin August 2019, costing £33,500.
What Is The LBS Masters in Analytics and Management?
The program, according to the business school, is centered around a core of: “Data Analytics, Applied Statistics, Data Visualisation and Storytelling, Data Management, Digital Marketing, Data Science for Business, Machine Learning for Big Data, and Decision Technology.”
The school assures that hopeful entrants in the program must have “a strong degree in a quantitative subject such as Engineering, Maths and Sciences, Computing, Economics, Accounting, Finance or Business, and Management.”
About 95 percent of entrants in the program come from the international community, representing 50 countries worldwide. The school adds that about 96 percent of its graduates from the aforementioned Masters in Management program earned employment within three months of graduation, and that “we expect our new MAM graduates to hit the ground running, entering sought-after sectors like technology and consulting with similar levels of success.”
In addition, students in the program will have the option to undertake a fourth term, which will only be available for students on specific career treks. In the fourth term, which will cost additional fees not yet revealed by LBS, students can “pursue the option to take three additional elective courses or go on an international exchange with a top business school.”
Head over to the official London Business School Masters in Analytics and Management page for more details.
London Business School Achieves Best International Ranking from Forbes
If you’re set on getting the right bang for your buck, why not head to London?
The London Business School just topped Forbes‘ new list for two-year international schools with the best return on investment, or ROI.
The business publication puts out lists every two years deciphering MBA programs’ ROI. One of those lists looks specifically at two-year programs outside the United States. Forbes calculated that the London Business School is the best after looking at how much its graduates earn during those first five years post-graduation. The publication reports that graduates from the best two-year international schools gained, on average, $74,300 over five years. Those within the U.S. saw that number stay at $50,000.
This is the business school’s breakdown, per Forbes:
“Alumni of its class of 2012 realized a 5-year gain of $119,100, the highest of any 2-year program in the world, and it took the typical graduate 3.4 years to pay back their investment. In comparison, alumni of Wharton, the top-ranked MBA program in the U.S., saw a 5-year gain of $97,100 and took 3.8 years to pay back.”
LBS is looking good right about now. The business school has been around since 1964 and offers a full-time MBA, executive MBA, masters in finance, masters in management, and other masters programs. The median GMAT score among enrolled students is currently 708, writes Forbes. So it’s no surprise that this is the school’s fifth consecutive time topping the list.
“Going to business school represents one the most significant professional, personal and financial investments that one can make,” said Gareth Howells, Executive Director of the London Business Schools’ MBA program to Forbes. “That investment is for the long term, rather than just about the role upon graduation.”
An investment into the London Business School isn’t easy though. It’s super competitive. Just 17 percent of applicants are accepted. May the odds be in your favor.
London Business School Launches More Flexible MBA
An MBA program needs to continuously evolve to stay relevant. That’s why most business schools reevaluate their curricula every few years to ensure that they’re on the cutting edge.
The London Business School recently completed a top to bottom review of its MBA program to determine how it could improve. The school found that while it has a strong employment outlook, conversations with students, alumni and recruiters revealed than an overhaul of the program itself would help to better meet the needs of students and employers.
Why the London Business School Updated Its Curriculum
“There were two drivers,” Gareth Howells, Executive Director of the MBA, MiF and Early Career Programs at LBS, tells us in an interview. “In terms of inputs, we were seeing a diversification in our pipeline of the professional aspirations of our students. Historically, 80-85 percent of our students went into consulting and finance, but what we’ve found is that more candidates are coming to LBS and considering a much more diverse set of companies: tech, not-for-profit, luxury retail, etc.”
The need for this change was also reflected on the employer side. Though LBS still has strong recruiting representation from finance and consulting, Howells reported that Google and Amazon have become two of LBS’ biggest recruiters. In fact, 22 percent of last year’s LBS MBA graduates went into tech-related roles.
