The Royal Holloway 2012 Cohort - Who we are ?

Royal Holloway Founders building seen through Windsor windows

Once again our MBA course has been highly attractive to students from all over the world. The 2012/13 cohort of 35 (pictured above) has grown 20% on the previous year, in spite of a 30% reduction in applications. Changes to the post study work visa arrangements have seen applications drop off significantly from India, a historically strong market. Early anecdotal evidence shows that Royal Holloway MBA has been successful at attracting more, high caliber students whilst many institutions have seen their programme enrolments reduce.  

The gender balance is fairly even with 54% women and 46% men, wholly appropriate for a College that is proud of its historical origins as a Victorian ladies college. This is an important and unusual feature of the Royal Holloway MBA programme. At other leading UK MBA programmes and as seen with AMBA accredited Universities data the MBA gender breakdown usually sees around a 70% male and 30% female blend, indicating that the MBA is often a more masculine dominated course. AACSB, another global programme accreditation body, shows parity across the sexes when looking at all masters degrees.

Our students' varied business backgrounds

An essential entry requirement is extensive work experience, again the sheer variety evidenced in the MBA work profiles is very impressive. It includes; digital marketing, project management, IT, banking, insurance, finance, accounting, aviation, NGO (United Nations) administrative, entrepreneurial, charities, beverages brand manager and Disneyland.

Royal Holloway is proud of its AMBA accreditation which requires MBA students to have at least three years postgraduate work experience. This experience will come to bear towards the end of their year-long programme when they are required to work in groups as management consultants and recommend a viable solution to a real business problem set by one of our industry partners.

Where do our students come from?

The 35 students hail from 21 different countries; USA, UK, Bermuda, India, Russia, Senegal, South Korea, South Africa, China, Japan, Colombia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, Turkey, Latvia, Israel, Canada, and Mexico providing a truly international learning experience. It is believed that this is the first time all of the populated continents of the world have been represented on the full time Royal Holloway MBA.

The Royal Holloway MBA 2012/13 Cohort - Where do they come from ?

 

 

Mind the Gender Gap: MBA Parity at Royal Holloway, University of London

The Pareto Effect, the ratio of 80 to 20 has an unusual prevalence in describing customers and revenue share, and often this numerical rule of thumb becomes etched firmly in the minds of many Business School graduates.  However, in the world of gender breakdowns for MBAs the special number appears to be 70:30.   In 2011/12 the AMBA (one of the leading MBA accrediting bodies) statistics for UK MBA programmes suggested a 70% male, 30% female gender breakdown. 

The Economist Which MBA ? survey for 2011/12 full time programmes showed that the majority of leading UK Univeristies had female MBA gender per centage balances in the twenties.  Just three had around a third women and just one with 45%.  AACSB (another global accreditation body for Universities with a strong US base) data shows that overall masters programmes have an even spilt of the sexes, thus pointing at the MBA as being perculiarly more popular with men globally.

Thirty percent seems to be a magic number - with this FT.com blog entry flagging that a number of world leading MBA institutions targeting this level, and suggesting that exceeding this level was problematic.

Perhaps because Royal Holloway has a human scale campus or because of its proud Victorian heritage as the UK's second Higher Education institution for women, whatever the reason for a second year running equality very much rules on The Royal Holloway MBA, with both a growth in total numbers and also an increase in the female gender share, with now a small majority (54%) of the MBA class of 2012/13. 

When interviewing prospective MBA candidates the question of gender and nationality split is often raised.  According to Justin O'Brien, MBA Director at Royal Holloway "From my interaction with applicants it seems females, in particular, are perhaps keen not to be be signing up for a year long experience to find themselves in a tiny minority and are often pleasantly surprised to learn of the close to parity gender split on The Royal Holloway MBA." 

Once again the RHUL MBA demonstrates its truly international credentials with a highly diverse cohort of over 35 candidates hailing from 21 different countries.  One of the attractions of this MBA programme is the opportunity to study for the MBA in a truly multi-cultural context, with extensive opportunities to learn about a wide range of global cultures. 

Olympic Sponsorship reflections during BT Tower visit for Royal Holloway MBA's

 

Royal Holloway MBA candidates treated to a contemporary reflection of BT's highly successful involvement in the London 2012 Olympic games. 

