University of Oxford Säid Business School: MBA Student Interview
One of the best ways to learn about an MBA program is to talk to its students. We recently interviewed Avery Bang, a civil engineer, social entrepreneur and MBA student at the University of Oxford’s Säid Business School, to get her perspective on the Oxford business school experience.
Bang is the CEO of Bridges to Prosperity (B2P), a non-profit social enterprise that builds footbridges in developing countries. Her organization is also the focus of an upcoming motion picture Dream Big, which follows B2P’s efforts to build a bridge in Haiti. The film, which will be broadcast at IMAX cinemas across the U.S., aims to debunk engineering stereotypes and shine a light on social entrepreneurship.
In our interview with Bang, we asked her to speak about her experiences as an MBA student at Säid and how her educational experience there has impacted her career. Continue reading…
Anxiety Persists for MBAs Despite Court Rebuke of Immigration Ban
Last week, a three-member panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit refused the Trump administration’s call to reinstate a ban barring the entry of all refugees and visitors from seven predominantly Muslim countries into the United States. Although the case could still advance to the Supreme Court, yesterday’s ruling means that, for now, the executive order signed by President Donald Trump two weeks ago remains unenforceable.
That’s good news for international students from the affected countries, some of whom were detained at airports attempting to return to campus from overseas travel, others of whom were forced to cancel plans to leave the United States for fear they might not be allowed back in.
States Cite Harm to Higher Education as Major Reason for Opposing Ban
In affirming that the states of Washington and Minnesota had legal standing to bring the case against the immigration ban, the appellate judges specifically cited the ban’s injurious impact on the states’ public universities.
An excerpt from the ruling:
“Specifically, the States allege that the teaching and research missions of their universities are harmed by the Executive Order’s effect on their faculty and students who are nationals of the seven affected countries. These students and faculty cannot travel for research, academic collaboration, or for personal reasons, and their families abroad cannot visit. Some have been stranded outside the country, unable to return to the universities at all. The schools cannot consider attractive student candidates and cannot hire faculty from the seven affected countries, which they have done in the past.”
Citing the new court precedent, the judges argued that schools can assert the rights of their students. “The interests of the states’ universities here are aligned with the students. The students’ educational success is ‘inextricably bound up’ in the universities’ capacity to teach them,” the ruling says. “And the universities’ reputations depend on the success of their professors’ research.”
Of course, these concerns were not limited to public universities in the states of Washington and Minnesota. Indeed, as reported here, business schools around the nation were quick to decry the executive order on precisely those grounds. In the days immediately following Trump’s January 27 executive order, deans from Harvard Business School, UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, NYU Stern School of Business and Columbia Business School, among others, spoke out strongly in opposition to the immigration ban while pledging to support their own affected students.
Global Business Education Is Best Antidote to Economic Nationalism, Say Business School Deans
Earlier this week, the Global Network for Advanced Management, a group of 29 international business schools committed to advancing innovation through global exchange, issued a statement in opposition to the current rise of populism, economic nationalism and anti-globalization rhetoric, noting that the global economy is more interconnected than ever before, making global exchange and engagement more important than ever.
Excerpt from the Global Network letter:
“As deans of Global Network member schools, we recognize that the fundamental drivers of global business are not changing. Technology will continue to advance and disrupt markets and societies, and the transfer of innovations and expertise across borders will continue. We believe that countries that retrench will harm themselves and their citizens. Therefore, we redouble our commitment to collaborative learning across countries and cultures, and to gain and leverage the insights of the best and brightest throughout the world. In this way, we continue to improve educational outcomes and professional development of our students, deliver innovations that benefit business and society, and contribute to a better world.”
This letter carried the signatures of deans from Haas, HEC Paris, INSEAD, Oxford’s Saïd Business School and Yale School of Management, among many others.
In the wake of the executive order, Haas Dean Richard Lyons received a letter signed by more than 1,000 Haas MBA students requesting that he reach out to deans of other business schools to speak out jointly against the executive order. He responded early last week to the Haas community that he had done just that.
Heightened Anxiety Persists
Despite yesterday’s ruling, business schools have encouraged their international students to exercise caution with regard to planned travel outside of the United States. “The temporary restraining order, which halted the enforcement of certain provisions of President Trump’s executive order banning foreign nationals from seven countries from entering the U.S., remains in effect after a decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals,” read a notice posted today on the Harvard International Office (HIO) website. “Despite this ruling, the HIO continues to advise foreign nationals from the seven restricted countries (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen) to exercise caution and discuss any travel plans with their HIO Advisor when considering travel outside the United States.”
This is because future court rulings could reinstate the ban, in which case foreign nationals from those countries most likely would not be admitted or readmitted to the country.
Next Year’s International Enrollment at U.S. Business Schools in Question
It remains to be seen what type of impact this uncertainty may have on international enrollment at U.S. business school’s next year. As of this writing, most business schools we reached reported that, thus far, international application volume had not been impacted.
