During all times of the MBA program in Russia (since 1988), it has changed a lot; the development and complication of business predetermines the development and complication of programs. New education courses are introduced, new tools are used; along with classic technologies and tools, students use Agile technologies and learn to work in Scrum teams to reach optimal business results. Experts say that we are on the verge of MBA 5.0, where the number «5» is the next order of the industrial revolution.
The coronavirus crisis not only forced many Russian business schools to use distance learning more widely. It leads to the understanding that the real online learning is a completely different technology, different from learning over the Internet, which many of us habitually and incorrectly associate with this concept. Besides it comes the understanding that online training for managers is far from a panacea; for many of them face-to-face business communication remains in a priority, and so far there is no equivalent substitute for it.
The crisis has intensified competition on the Russian business education market; the growth of junk programs mimicking for the MBA`s brand is breaking all records. Managers of all levels and entrepreneurs are inundated with offers from «leading» pseudo-business schools offering cheap and fast MBA courses.
The annual survey of the «MBA in Moscow and Russia» (MBA.SU), based on the alumni of Russian business schools estimations, is intended to track the ongoing changes with the Russian MBA and to help to future students of business schools.
The annual Graduate Survey MBA.SU is conducted among MBA &EMBA programmes alumni of the Russian Business Schools to determine the long-term impacts of participating in these programmes on career development and personal growth. For this purpose, in 2020 graduates were invited to participate in an online survey on the site «MBA in Moscow and Russia» from February to May 2020.
1260 MBA`s and Executive MBA graduates of 2016-2018 took part in the MBA.SU 2020 survey. They represented of the fifty two business schools from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Rostov on Don, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Vladivostok, i.e. about 96% of the Russian national MBA and EMBA programs market.
WHAT IS THE MAIN RESULT ?
More than half of the graduates consider the main result of education is «knowledge and skills necessary for successful work»; «career growth» and «business connections and acquaintances», they are noted by every seventh person.
The number of those who indicated «income growth» as the main result increased to 2019 by a quarter. The number of those who received nothing from MBA education, as before, ranges from 1.5 to 1.6%. The «Other» category included answers containing complex answers, for example: «Everything happened gradually: first knowledge and skills + connections and acquaintances, then career growth, then I open my own company as an individual entrepreneur, so ultimately led to an increase in income».
Some of these answers deserve to be presented here;
- «The school has developed new thinking — this has increased efficiency and expanded the scope of professionally solved tasks, hence all of the above (career growth, interesting acquaintances, increased income). In addition, now there are no problems in business that I do not know how to solve. In any case I know what to do and what of kind of the business practices exist. I can always create my own solution (and this is possible thanks to developed thinking). The development was influenced by: teachers, their attitude to their subjects, deep expertise, practical activity (I have not met a single theorist). And, of course, a verified program, school values, a special warm atmosphere, organization of the learning process.»
- «Prospects and a new level of self-realization»
- «Incentive and assistance in starting my own business»
- «At first there was income, now start the new business»
- «Understanding oneself helped to look at familiar processes from a new angle»
- «Bought a company and left from a hired job to my own business»
- «Breadth and consistency of thinking»
- «Launched a business abroad»
- «Drive! It was difficult, but cool! «
INCOME GROWTH
In contrast to past years, the gap between MBA graduates with medium income growth and graduates with high income growth has become more pronounced. Thus, the median value of income growth for graduates of most business schools is at the level of 30%, while the arithmetic mean is one and a half to two times higher.
It is obvious that the absolute values of income differ among graduates of various business schools who initially choose an MBA or Executive MBA program for themselves, not only based on its content, but also in accordance with their financial capabilities. Therefore, for example, a 30% increase in income for a graduate of the Moscow School of Management Skolkovo (the most expensive MBA program in the Russian market is € 95 000) is actually several times higher than that of an MBA graduate worth 200 thousand rubles.