Rob Thomas, Director of Cost Transformation, BT Wholesale hosted an International MBA seminar exclusively for the Royal Holloway MBA 2012/13 group in October 2012.  The timing and theme selected could not have been better, as the highly successful Para and Olympic games has just drawn to a close, giving a number of senior BT business leaders a chance to reflect on their organisations involvement.

The Royal Holloway MBA 2012/13 cohort and academic staff at the BT Tower

The seminar took place at BT’s premises in London - the iconic BT Tower.  In addition to Rob Thomas, other key BT speakers included; Mick Wayman, BT Managing Director, London 2012 Programme, Lee Hamill, BT Brand/CSR, Marketing Lead and Mark Wilson-Dunn, Global Sales and Marketing Director, BT Media & Broadcast.  The invitation to host a group of MBA students was extra-ordinary, the BT Tower is closed to the public and usually reserved for hosting important customers and hosting the ocassional high profile charity event.

Presentations given covered BT’s involvement in the Olympic & Paralympic games providing key insights into the company’s role as a key service provider in delivering the most connected games ever - responsible for carrying every call and every TV picture transmitted.  Thanks to BT, London 2012 was the most connected Olympic games ever, with 27 live streamed web channels. 

 A special lunch was provided in the restaurant at the top of the BT tower providing spectacular views over the whole of London, along with the exclusive opportunity for our MBA’s to network with the key speakers.  Students spent time orienting themselves, spotting the gerkin in City, the shard at London Bridge, Canary Wharf, the Emirates, Wembley and the Olympic park, of course were also visible, thanks to a reasonably cloudless day.  The University of London's main campus and iconic Senate house building were close by and easy to view.

Several areas key to the MBA syllabus were covered during the highly engaging and interactive sessions, including; operations, marketing, HR and strategy, providing our MBA’s with highly valuable insights from BT. The dedication and commitment shown by all BT staff throughout the games was made evident and served to inspire our own MBA’s as to how to lead and motivate people that they may manage in their future roles.

Each seminar ended with ‘Lesson for the future’ and a highly engaging Q&A session between the speakers and our MBA’s. The event was deemed highly successful by both parties.  Justin O'Brien, MBA Director at Royal Holloway, stated "This was a brilliant opportunity for our international group of MBA students to engage with one of UK's leading companies and to focus on their successful involvement with a highly current and enormously impactful Olympic games."

 

Interesting fact: The BT Tower was completed in 1964, though until 1993 the building was officially a secret and did not even feature on official maps. Public access to the building ceased in 1981 and the building was awarded Grade II listed building status in 2003.  It is one of the seven largest global television hubs and place a crucial role in distributing audiovisual programming worldwide.

 

 

Special thanks to:  Sonya Murrell for text copy and Rix Cao for the images.

Why study for the Royal Holloway MBA ?

Royal Holloway MBA 2011/12 students at the end of their programme talking frankly about why they wanted to study for the MBA. 

Reasons to study for an MBA ?

Why study for an MBA ? 

As academic Director for the prestigious Royal Holloway MBA this is a question I get asked quite a lot.  Glass ceiling ?  Change of direction ?  Broadening in preparation for a C-suite role ?

High Flyer ?

The School of Managements dedicated MBA careers advisor asked the MBA group exactly this question "Why study for an MBA ?" and this is what he got in response, graphically displayed using the highly visual www.wordle.net word cloud application.  The simple to use web tool strips out common words from a body of text and displays duplicated words in proportion to the number of mentions, essentially the more mentions, the larger the word.

The careers advisor team was awarded a rare teaching, recognising the Royal Holloway careers team innovation of designing and delivering a day long assessment centre experience for 200 post graduate students which saw MBA students role play recruiting line managers in a very realistic range of selection exercises that included a one-to-one interview and group discussion exercise.

Why study for an MBA ? Happiness, personal growth & thinking differently

Analysis of the MBA cohorts feedback on why they had chosen to to study for an MBA was summarised thus:

• Desire to buy into the MBA brand

• Learning theory from experts

• Worried about reaching the glass ceiling in their corporation – wanting the keys to the Exec toilets

• Build credibility· Share an international collective learning experience

• Seeking a return on investment – salaries in some countries can triple if you have a MBA

• Change of lifestyle / career break

• Set up a new business

• Making new friends & learning about new cultures

•  Career development, industry exposure & networking

• Personal growth & happiness

• Making a difference

• Turning dreams into reality

•  Learn leadership and management skills

• Learning to think differently

What differentiates Royal Holloway's MBA ?

