August 17, 2009

Carey School launches Global MBA

The goal of the program is to educate students to think critically, act ethically and comprehend issues in a global context.

Innovative program unlike the traditional model

At the dedication ceremony of the Carey Business School in 2008, inaugural Dean Yash Gupta laid out his vision to produce a new breed of world-savvy business leaders who possessed a fundamental professional acumen, critical cross-disciplinary knowledge and a strong sense of values.

Gupta in his speech said that Carey Business School students would become catalysts for change, advancing innovation and helping the world, whether it’s bringing new technology to the marketplace or fighting poverty and environmental degradation.

A major piece of Gupta’s vision is now in place.

In fall 2010, the school will welcome the charter class to its innovative Global MBA program, which breaks away from the long-standing technique-based model.

The two-year, full-time program will feature a curriculum designed to be global in perspective and interdisciplinary in orientation and emphasis. The Global MBA will draw upon Johns Hopkins’ strengths in science and research as the Carey School plans to collaborate with the university’s other academic divisions on curriculum development and as resources for experiential learning.

The goal of the program, which is currently accepting applications, is to educate students to think critically, act ethically and comprehend issues in a global context. It falls in line with the motto that the school crafted for itself: “Where business is taught with humanity in mind.”

“Business is about people,” Gupta said. “You sell to people, you employ people, you deal with people. So we will ask, How do we manage people? This unique program will also build and cultivate among its students a sense of empathy. If you don’t have a good feel for people, how will you inspire them, hire them or sell to them?”

Gupta said that the program is unlike any other full-time MBA offered in the United States today.

The Carey Business School will continue to offer its full-time MBA/Master of Public Health and part-time MBA programs.

Dipankar Chakravarti, vice dean for programs at the Carey School, said that the creation of the Global MBA Program is a timely response to the prevailing belief in the academic and business communities that existing models of business education are not working as well as they should.

“There have been complaints that today’s business school graduates are not prepared for management, and that the programs themselves have limited focus on values, ethics and a sense of professionalism. These topics are not stressed sufficiently and, in large part, we are not producing whole people: strong managers who can reach out and provide a human face to an organization.”

Global MBA students will be taught “the standard business toolbox,” Chakravarti said, and also will receive team-based immersion in real-world business challenges. Students will take part in a one-year discovery-to-market project. For example, they might work with Johns Hopkins scientists on how to translate their work for the marketplace.

“We can use Johns Hopkins science to create new innovations, new kinds of companies,” Chakravarti said. “That is why we believe that a Johns Hopkins business school has a tremendous advantage in developing a program like this. Students will have the benefit of our experience in medicine, engineering, nursing, public health and policy studies.”

“If our students are to be effective in the businesses of tomorrow, they need to know what these issues are,” Gupta said.

He said they will learn to work in low-resource countries with inadequate infrastructures. “I call them messy systems. What if you’re trying to set up a business in a country that has no real banking or legal system? Our students will learn not only how to confront these situations but also to be part of the solution.”

The program will be taught by full-time faculty and research professionals, recruited with the Global MBA in mind, in cooperation with industry experts.

The charter class is targeted to include 80 students who are highly diverse in character, cultural background and life experience, Chakravarti said. Admission will be offered to both recent college graduates, from across disciplines, and career-experienced professionals. The school expects to enroll a significant number of non-U.S. citizens, roughly half the class.

“This program will be highly selective,” Chakravarti said. “Our students will be creative, entrepreneurial and talented.”

To promote the Global MBA, the school will roll out a substantial, multimedia marketing campaign in October and will participate in organized student recruiting events in major cities in the United States and around the world.

Chakravarti said that the students who go through the program will likely go on to work for large, global corporations or start their own companies in the United States or abroad.

“Wherever they go, we want our graduates to make a difference in people’s lives,” he said.