Cultivating
EnTrEPrEnEUrS
»Dr robert Berry talks to CEO Magazine
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Our aim is to allow students to take something individual from the programme
rather than seeing them graduate as yet another Nottingham clone.
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nottingham University Business School took a range of options, reflected on his career, and changed direction
entirely. We were very supportive. I think that’s a clear example of what
What sets nottingham university Business School (nuBS) apart sets us apart from our competitors.
from other b-schools? The first thing to be clear about is the massive
number of schools that exist in the world who style themselves business Kindly define nuBS’s mBA value proposition? We are targeting our
schools, and offer an MBA. One very simple factor differentiates us from programs very explicitly at people who have significant management ex-
the majority of those schools: in all the external rankings we are placed perience: not just work experience, but experience of both being managed
substantially higher. Hence there’s a quality aspect, and an accreditation and of managing. Adhering to this criterion means we are turning down
aspect, that set us apart from a large number of other schools. a great number of applicants. For example, through this years marketing,
we have substantially increased the number of applicants although we’ve
For comparison purposes, the pool of schools that I look at is really the offered places to precisely the same number as we did last year. The mar-
top hundred or so business schools. We regularly feature in that top hun- keting has attracted people without sufficient management experience,
dred. What sets us apart from that subgroup of really good schools is our who, although bright and sufficiently far down the corporate ladder to
concern not to be the same as everyone else. Our aim is to allow students warrant a startling large promotion and commensurate salary on gradua-
to take something individual from the programme rather than to see tion, nevertheless, are not going to benefit from what we can do.
them graduate as yet another Nottingham clone.
I have a clear idea of our target audiences for our MBA variants; my col-
Let me offer an example. There was a student on our EMBA programme leagues and I have an equally clear idea of what we have to offer in terms
with substantial business experience at enrolment. He was working as a of the traditionally titled degree - the MBA. Within our framework,
consultant in microbiology and public health and when he came to us he there are named variants of the degree that give us the ability to offer to
was a regional director in a public sector organization. At recruitment, slightly different segments of that work experienced market.
his feedback to me was very typical: he felt that his management skills
and experience had been acquired piecemeal; he wanted a framework to What we do not do however is to commit the student to the particular
update and broaden his perspective. variant or to a particular style of study until they are ready to be com-
mitted. So, one can take the decision to enter Nottingham to do a
His feedback upon graduation reflects a dramatic difference. He said general MBA or an MBA specializing in corporate social responsibility
that, ‘The journey through the MBA with its many development op- (CSR) or in entrepreneurship for example. However, this initial deci-
portunities was enjoyable and worthwhile.’ In terms of its outcome, he sion need not be final. The first semester is common across all of our
said that he expected to have less job security and to be paid less as he programs: at the end of the first semester, you know more about the
was, in essence, starting over again. On the positive side he felt that life University and your peer groups, and can then decide which variant
was far more interesting and rewarding, “My only regret is that I did not of the degree you wish to take. Our recruitment charts for named pro-
do it sooner.” grams show that the incoming numbers are dramatically smaller than
those for the general MBA. That said, the numbers graduating will be
In terms of published business school rankings that student does not different due to the number of people switching into our more special-
help us. With the intent of developing his career from where he was, he ized MBA variants.
42 | CEO
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