Page 3 - Short Business Case Studies Article

When Francois Ortalo-Magné (1) wrote, “The business model of
business schools is under assault. At a time when the number of MBA
candidates is falling, innovation in online technology is opening the door

to new forms of learning experiences,” not only was this the recognition
of cataclysmic change in MBA education provision but he was
reinforcing Rich Lyons’ (2) view that "Half of the business schools in this
country could be out of business in 10 years - or five......... many
business schools derive a large share of their revenue from part-time
and executive MBA program”, arguing that “online technology changes

the geography of competition by allowing the very best business schools
to expand their reach, drawing upon top students from any location.
Gone is the local market advantage of the regional schools—and with
it—the crucial source of revenue from part-time and executive MBA
programs.” To some extent this is also reinforced by both Harvard

Business School's Srikant M. Datar, David A. Garvin, and Patrick G.
Cullen (3) who comment that "Increasingly, we believe, business schools
are at a crossroads and will have to take a hard look at their value
propositions," moreover, since the 2008 crisis “the two-year, full-time
MBA was no longer viewed as necessary”, whilst Jonathan Moules
(5)comments: “Mergers of business schools have been prominent where
state support for higher education has been cut. The winners from the

shake-out will be those that can offer the best value for money, either
because they take less time to complete or because they have a strong
global brand.” Aside from the highly selective schools, MBA programmes
are shrinking almost everywhere. The trend is for distance, evening and
weekend programmes for people who have real jobs and can't afford to

take 2 years off. Furthermore, allied to this is students demand for
accreditation in their institution selection rather than on simple education
criteria. Paradoxically, the most selective Business Schools aren't even
accredited.