Great ExpectationsJosh Rinehults/Getty Images/iStockphoto
In a bid to build a global network of top-tier business schools, the Yale School of Management is launching a Masters in Management degree that will draw the best graduates from a group of selected global business schools. "I think we have come up with a proposition that is distinctive, strategic and fits Yale," says the business school's dean Edward Snyder.
The first two schools to join the Yale network will be National University of Singapore and INSEAD, which has campuses in France, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. INSEAD already has a partnership in the United States with the Wharton school at the University of Pennsylvania. "We will co-operate with a broad array of schools on multiple dimensions," says Prof. Snyder. This could include new non-degree programs and the distribution of Yale's "raw cases" to schools in the network.
Unlike the European model for a Masters in Management degree, which is a pre-experience program for those recently completing an undergraduate degree, the Yale program will be for those who have already completed an MBA degree or equivalent at one of the schools in the network, initially NUS or INSEAD. In that, it will be similar to the Master of Science in Management Studies offered by MIT Sloan, which draws students from schools such as HEC in Paris.
One of the biggest problems for the business school at Yale is that it has few global connections, unlike Yale University, which has a strong international brand. This is different from most universities, where the business school is the leading school in globalization. Prof. Snyder points out that most business schools have bi-lateral or tri-partite agreements with each other, but his plan is to build a network of schools that Yale will convene, though not dominate. "I think there is more power in the network," he adds.
As well as the traditional developed countries, Prof. Snyder is looking at countries where "economic development will be in 10 or 15 years from now" for potential partners.
The Yale dean believes that the combination of a U.S. degree from Yale and a local MBA from one of the network of schools will prove a winning combination for recruiters whose companies are operating globally. Prof. Snyder says he is now working with several global enterprises to support the program, both in hiring and sponsoring students.
The Masters in Management will enroll its first cohort of up to 20 students in 2012.