“International application volume in Round 2 was identical to last year,” says Haas Assistant Dean of the full-time MBA Program and Admissions Peter Johnson. “Since our Round 2 deadline was in early January, it was after the election and before the recent executive order. If there is any direct impact from these events, it will likely be seen in the enrollment patterns of admitted international students, in our program and in other MBA programs across the country.”
Concern about the current administration’s policies and their impact on international students has been widespread. “The uncertainty and anxiety surrounding changes in visa and immigration regulations is affecting all international students, not only those from the countries included in the recent executive order,” says Johnson. “We have had questions ranging from ‘Will this impact my chances of admission?’ to ‘Will I be able to do an internship in the U.S.?’”
Johnson confirmed that Haas has no plans to alter its admissions process and will continue to offer spaces in its class to top candidates regardless of their country of origin. “We are committed to maintaining a diverse and inclusive environment, and international students and faculty are an important part of our community and the educational experience of all students,” he pledged.
HBS Managing Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Chad Losee made a similar pledge in a post to his Director’s Blog earlier this week. In it, he reaffirmed the school’s commitment to assembling a diverse class of leaders who will make a difference in the world, wherever they come from. “The recent U.S. executive order restricting travel to America for citizens from certain countries does not change this, nor are we changing our admissions policy or practices as a result,” he wrote.
This article has been edited and republished with permissions from Clear Admit.
Which London Universities Educate the Most Global Business Elite?
Who educates the global business elite in the UK? According to the latest Times Higher Education Alma Mater Index 2017, three schools in London made it into the top thirty: the University of Oxford (14), University of Cambridge (20) and Imperial College London (29). Continue reading…
MBA Preview Day at Cranfield School of Management
January 14, 2017, kicks off the Cranfield MBA season with the first MBA Preview Day at the Cranfield School of Management. These Preview Days offer MBA candidates an opportunity to spend a whole day immersed in Cranfield’s culture and atmosphere. Attendees take part in a case study, attend a sample lecture, meet current students, learn from program directors, engage with the career development team, and make contact with alumni. It’s a full day experience that gives MBA candidates insight into anything and everything Cranfield.
MBA Preview Day Dates
The January 14th MBA Preview Day is just the first of the year. Seven more Preview Days will be held throughout 2017 starting with one every, other month and ending with one a month starting in September. The event dates are as follows:
- January 14, 2017
- March 4, 2017
- May 20, 2017
- July 22, 2017
- September 9, 2017
- October 14, 2017
- November 11, 2017
- December 2, 2017
Attending the Event
Attending an MBA Preview Day event is easy. The cost is free; all candidates have to do is get to the Cranfield University campus. The campus is located between London, Oxford and Cambridge, in the heart of the UK. Parking on campus is also free, and the distance from the London Luton Airport is only 22 miles.
As for staying overnight, MBA candidates from out of town can book en suite accommodation on the campus for easy walking distance to all lecture rooms and facilities. To make an inquiry about booking, contact the Cranfield Management Development Centre.
Who Should Attend?
Anyone interested in earning an MBA from the Cranfield School of Management is welcome to attend. It’s most recommended for potential MBA candidates who desire an on-campus experience that replicates a day-in-the-life of a Cranfield MBA. The day will provide attendees with a much more in-depth look at the full-time and part-time MBA programs compared to what’s available online or in the brochure.
To register to attend an MBA Preview Day and to learn more, visit the website.
Professor to Know: Alex Edmans, London Business School
There’s one thing that every top business school around the world has in common: impressive faculty. That’s because MBA programs know that their offerings are only as exceptional as their professors, and that’s definitely the case at the London Business School.
Faculty at LBS are at the forefront of innovative business thinking. They’re influential business leaders, managers and policy makers who conduct world-class research and teach topnotch courses. In fact, according to a recent review published in 2014, London Business School received a top four rating for its research performance. And there’s no better representation of LBS’s faculty than finance professor Alex Edmans.
About Professor Alex Edmans
Professor Edmans graduated from Oxford University in 2001 with his bachelor’s degree in Economics and Management. From there, he pursued a career at Morgan Stanley working in investment banking and fixed income sales and trading. Then, a few years later in 2003, he went back to school to receive his Ph.D. in Finance from MIT Sloan as a Fulbright Scholar. In 2007, he became a professor at Wharton, earning his tenure by 2013 before moving to LBS. And, so far, Professor Edmans’ teaching career has been prestigious.
Over the past six years, he’s won 14 teaching awards. At Wharton, he was the highest-rated finance professor in the MBA program before his departure and was even chosen as the Faculty Graduation Speaker to the MBA class of 2014. And then, just this year at LBS, he was given the MBA Class of 2016 teaching award for the highest-rated professor school-wide and the Best Teacher: MBA 2016 award.
