After MBA-fees victory, McGill moves on
Peter Todd is winding up 2011 on a high note. After a difficult standoff with the province of Quebec, the dean of the Desautels Faculty of Management at Ï㽶ÊÓƵ has won provincial approval for a new self-funded MBA. The new model has meant boosting tuition by almost 15-fold, ending one of the great MBA bargains (just over $4,000 for a two-year degree). But Mr. Todd, 49, sees it as vital for Desautels to compete in the global big leagues. The Montreal school, which had been fined $2-million for violating provincial tuition guidelines, had to convince the province that this MBA is "a specialized program," not a cookie-cutter degree.
How did you achieve this compromise?
We spent a fair bit of time working with the government, satisfying them that our program is unique, which is the criterion for being self-funded.
We pushed forward the notion that the program is situated on two prime pillars: First, we teach in an integrated way, spending a lot of time at the front end teaching about how the whole business works, rather than just individual functions.
And in keeping with the university and faculty's reputation, we are developing the international character even further. Next year, we will add a compulsory international trip for all students. This is quite common in executive MBAs, but not in a regular MBA.
I can't think of a major program in Canada that isn't calling itself 'integrated' and 'international.' So why is this so unique?
Most programs will assert some degree of an integrated approach and some focus on international. But at McGill, at the core of what we teach, is an integrated model that is team-taught and has thrown away all the individual functional courses - no more accounting, no more finance, no more marketing courses.
Instead we teach a set of modules - for example, one around global leadership and another around managing resources, which combines human resources, information technology and finance. Another is around value creation, which combines marketing and operations. We put the models together at the front and say 'This is how a business works. We're going to get you to think big picture right from the beginning before you start to specialize and drill down.'
Read full article: , November 3, 2011