Менеджеры и менеджмент (Executives and Management) - 53 стр.

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2. Which national group considers communication and interpersonal skills to be more important – the Brit-
ish or the Dutch?
3. According to Andre Laurent, German, British and French managers see organisations as different kinds
of networks. What words does he use to define these networks in each case?
T a s k 6. Before you read discuss these questions.
1. What do the letters MBA stand for?
2. In your country how important is it to have an MBA to succeed in management?
3. Do you know many people who have an MBA, or who are studying or plan to study for one? Are you
one of them? What are the reasons for doing so?
What do employers say?
Getting an MBA is one thing. Getting employers to take it seriously is another. MBAs have not tradition-
ally commanded the same respect in the UK as in the US, but an increasing number of UK employers are now
taking them very seriously indeed.
None more so than top management consulting firm McKinsey. Of its 260 London consultants, around half
have MBAs. The company actively recruits 30 – 40 people a year from major business schools, such as IN-
SEAD in France, Harvard and Stanford in the US, and London Business School and Manchester in the UK. It
spends around £1 million a year sponsoring its
25 – 30 graduate recruits to complete full-time MBAs at the same institutions.
'Essentially we see an MBA as a short cut to business experience', says Julian Sea-ward, head of recruit-
ment for McKinsey's London Office. 'It enriches people with a lot of management theory, and perhaps a bit of
jargon thrown in.'
However, the company still prefers MBAs gained abroad. With a longer established reputation in the US,
business schools there still have the edge in attracting candidates, while INSEAD has positioned itself as an in-
ternational school with a cosmopolitan faculty and student body.
'The networking and experience of other cultures is very useful as a lot of our clients are global', says Sea-
ward. Nevertheless, McKinsey is actively raising its profile over here with a recently-launched scheme offering
external candidates sponsor-ship through a United Kingdom MBA with a guaranteed job afterwards.
With a £50,000 Harvard MBA, McKinsey knows how attractive its staff are to other employers. Those who
wish to leave within two years have to repay their sponsorship, but Seaward believes the staff development
strategy has a good return rate. 'We look for people to develop a long-term career with us, not just an analyst
job for a couple of years, and reward high achievers with good salaries and opportunities.'
Equally convinced of the value of MBAs is direct marketing company Ogilvy One Worldwide, which re-
cently established an MBA bursary for staff members. Chairman Nigel Howlett believes the MBA's formal
education in analytical skills and constructing solutions provides a very useful training, producing people who
have a good overview of business issues rather than a concern for details.
The company is currently undertaking an evaluation of the best UK schools in which to invest their bur-
sary. With the recent big increase in the number of institutions offering MBAs, Howlett is concerned that not all
MBAs are equal. 'There are clear differences in terms of quality.'
But not every company favours MBAs. In the early 1990s, Shell actually abandoned its own MBA course
at Henley when it realised it was not producing graduates who fitted the jobs for which they were destined.
'We're slightly ambivalent towards MBAs,' says Andy Gibb, Shell's head of global recruitment. 'A lot of
Shell's work is technical, while MBAs from leading schools are pitched at a more strategic level. It can be frus-
trating and unnecessary to be trained for strategic thinking, when the job you're moving into is not really suited
to that. We would rather focus them on technical leadership.'
Companies like chartered accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers take a more middle-of-the-road approach.
While it does not actively target MBAs or recruit them directly from business schools, a growing proportion of
its senior consultants have got them, and it is increasingly on the lookout for MBA graduates.
'Our business is changing from audit and tax management more into consultancy roles,' says UK recruit-
ment partner Keith Bell. 'MBAs do bring a breadth of vision to the business problem rather than a narrow
viewpoint, and that can be an advantage.

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