These facts made a compelling case for updating the MBA curriculum. “We’re not moving away from finance and consulting, but we feel that there’s a way we could restructure the program to better serve our diverse candidates and recruiters,” Howells explains .
Growing the MBA Program
To start, one of the first things that LBS did to better serve its MBA students was increase the size of its program. In the past, LBS has been considered a relatively small to medium-sized program. Currently, it enrolls about 420 students each year but, starting next year, they’re planning to add about 60 more students.
“Obviously, that will take us into that medium-size,” Howells says. “We felt it was right that the MBA should grow. We want to attract a bigger market share of applications. Since the launch of our updated curriculum, we’ve posted a 12 percent increase in applications, and we’re expecting this class to be our highest quality class yet.”
One Size Doesn’t Fit All
The changes go far deeper than class size. “We wanted to give students the opportunity to customize their learning journey toward the business sector they’re most interested in,” Howells adds. “In addition, we also wanted to make the program more practical. We’re giving our MBA students a wide choice of courses so that they can choose to broaden and deepen their skills how they see fit.”
To keep up with the constantly changing global business environment, LBS reviewed all of its MBA courses, as well as the knowledge and skill sets that they felt were common to all industries—whether working at Google or Goldman Sachs. When they did this, they were able to pare down their core courses to a small set of “sector neutral” topics in areas such as teams, finances, etc. Core coursework now only comprises the first semester of the first year.
Then, by the second half of year one, students can tailor their studies to better fit their sector-specific interests. “This puts students and recruiters in the driver’s seat,” Howells says. “We offer courses on digital transformation, marketing, customer and market insights, value chain management, global economic analysis and more.”
There are also many new courses focused on digital competencies. According to Howells, recruiters said that they needed students who were comfortable with programming, coding and digital transformation. So, LBS developed a suite of courses around this technology—including FinTech—so that LBS MBA graduates are able to navigate the new digitally focused world.
Focusing on Practical Experience
In addition, LBS adjusted its courses to be more practically focused. “Just giving theory isn’t enough,” explains Howells. “Recruiters wanted students to have a more integrated and practical learning experience—pushing the dial from knowing to doing.”
To turn this practical focus into reality, LBS has added an on-the-ground London experience in year one. This new experience capitalizes on the school’s location to allow MBA students to undertake a business project with organizations around the city.
“Leveraging our London location is important,” says Howells. “London is a global finance leader as well as a great location for tech, finance, entrepreneurship and more. A lot of our projects will be drawn from all the sectors and students will be able to target the industry according to what they want to do.”
This experience is followed in year two by the global experiential experience. “Global is in our DNA. Ninety percent of our class is not from the UK,” says Howells. “We have over 70 different nationalities represented in our MBA program.” Recognizing this, LBS takes its MBA students on a global business experience to one of seven different locations around the world to learn in the local environment.
Flexible Scheduling
Flexibility in the length of the program was also important. “We wanted to give students the best possible chance of maximizing their career output,” he says. “So, we decided to offer multiple exit points for the MBA to offer students maximum flexibility.”
Too often, MBA students will complete an internship and be offered an immediate job with the company, and they want to start work sooner. Or, they find a job halfway through their second year and want to get a jump-start. With flexible 15-month, 18-month and 21-month exit points, each MBA student at LBS can choose what works best for them.
And LBS doesn’t make students choose their exit point at the start. They can change their schedule at any time and work with a counselor to determine what classes they need to complete to graduate when they want. “We put the student in the driver seat,” Howells notes. “We tell them what they need to do to achieve the exit time frame they want, but they have control over how they accomplish it.”
So far, the new program is being received well. LBS received more applications for their first class under the new design than in previous years, and Howells only expects that trend to continue.
“No one wants to be put in a box,” he says. “We provide opportunities for students to drive their learning journey. We’re giving them control.”