The  Royal Holloway University of London offers a very appealing MBA programme with the following key differentiators;

• Interactive learning that draws on academic expertise and extensive peer industry experience

• Week long cross-cultural study tour to a European city

Leafy campus

• Quiet leafy campus, allowing concentration on studies, but easy access to central London for rich cultural and social entertainment options

• Highly diverse cohort - one of the UK leaders for diversity - wide range nationalities, business experience and gender balance (rare on MBA)
  
  
• Quality assurance signified by AMBA (Association of MBAs) accreditation

• Strong MBA identity and extensive formal and social interactions allows profound friendships to develop and long lasting network creation

Culturally diverse

• End of programme live business consultancy challenge, (real business, real question) putting theory into practise by demonstrating group problem solving

• Skill development in the context of multi-facetted business engagement, with a range of interesting companies


• Growing alumni networks around the world, particularly useful for internationally oriented careers

• Strong international reputation for critical and international research, challenging examination of theory

Networking in action

• Industry speakers, professional body events, business engagement exercises and company visits offered across the year

Stunning campus environment

• Royal Holloway is a friendly and safe mid-sized campus university, its human scale allows you to feel part of things very quickly

• The School of Management has a leading international research reputation that supports the global resonance of the University of London brand – nobody asks “Where is that ?”

Dynamic student group

• Study at a very modern, dynamic business school located in the heart of a beautiful and clean campus, with a long heritage as a place of higher level learning that dates back to Queen Victoria. Offers a big wow factor for visiting family members and friends

• Stimulating and life changing learning within a boutique sized, highly international and diverse peer group of experienced professionals drawn from a wide industry base. Experience extensive in class interactions in intimate MBA only classes where you can really get to know the professors and develop MBA friends-for-life

Alumni experience sharing

• Theme based modules allow wider, deeper and more integrated learning approaches without the anxiety and pressure that can come from a battery of functionally silo oriented examinations

HP company visit, Sweden

• The integrative week long international study visit (to a major European city) provides a powerful cross-cultural perspective on management learning

Business networking

• Extensive opportunities for business engagement with a range of company visits, guest speakers, experiential learning and practical assignments. Lots of theory, but complemented by opportunities to apply new ideas and ways of thinking

• A powerful mentor offer that is coordinated through the alumni team

• The college liberal arts heritage is integrated into enrichment activities, including elements from drama and history academics as well as a wide range of campus community events, activities, clubs and associations 

Drama class

• Innovative, bespoke professional development programme supported by dedicated MBA careers advisor

• Accreditation by the only widely recognized specialist MBA quality body, AMBA. Be confident that your MBA programme stands up to regular, independent quality assurance auditing

MBA Graduation 2012

Tina Maratilova and Justin O'Brien, RHUL MBA graduation 2012

As you will have noticed, I am not a keen self-publicist & do not often choose to put up photos of yours truly up on this blog.  However, thanks kindly to shared photos from Tina Maratilova (pictured to my left), who graduated at this summers Royal Holloway MBA ceremony on campus, I have a couple of photos to share that give a little sense of the pride graduates have during these festivities.  

I always enjoy seeing the happy, smiling faces of former students who are often celebrating their success with close family members.  It is also great to hear how everyone is getting on, about their new jobs and promotions.


Royal Holloway Distance Learning MBA/MSc students are given the choice of  graduating either at one of the two central London University of London ceremonies or joining with other School of Management post graduates in the stunning Founders building.  I still get tingly feelings down my back as part of the academic parade, we lead students through the amazing picture gallery and into the stunning golden chapel, where the graduates are formally presented with their awards.

Royal Holloway chapel

This year as part of a team working with Dr Romano Dyerson and Chris Howorth, we were awarded a prestigious team teaching prize for the innovative business engagement consultancy we undertook with the campus MBA students and Thorpe Park. 

