Otago MBA: Now accepting applications for April 2015

Considering an MBA?

An investment in an MBA degree may be one of the most important, career-changing investments you can make in yourself; and make no mistake, the $40+ grand in tuition and time away from a income generating job is an investment in you, with a return on investment (ROI) calculated over the remaining years of your employment (e.g., better jobs, more mobility, faster promotions, greater responsibility, access to executive-level positions, higher salaries and payback on the initial investment in just a couple of years).

Otago MBA is now accepting applications for April 2015

The question is: "Are you worth the investment?!"  April 2015 may seem like a long way off, but our market for incoming MBA candidates will peak over the next five months and the nucleus of our MBA 39 class will be in place before the end of 2014.  The choice of MBA programmes can seem bewildering and risky; thousands of programmes exist; and many candidates rely on rankings as the predominant criteria for evaluating their options.

Your reliance on rankings (i.e., a suspect summary statistics of programme quality) equates to

us (the Otago MBA management team) distilling your quality as an MBA candidate

to a GMAT score, something we do not do.*

Everything you need to know

This blog is intended to allow you to get to know us, to peek inside our programme, meet our people and gain an understanding of the experience (value) we offer.  I encourage you to click on the links below to gain insights into the Otago MBA and make an informed decision about whether a good fit exists between your needs and our programme.

Programme Design: Focus on the individual and Academic Integrity. 

Candidate Selection / One & Two: experienced, mature, self-motivated, etc.

Why Candidates Choose Us: New Zealand experience or residence. 

Reliance on GMAT Scores: a suspect summary statistic.

Diploma vs. Full-time MBA: two options.

Conceptual Reasoning: Business Model, Concept, Reading & Writing, In the Classroom.

Placement: You're kidding!, A better way.

The Classroom: Emphasis on thinking, Active Learning, Power of Introverts.

Students: Cultural diversity.

Our Faculty Team: Denis Kobzev, Paul Hansen, Julia Richardson, Beth Rose, Anindya Sen.

Our Students: Ryf Quail, Krister Häll, Silvia Scherer, Melissa Barry.

 Mentored Consulting Experience: One, Two, Three, Four / Congratulations James!

Graduate Profile: what should our graduates look like?

Otago MBA Ranking: QS Global 200.

Life in New Zealand: Dunedin, Adventure, Coffee, Top Tourist Destination.

Miscellaneous:  Public Speaking, Doing Business in India. 

Register your interest in our Otago MBA programme!

Click here

*We do request a GMAT score, but we're far more interested in the complete candidate profile, ...and we provide you with our most recent QS Global 200 ranking (above).

Perversion of the MBA as a Degree

Can A Sub-700 GMAT Take You Out?

Poets and Quants ran an article, "Can a Sub-700 Take You Out?" that read: "A score of 700 on the GMAT just isn't worth what is used to be. A comparison of the average scores at leading U.S. business schools with ten years ago shows that with the exception of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, you’d be within 10 points of the top 7 schools, and ahead of the game for the rest of the top 20.

And while breaking the 700 barrier back in 2003 would secure you a place in the top 92% of test takers, the same score today means you have scored in the top 89%.

It's this kind of perverse logic that corrupts the MBA as a degree.  

Just look at the numbers: (1) top school report average GMAT scores, so even schools with a 700 avg. admit good students with less than a 700 score; (2) not all top 20 programmes average 700 (e.g., from QS TopMBA #6 Columbia 670, #8 Rotman 673 & #16 HEC 630); (3) the term "doomed" implies that you cannot get a good education from programmes outside the top twenty.

Here's an except from the most recent QS TOPMBA Global 200 report: "The top three schools are ...the strongest in terms of students’ average GMAT scores, suggesting that there is a close match between the perceptions of employers and the best qualified MBA students. However, the correlation is far less precise beyond the leading three. ...Columbia, Rotman and Fuqua all make the top ten for employer recognition yet have average GMAT scores of under 700."

Note: The correlation between programme reputation and GMAT score is loose at best; QS equates GMAT score to "best qualified MBA student" (a fallacy); and the average GMAT score in the QS Global 200 was 632 (We're talking about a few points!  Not evident from the quote).

Even more interesting is that GMAC's own data show an inverse relationship between GMAT score & age, as well as discrimination against females.

(1) The highest test scores (by age category) were posted by students of less than twenty years of age: kids. Males of this age averaged 604, while females averaged 597 (though this demographic accounted for only 0.6 % of test takers).

(2) Test scores drop precipitously for both males and females: i.e., inversely correlated with age and presumably attributes associated with age, such as experience, maturity and wisdom. Females: age 20-21 (avg. 572); 24-25 (528); 31-34 (504); 40-49 (449). Women over the age of 21 years averaged less than a 550 score and would likely be excluded from many top MBA programmes.

(3) The number of woman sitting for the GMAT dropped precipitously after the age of 23 years: age 22-23 (N=27K); 24-25 (17K); 26-27 (12K); ... 31-34 (6K).

(4) Women consistently posted lower average test scores within age categories, oftentimes with meaningful differences (e.g., age 26-27: male avg. 571 vs. female avg. 533).

(5) Three countries, the U.S., India and China, accounted for 71% of all GMAT tests taken in the world, with the U.S. accounting for over 90K (of 238K) test takers. India (577) and China (582) significantly outperformed the U.S. (532) on average.

This last observation from the data suggests that the GMAT is largely a U.S convention valued most by those wanting to study in the U.S. and not valued as highly across the globe.

(see Observations on the GMAT)

Otago MBA - QS TopMBA Global 200 Ranking

Otago MBA - QS Ranking

I have written elsewhere that the Otago MBA management team made the decision long ago to design a fully-integrated programme to deliver best value to our students, rather than compete on rankings of spurious meaning (see design decisions and rankings).  Nonetheless, it's useful on occasion to examine how we stack up relative to other prestigious programmes.  Here's an analysis of the QS TopMBA Global 200 Rankings.

The QS TopMBA Global 200 programmes are distributed as follows: 90 are located in North America; 60 in Europe; 35 in Asia/Pacific; 10 in Latin America; and 5 in the Middle East or Africa.

The Otago MBA ranks 32nd in the Asia/Pacific region and is identified as an Emerging Regional MBA programme. We take satisfaction from being included in the QS TopMBA Global 200, but take an even closer look. The Otago MBA:

Is the only MBA programme in New Zealand ranked in the QS Top 200.

Performs well (22nd in the Asia/Pacific region) on average GMAT score (632).  The average GMAT for all QS TopMBA Global 200 programmes is 632.

Averages more years of work experience than all but one other programme in the Asia/Pacific region (10 years).

Averages more years work experience than all but 3 programmes in the entire QS TopMBA Global 200 rankings.  (No North American MBA programme averaged more years of work experience than the Otago MBA.)

Offers a well-designed MBA programme; centered around mature, experienced peers; at a competitive price ($37.4K domestic, $45.2K Int'l) relative to other prestigious schools of business (see INSEAD - $59.5K and Melbourne School of Business - $70K).

 Note: An inverse relationship exists between GMAT score and age (see Observations on the GMAT), making the Otago MBA's performance on these measures even more satisfying.  We choose to emphasize experience/wisdom rather the recency/comfort in taking standardized tests.

 David