The Global MBA Experience at London Business School
One of the primary social impacts of increasing globalism is the sense that world feels like it’s shrinking. But for business, that means there are opportunities for expansion unlike ever before. As it has become easier than ever to communicate and work together across vast distances, so too has it become more likely for organizations to grow their businesses. And according to a recent YouGov Survey, globalization is still seen as a force for good rather than bad in the world.
“Unsurprisingly, the countries that are the biggest enthusiasts of globalization are the ones that have benefited most from it—the poorer nations of East and South East Asia,” it explains. “Here, belief that globalization is a force for good reaches at least 70 percent in all countries …”
For that reason, it has become more important than ever for MBAs to gain a global perspective of business while in school. Not only do MBAs with global experience better understand the impact of language, culture, traditions, government, legal structures and politics on business, but they’re also more likely to be able to make use of opportunities that international markets present.
The Global MBA Experience
So, what makes an MBA program global? There are a few factors that go into it including:
- Diversity of students and faculty.
- International orientation of curriculum and course material.
- Employment and recruitment opportunities for graduates.
- Reach of the alumni network.
- Location of the school.
- Partner programs.
Global MBA programs tend to offer a level of international exposure for students and faculty that is not often seen within a traditional, local MBA program. This means that group projects and discussions aren’t based on a single viewpoint but rather reference a variety of regions and countries. These programs also typically include opportunities for additional learning in another country through exchange programs or geographically diverse recruiting partners.
And there’s no hiding the fact that a Global MBA experience benefits both students and companies. McKinsey & Co. analysis shows that companies with a more diverse workforce perform better financially than respective national industry medians. Harvard Business Review recently wrote on the topic as well, saying, “by correlating diversity in leadership with market outcomes as reported by respondents, we learned that companies with 2-D diversity out-innovate and out-perform others.”
Global Business Experiences at London Business School
It’s for this reason and many others that the London Business School has made globalization a priority. Gareth Howells, the Executive Director of MBA & MIF Education, explained it this way. “At London Business School, being global is in our DNA and informs everything we do. By further expanding our reach through the expansion of our global menu, we believe we can ensure our graduates create value and impact all over the world. Global talent is an integral part of today’s workplace with everyone seeking to create success in a multicultural environment.”
Not only is the London Business School 2018 MBA class made up of 70 nationalities, but the school is also about to add even more of a global experience to its MBA program thanks to their Global Business Experiences (GBEs). Each GBE is a week long program that consists of faculty briefings, guest speakers, site visits, workshops, panels, company visits and opportunities to engage with local LBS alumni in each region.
The GBE program gives students the opportunity to apply their academic learning in a real-life, global business environment and ensures students have the skills to constantly evolve their global mind-set. The goal of the program is to help MBAs flourish outside of their comfort zones and to gain familiarity and experience working with classmates and within organizations from different cultures and industries around the world.
The best part about the GBE is that no program is the same. Each experience changes with the location and the organization hosting the experience. Starting this August, MBAs at the London Business School will:
- Experience two new regions for the GBEs including Lima and Tel Aviv.
- Have additional language opportunities: Italian and Japanese have been added to LBS’ existing provision of French, Mandarin, German, Russian, Portuguese, Arabic and Spanish.
- Increase their knowledge with the Global Business Practice course supporting students with cultural awareness.
GBE Student Experience
Below are two student testimonials about the Global Business Experience at LBS.
“What appealed to me was the fact that this GBE had a component where I was working with an entrepreneur,” explained Jenny Troung, a 2013 MBA student who visited South Africa. “This meant that what I was doing in those five days was related to what I had been learning in the previous year. We helped the entrepreneur with his accounting to figure out if it is more profitable to sell a chair compared to an ottoman. And that was real business insight that I had to apply from School.”
“My GBE in Johannesburg was life changing,” described Marie Milleron, a 2015 MBA student. “Whether it was helping our township entrepreneur with the little resources she had, or understanding the challenges of a developing economy with a heavy past, it was a unique time of personal growth and reflection.”
To learn more about the GBE program at London Business School, visit the school website.
