European Business Schools on a Roll

It is a fact that we live in a global world where country economies are closely intertwined. Total world trade is in the trillions, many of China's exports end up on Wal-Mart shelves, and a few months ago when the Japanese earthquake and tsunami struck the Asian country, supply chains were disrupted worldwide. Moreover, technology doesn't take a break and new innovations are presented to the market daily. Yet, the world is still in a financial crisis and the need for more world-class business leaders is growing. This in turn puts more pressure on universities to improve their business programs.

The European economy is facing a downturn, but this has not stopped universities there from providing top world management education. European business schools are well known for the excellent preparation they give their students; due to the financial crisis MBA programs are improving even further by putting a bigger emphasis on their global structure. A new method many universities are implementing to keep students competitive in the global economy is setting up partnerships and satellite campuses in different countries. For example, France's INSEAD was the first to open a satellite campus abroad - Singapore and Abu Dhabi. Another French university, HEC, followed by opening a campus in Qatar, and Spain's IESE opened one in New York. Even the schools that have not yet been able to take such a big step are globalizing their programs through student-exchange opportunities. They also provide new courses stressing on the importance of understanding international business and to teach students to think on a global level. Global internships and study abroad opportunities are part of the curriculum as well.

Businessweek has published a slide show of the Top 20 MBA schools in Europe. It also provides a brief description for each and what they are doing to expand their programs to be more global.

Another method which European business schools are using to keep up with changes is providing classes teaching students how to use social media in business. These classes show students ways to build a social media strategy to improve a business's marketing operations. Technological advancements, especially in media, have changed the way students learn and thus the way professors teach. Many professors believe that due to social media businesses are changing and a new enterprise structure is emerging.

The end result is that European business schools are attracting more international candidates than ever while rival schools in the USA and other developed regions are seeing less interest. However, it will not be long until they follow suit and globalize and modernize their programs as well.