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Darry Marengere Perspectiv e

From company wo/man to rugged individualist

2012-01-06

Canadian MBA programs adapt to new economic order

WHEN I began attending the full-time MBA program at the University of Calgary in 1992 I thought I'd meet a
bunch of people similar to the character portrayed by Michael J. Fox in the TV sitcom Family Ties: "You just can't find a good mutual fund anymore!" What I found were a bunch of conformists with stodgy careers who would do absolutely whatever they were told, and preferably if someone else in their work group would do it for them. They just wanted to get through and graduate so they could be part of the 1990 statistic that said: 89 per cent placement rate at $80K. It didn't turn out that way for us. By 1994 we were becoming aware that the 1991 recession was a "global economic restructuring." As well, I was the first clinician to enter graduate business school in southern Alberta. By 1996 there were about half a dozen of us. Then again, I've been first to do many things, which is why I can talk about entrepreneurship today, or more accurately, its orientation. A University of Waterloo student named Rafaeel Akbar Chaudhry posted a story on their MBA school's blog (http://www.conrad.uwaterloo.ca/uncategorized/whats-mbet-all-about? utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=whats-mbet-all-about) today describing the university's graduate business program called Master of Business, Entrepreneurship, and Technology. Mr. Chaudhry contrasts in detail traditional MBA programs with those who prepare graduates for entrepreneurship. Many Canadian business schools are making this change, I assume, in order to accommodate the fact that today new commerce tends to be created by new ventures taking risks rather than by big, old, established, companies through tedious planning. He wrote: Personally, I always hated MBA for the reason that case studies and structured thinking encourage you to take fewer risks. Traditional case study teachings are more focused onto existing things and want to prepare MBA students for successful corporate careers. However, the best thing about MBET is that we are more focused towards future and startups, and take calculated risks in the process. Using Stefan Gladbach and Sean Patrick Sassmannshausen's philosophy, I would differentiate MBET and MBA as follows: Traditional MBA
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MBET
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Endorsement for membership-

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Darry Marengere Perspectiv e

Endorsement for membershipculture Concentration on group dynamics and group communication Developing general, conceptual rules and models Based on the development of selfawareness by focusing on adaptability Achievement of know-how focusing on how to manage given resources

Endorsement for leadership-culture Concentration on individual enhancements Developing precise and special rules and models Based on the development of self-awareness by focusing on persistency Achievement of know-how focusing on how to gain resources and how to assign markets

Mr. Chaudhry then further elaborates with the following: Differences between classical didactic, used in MBA, and didactic for MBET Dynamic learning through teacher, student, Teacher-centered learning guest lecturer, practitioner, etc. Learning through writings: textbooks, journals, etc. Student as passive participant: learning through listening Learning through given contents Learning for solving problems which appear in the future Imitation unrequested Failure unrequested Learning through exchange of ideas Student as active participant: learning through interaction Learning through discovery and a flexible environment Learning for achieving goals Learning through imitation Learning through failure; failure as chance to learn

and concludes by stating: MBET Alumni have created around three dozen in companies in last few years and 75 per cent of the graduates work on their own ventures after graduation [sic]. [T]he best learning resource are the fellow MBET students. Everyone of them has a dream. Everyone amongst them wants to be a successful and have leadership qualities. Majority of them come from different cultures and there are a lot of misconceptions about things. Working in such a multicultural environment opens your eyes, makes you tolerant and prepares you for the real world experience. All together these MBETers know what they want and work really hard for it. There are still six months to go, still lots to learn and many more disagreements amongst team members to look forward to. I hope all of us survive and make the time spent together worth cherishable for the rest of our lives.
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Darry Marengere Perspectiv e

The Year of the Entrepreneur as proclaimed by the Harper government may have ended a week ago but a lifetime of challenge, excitement, and maybe even a few struggles and thrills awaits these soon-to-be graduates. You're interested in entrepreneurship but too old to take in an excellent program such as this, you say? How old will you be a few years from now if you don't go?

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