Outside of his exceptional teaching, Alex Edmans is a prolific researcher, blogger and Twitter user (you can follow him @aedmans). His blog, Access to Finance, covers a variety of topics and excels at making finance research available to anyone and everyone. It’s written for people with a non-finance background who might not normally be interested in finance but want to stay on top of current trends and events.
As for Edmans’ research, his most recent publication was published in the Journal of Financial Economics on October 27, 2016. Titled “The Source of Information in Prices and Investment-Price Sensitivity,” it discusses the value of financial markets to the real economy. Other research topics have included “Equity Vesting and Investment,” “Blockholders” and “Governing Multiple Firms.”
As you can see by just the most basic facts, Alex Edmans isn’t an ordinary professor. But that’s just the surface. We wanted to get to know Professor Edmans, so we asked him five questions about his life and work as a faculty member at the London Business School.
- What do you love most about teaching at the London Business School?
I really enjoy the diversity of the student body—not just nationalities, but also educational and career backgrounds. This brings lots of different perspectives to class.
I also enjoy the fact that I teach core courses. It’s easy to teach an elective since students have self-selected into the class, so you know they’ll like it. The core is challenging because I teach students who may not like finance, may even be scared of finance, and only take it because they have to. I like this challenge. It means that I have to make finance interesting and accessible, and hopefully, students end up enjoying the class even if they dreaded it to start with.
- What do you hope students take away from your research, teaching, and speaking?
Teaching: I would like students to be able to think for themselves and understand the intuition behind the concepts, which they can apply to any real-world situation—rather than just knowing the formulas that they can plug numbers into in order to solve an exam problem.
Research: The importance of large-scale, rigorous, academic research in a world where policy is increasingly formed on anecdote or myth. That “academic” research isn’t irrelevant but has substantial relevance for the real world.
Speaking: I give a number of talks on personal leadership, not just finance. I would like students to choose careers that are personally fulfilling, rather than just the career that happens to be hot at the moment. And I would like students to be mentally present in everything they do, not just physically present.
- In an era where corporate responsibility is becoming more important than ever, what do MBAs need to know and keep in mind?
That companies should do things for intrinsic and not instrumental value—even if there is no clear profit benefit for an action. This applies to your personal life too—to help a classmate even if you don’t clearly benefit from it, or learn something even if it won’t be on the exam.
- Which of your blogs would you most recommend for MBAs to read?
My blog, Access To Finance, aims to make finance accessible to a general audience by taking complex academic papers, or topical issues (such as Brexit or the current debate on executive pay), and making them simple. Which articles in the blog to read depends on the MBA’s interest, and so it’s hard for me to recommend some over others. My Twitter feed @aedmans also aims to showcase simple, accessible articles on real world finance.
I would also recommend two talks that I gave which may be of particular interest to MBAs. One is my TEDx talk, “The Social Responsibility of Business”, on the business case for sustainability, and the other is “Fulfilling Careers and Full Lives”, the final lecture of my MBA course, which is similar to a graduation speech in that it provides general advice for how MBAs can make the most of their talents and opportunities to serve society, but aims to do so in a concrete and actionable rather than sugary and saccharine way.
- What makes your teaching/classes different at LBS?
In every class, I have an “extra-curricular break,” which takes a complex academic paper with real-world relevance and makes it accessible for a practitioner. Indeed, my blog spun out of these extra-curricular breaks.
- While a core class is theoretical and rigorous, I always try to emphasize the evidence to the real world, drawing from my own practitioner and policy experience.
- I cold-call students. This is absolutely not to scare them, but to keep the class interactive and the students engaged, and to give the students practice in solving problems themselves, rather than just following someone else. It also ensures the pace of the class is not dictated by the students with finance backgrounds; cold-calling means that a broad set of students end up contributing.
- I play music before class and during the breaks, and dress down. This is absolutely not intended to be a gimmick. Instead, it is to conduct class in as relaxed an atmosphere as possible, to make students relaxed about asking questions and not be afraid to be cold-called. The music aims to bring energy to the class, which is particularly important when studying finance at 8:15 am on Monday morning!
5 Best Finance MBAs London
London’s economy is built upon finance. In fact, the city is considered the world’s leading financial centeer. It’s the largest financial exporter in the world, and the city is home to exchanges, banks, brokers, investment managers, pension funds, hedge funds, insurance companies and more crucial financial positions. It’s also an important center of international finance, being home to the Bank of England—the second oldest central bank in the world. And in 2009, London handled 36.7 percent of global currency transactions.
So, there’s no doubt that London is a great place to live, work and gain an education if the finance industry is your preference. But how do you join the 315,200 people who work in London’s financial services sector? First, it’s about finding the right school for your education.
London has a variety of schools that offer an exceptional Finance MBA program. We’ve outlined the top five below along with why we think each program stands out in the crowd. Continue reading…