The photo on the left shows the College Principal, Professor Paul Layzell presenting the award, which now hangs proudly on my office wall.

Egham Plenary 2012 Introduction Week

The last week in June 2012 saw the traditional 'plenary' (coming together) of distance learning students from the Royal Holloway, University of London MSc and MBA International Management programme.  Week 1 is designed for students to benefit from an introduction to the College (this year they stayed in student dorms that transformed into an Olympic Rowing village the day after), to experience first hand some academic lectures from the teaching team, to engage with a variety of businesses and most importantly to build a wide range of friendships with fellow students from around the world.

A number of highly innovative business engagements were trialled for the first time on the Distance Learning programme, a visit to a leading amusement park and a Q&A session with the whole board of successful UK manufacturing company. 

Students spent a day at Thorpe Park, (owned by global #2 Merlin Group), an amusement park that positions itself as the thrills capital of UK targeting teenagers and young adults with a range of wet and wild roller coasters, fast food franchises and traditional amusements.  Having experienced some of the more extreme rides in the morning plenary participants spent the afternoon engaging with two members of the parks management team, challenged with coming up with ideas to recommend solutions to three key strategic questions. 

Having run a successful AGM in Founders board room the nine strong board of directors of Norman Hay plc (an innovative UK based international manufacturing company that specialises in coatings processes) joined the plenary participants for a challenging interaction that invited student groups to make recommendations on how the company should invest for continued growth.  With a wide range of industrial experience and drawn from markets all around the world the student groups were able to provide Peter Hay, Chairman of the group, and the board of directors with a number of salient recommendations. 

Students combine busy family lives, usually working full time with a distance learning regime that relies on high levels of self-motivation.  The opportunity to network with others, to make friends and to enjoy some social time is often cited as a highlight of the learning experience.  The programme seeks to offer a variety of evening activities that this year included a visit to a traditional student pub, the chance to undertake some tourism in London, a Thames boat trip, a cricket club BBQ and a formal black tie gala dinner. 

Plenary 1 - Royal Holloway, University of London

Student reactions after the Royal Holloway, University of London MBA and MSc International Management plenary week 1 (residential summer school) held in June 2011 at the Egham campus.

2011 MBA and MSc International Management Distance Learning cohort

In what was very much a team effort, staff at the School of Management pitched in to ensure that a record number 113 delegates at this year's Egham plenary had a highly engaging and rewarding experience. These two-week plenary sessions allow students on the distance learning MBA/MSc International Management course to meet face-to-face with academic staff and other students in an intensive programme of master classes, group projects and social events.
The ever popular Thames boat trip was reinstated, plus the formal dinner in Founder's Picture Gallery saw arts marketing specialist Dr Derrick Chong share some historical insights into its £30 million Victorian art collection. Following participant feedback, more emphasis this year was put on engaging with industry speakers. Oral feedback suggested that 2011 was a significant improvement on the 2009 and 2010 sessions.

"Plenary 2011 - for me the second truly amazing time in Egham! It was a week filled with interesting research, hard work and great presentations. But maybe the best part was connecting with interesting people from all parts of the world in an ambience of great academic heritage and beautiful nature. Comparing week one in 2010 to week two in 2011 one could feel that the organisers are pushing hard to make this experience even better."
L. Schaper, Germany

MBA Sweden study visit 2012

Royal Holloway MBA International Study Visit to Stockholm University Business School

Detailed photo itinerary is contained below:

In Pictures

In News

On Twitter - ‪#rhulMBA2012

 ‬The following copy and images are provided thanks to Dr Sigrun M Wagner.
 

This year’s MBA cohort (2011-2012) went on a study trip to Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, after the end of their exam period and before their final group assignment (life consultancy case with Conti) and dissertation. They were accompanied by alumni relations officer Fiona Redding as organiser and teaching fellow Dr Sigrun Wagner from the academic staff.

The visit included three company visits, two guest lectures at Stockholm University Business School (SUBS), a boat trip on Stockholm’s canals, some free time and organised dinners including the final dinner with students and staff from SUBS’ executive MBAs. The following offers an insight to the trip with the help of pictures.

We had a cold start at the RHUL bus stop on Monday morning, waiting for the bus to Heathrow.