Despite the fact that the share of those who indicated «income growth» as the main learning outcome is small, 91% of survey participants are satisfied with their income growth within 2-4 years after graduating from business school. The largest share of low ratings is among line managers who have failed to improve their career positions. There may be several reasons; one of the possible — initially insufficient readiness to study at MBA. However, in general, the high level (excellent and good) of satisfaction with the growth of their income for all categories of graduates is 85%.
| INCOM GROWTH ESTIMATES | LINE MANAGERS |
MIDDLE MANAGERS |
TOP MANAGERS |
BUSINESS OWNERS |
| EXCELLENT | 20% | 52% | 58% | 65% |
| GOOD | 33% | 29% | 30% | 23% |
| SATISFACTORY | 13% | 12% | 7% | 5% |
| UNSATISFACTORY | 34% | 7% | 5% | 7% |
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
The majority (88%) of the surveyed graduates are satisfied with their career growth within two years after graduating from business school. Of these, 47% rate growth as excellent, 30% as good, 11% as satisfactory, and 12% are dissatisfied with it.
The number of line managers and mid-level managers decreased after graduating from business school — they joined the ranks of senior managers and business owners. In these categories, 60 to 90% of graduates improved their career positions, which, in most cases, was accompanied by an increase in income. Senior managers grew their career within their category, and 18% organized their business. Most of everyone who stayed in their career position simply increased their income under existing salary forks.
BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL CONNECTIONS
Business and professional connections are one of the most important results of training in business schools. they are a long — term resource that helps graduates not only find new career opportunities, but also gives new business prospects, and is often a source of new businesses.
The level of business and professional relations was considered excellent and good by 85% of graduates, 8% consider it satisfactory.
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Personal and professional development scores are traditionally the highest among all indicators. Almost everyone is satisfied with it — 98% of respondents; 89% are very satisfied.
In the light of the recent transformations taking place in global business education in relation to the assessment of learning outcomes, personal and professional development is becoming the main indicator. The result of training, usually recorded over a period of several years after the end of business school, is not final: training in business school is often the source of a variety of human and managerial trajectories in the future.
Business School Graduates Survey-2020 were participated:
- Advanced Management institute (Saint-Petersburg)
- Antwerp Management School / IBS Moscow RANEPA
- Baikal International Business School University of Irkutsk (Irkutsk)
- Baltic State Technical University (Saint-Petersburg)
- Banking Institute, High School of Economics
- Banking Institute, RANEPA
- Business School, Moscow University of finance and Law
- Business school, Synergy University Russia
- Business School, Ural Federal University (Yekaterinburg)
- City Business School
- Eurasian Management and Administration School
- Faculty of Economics, Lomonosov Moscow State University
- Faculty of the International Business, All-Union Foreign Trade Academy
- Graduate School of Corporate Management, RANEPA
- Graduate School of International Business, Samara State University of Economics (Samara)
- Graduate School of Management, High School of Economics
- Graduate School of Management, Saint-Petersburg State University (Saint-Petersburg)
- Graduate School of Project Management, High School of Economics
- Grenoble Ecole de Management / IBS Moscow RANEPA
- High Economic School, Saint-Petersburg State University of Economics (Saint-Petersburg)
- Higher school of business informatics, High School of Economics
- Higher School of Business of Kazan Federal University (Kazan)
- Higher School of Business, Novosibirsk State University of Economics and Management (Novosibirsk)
- Higher School of Business, Southern Federal University(Rostov-on-Don)
- Higher School of Business, State University of Management
- Higher School of Finance and Management, RANEPA
- IBS Moscow,The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA)
- Insitute of Business Administration and Business, State University of Management
- Insitute of Communication Management, High School of Economics
- Institute of Industry Management, RANEPA
- Institute of Public Administration and Civil Service, RANEPA
- Institute of Tax Management and Real Estate Economics, High School of Economics
- Institute of World Economy and Business, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia
- International Business School (IBS-Plekhanov), Plekhanov Russian University of Economics
- International Business School, Southern University (Rostov-on-Don)
- International Institute of Management LINK
- International Management Institute of Saint-Petersburg (Saint-Petersburg)
- International School of Business, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation
- Lomonosov Moscow State University Business School
- MGIMO School of Business and International Proficiency
- Moscow Business School
- Moscow International Higher Business School MIRBIS
- Moscow School of Management Skolkovo
- Novosibirsk Open Business School (Novosibirsk)
- Open Business School (Saint-Petersburg)
- Plekhanov Business School «Integral», Plekhanov Russian University of Economics
- PricewaterhouseCoopers Academy
- School of Economics and Management, Far Eastern Federal University (Vladivostok)
- School of International Business Education, RANEPA/ Kingston University London
- School of IT-management, RANEPA
- Stockholm School of Economics Russia
- Ural-Siberian Institute of Business (Yekaterinburg)
Serge Mukhin
MBA.SU
