MID-career MBA could be the making of tech leaders: INSEAD

06th January 2013
MID-career MBA could be  the making of tech leaders: INSEAD

Bangalore, January 7 2012:  While an MBA degree is now  recognized as a key component  to enhance    Information Technology   opportunities, not many institutions offer   MBA options  that make sense at mid  career level – or after a few years in the industry. This is a period  when many aspirants to the MBA accolade  hope to move from  field or lab work to management positions – or if they are more ambitious, to  new leadership or entrepreneur  roles. 

The MBA and  Executive MBA (EMBA)  degrees  offered by the  multi campus ( France, Abu Dhabi and Singapore) INSEAD Business School  have a special focus on this  need, explained  V ( “Paddy”) Padmanabhan, Professor of  Marketing and the John H Loudon Chaired  Professor of International Management, INSEAD during a recent visit to India.

He was  part of the faculty  of experts at the  2nd India Business Dialogue held in Bangalore, late last year – an event that in many ways exemplified the way in which INSEAD seeks to differentiate itself from dozens of  global MBA programmes.   The dialogue was as part of  INSEAD’s Leadership Programme for Indian Executives, a regular curriculum  outreach designed to   strengthen and advance the leadership skills of  middle level professionals.  Global knowledge, filtered through local experience – that seemed to be the formula  that INSEAD   suggested for success.

INSEAD’s  standard MBA is targeted at executives of 5 years working experience looking to develop their leadership potential. The EMBA is for those of around 12 years work experience with at least 3 years of management experience looking to further their leadership skills.

Students who enrol in INSEAD’s  MBA or EMBA  progammes in India ( typically employed professionals)   are able  to apply their learning in their own jobs, then  network with their peers and mentors  through web conferences, before taking the final tests either at Abu  Dhabi or at Singapore, Paddy explained in the course of a special briefing for IndiaTechOnline.

INSEAD’s faculty of nearly 150 is spread across 35 nationalities, making for a rich diversity of talent – and a 45,000 strong alumni account for over 1000 participants every year for MBA , some 2000-plus for EMBA and around 80 PhD programmes.

India has multiple institutes that award MBAs both through full time campus courses as well as accelerated 1-year MBAs. But INSEAD’s increasing popularity and its successful stress on developing leadership was evident at events like the Bangalore Business dialogue, where many successful entrepreneurs shared their experience in candid and egoless interactive sessions.