In Stockholm we arrived into beautiful sunshine – a yellow bus was waiting for us to take us to our hotel, Mornington hotel in Nybrogatan.

The rest of the afternoon was free, which most people used to venture out into the city for a cup of coffee. Lots of pictures were taken throughout the week:

 

The first night involved dinner near the hotel, which provided a chance to get to know each other better. The group also met the local counterpart from Stockholm University Business School, Isabel Dahlin, education and market coordinator.

The first company visit the following morning was to Swedish Orphan Biovitirum (SOBI) at Karolinska Institute’s Science Park. SOBI is a pharmaceutical company that specialises in orphan drugs for rare diseases. After getting an introduction to the company and the regulatory process for new drugs, the group was taken on a tour through the labs to see the actual processes with a chance to ask further questions.

In the afternoon, the whole group went for a boat trip in beautiful sunshine –Stockholm welcomed the group with an early arrival of summer! Stockholm is also called the Venice of the North and the boat trip provided a good opportunity to see this beautiful city from the water.

The first full day in Stockholm concluded with dinner at Myntkrogen, the restaurant in the Royal Coin Cabinet, opposite the Royal Palace.

The next day started with an all-morning visit to Swedbank, a leading bank in Sweden and the Baltic countries. The presentations and discussions centred around sustainability, banking models and the impact of the financial crisis. They provided stimulating and inspiring ideas not only for the students.

Our super organisers, Isabel and Fiona, during our visit to Swedbank:

After lunch, the group was taken to Stockholm University Business School for our first lecture, which was on critical and institutional perspectives on fashion blogging from a marketing researcher. 

There were no scheduled activities for the evening so students and staff went their own ways for dinner and entertainment (so I hear!).

In the second lecture on the trip, marketing guru Evert Gummesson provided interesting and challenging material on relationship marketing. He delivered a fascinating lecture that engaged everyone.

The buildings of the business and economics faculty at Stockholm University used to be veterinary clinics – outside the surgical clinic:

Most of the group outside Stockholm University’ School of Business after lunch and a walk around the waterside campus:

Awaiting the final company visit at Scan AB – a big player in the meat industry. A leading strategist and an HR professional talked us through the company and were very open to suggestions of the students with regard to international strategy and challenges facing the company.

The company visit at Scan AB concluded with sampling their delicious meat products:

For the final dinner at Hagaforum, the group was joined by staff and students of the Executive MBA at SUBS and provided a fitting ending to a great trip:

After a final morning with some free time to sleep or go sightseeing, the group headed back to the UK and here we are, happy and exhausted upon return to RHUL:

Overall, this was a successful visit which was very well organised and enjoyable.

For more pictures see the School of Management’s facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.444129535616828.111127.201254953237622&type=1) and the twitter feed of academic Sigrun Wagner www.twitter.com/smwagner_RHUL (hashtag #RHULMBA2012)

Employability - where do MBAs end up ?

I thought it was about the right time to try to answer the question about MBA careers I am often asked in my admissions role.  Unfortunately over the years we have not tracked in detail where our MBA students end up after graduating.  Some come from family businesses and return home for this.  Others are keen to get a couple of years work experience in London & head off to do this.  Others have their company support them (at least in allowing time off - relatively few are paid by their employers) & they return to their old companies.  Others want to use the MBA as an opportunity to break the glass ceiling & move up a level in their industry.  Some again look to move from their old role and industry  into something entirely fresh.  We have had entrepreneurs, corporate jobs, charities - I've been impressed how MBA graduates approach with confidence and maturity  the whole job finding experience - they tend to know what they want and go about getting it - even if this isn't falling at their feet.  (Let's be honest...the job currently market is ok - but not great.)

About a year ago, Fiona Redding was appointed to a new role in the School of Management as Alumni Officer and she has been building up a powerful alumni network organisation that means we are beginning to have a much stronger line of sight of our MBA's once they leave us, and hopefully we are offering a useful service to enable enduring MBA networking to continue well beyond the campus experience. 

Chart showing RHUL Management Alumni Industry specialisation as at May 2012


I am not a big fan of the statistics used to measure post graduate employability - often it asks "are you in a job ?" - to which the answer is generally yes - but this has not dimension of "the right job" or "the job you were hoping for".  Other programmes use a crude measure of salary uplift before and after the MBA.  Again this seems to measure 'success' and 'life changing learning' in a very short-termist fashion.  Hopefully one of the learnings that comes out of an MBA programme is a deeper understanding of the self & the need to find an appropriate balance.  The benefits of studying an MBA come out not the day after graduation, symbolised by a swanky company car, fat travel and entertainment budget and a 'with bonus' salary package - but unfold slowly over a 2 to 3 year period as difficult situations (managing conflict, working with challenging colleagues, dealing with ambiguity, making big presentations, winning customer tenders, handling stressful situations) are handled in a more assured and confident manner, often ending in very positive outcomes - when in the past these kinds of situations had left mental and emotional scars and resulted in periods of extreme discomfort.

Quite a few of our current and alumni students have profiles on social networking sites e.g. LinkeD-In - I think it is possible to view these and glean quite a bit of information about what people have done.  The following link shows the profiles of some MBA alumni and also on the right hand side is the offer on how to link up with the alumni network in your country.

What text book should I use ?

To write a cracking methodology I strongly recommend all my students to spend half a day or so in the library in the 'Research Methods' section.  This allows for an efficient and academic development of a justified narrative to support the particularly method(s) choice being made.  Dip into them like text books and seek to use definitions and explanations of strengths and weaknesses from 10-15 different sources, using 100% Harvard referencing along the way. 

Thus, unless you are following a research methods course, I would not necessarily recommend that you buy a research methods book, but use many from the library.  I can imagine you smile as you read this - finally a book I don't have to buy !

However, I would recommend that you read cover to cover (and this probably means buy) a book on writing a dissertation, particularly if this is your first. There are lots and lots of books of this sort out there, some of them are quite thin. I have been using "Writing Dissertations and Theses" by Murray and Beglar, which I've found to be neither thin nor intimidatingly wide, but includes a reasonable number of diagrams and seems to swiftly cover all the key topics, without over complicating things.



Pearson Education - Inside Track to Writing Dissertations and Theses

Thinking about doing an MBA ?

Good MBA programmes will require candidates to have at least three years post graduate work experience.  Thus the decision for prospective MBA's appears much harder than others who might be following on from their undergraduate studies for an extra student year, after all they are used to being in debt, studying and making the most from modest financial resources.

MBA Director Justin O'Brien

The most important question that not asked is this; "Will I fit in ?" We believe that any decision to undertake an MBA needs careful consideration to assess the value an MBA offers and which University offers you the best fit.  Many applicants want reassurance that an application is worthwhile and I happily receive such requests to my personal email:  justin.obrien@royalholloway.ac.uk 

I spend quite a lot of time with applicants to ensure that our programme is going to offer them what they are looking for.  Frankly, the decision is too important to get wrong, and I certainly do not want unhappy MBAs under my watch having been sold an unrealistic dream.

I strongly encourage everyone I speak with to do their research (it is after all an important life skill) and consider a number of options carefully.  Whilst most MBA programmes are quite similar, offering a broad covering of all the key areas of management without requiring previous study, the feel of the institution, the  orientation of the teaching team, the personality of the business school and key staff are crucial factors to consider.  Academic credentials, quality accreditations (we have AMBA) and cost are also important factors.  This blog is indeed an attempt to share some of the more fuzzy insights to life at Royal Holloway and what being an MBA student is like and I encourage you to take the time to have a good look around.

Having made the decision to study for the MBA at Royal Holloway I am often asked "What can I do to prepare for the MBA programme ?", and over the summer period prior to commencing on the campus based programme at Royal Holloway we mail out preparatory readings, which our students find very useful. 

Recently I have reviewed a single text that might well be useful for anyone thinking about applying for an MBA programme.  It is called "The Essential MBA" edited by Susan Miller from Hull University and published by Sage.  SAGE: The Essential MBA: Susan Miller: 9781847870612

It will have a strong UK MBA orientation and provides a chapter length introduction/overview of many of the core subjects found in most MBA syllabuses.

Priced modestly (under £30) each chapter seeks to offer a summary of the subject areas development and also provide insights into emerging topics.  Students are likely to benefit from this introduction. 

Link to Royal Holloway, University of London MBA programme link: www.rhul.ac.uk/mba