Revolutionizing the MBA

The crown jewel of graduate business degrees is getting a dramatic reset at Bentley. A new MBA program represents a radically different approach to management education, which has lately come under fire for not developing the skills most in demand by organizations and society. Bentley is among the first in the nation to answer the critique.

Launching in August 2012, the program moves away from presenting business through stand-alone disciplines such as marketing, finance and accounting. It focuses instead on business as a complex social system of interactions by individuals – people who must anticipate and manage change, think and work cross culturally, and understand their own leadership style.
The 11-month MBA bucks tradition in both content and delivery. Students pursue four 10-week modules, co-designed by faculty in business disciplines and the arts and sciences to cover four themes: innovation, value, environments and leadership. Each module comprises eight weeks of class work and two weeks of travel. During the latter, which includes two trips abroad, students work directly with corporations, NGOs and government agencies they have been in contact with throughout the module; the collaboration aims to address pressing issues at the host’s location.
Modules are team taught by professors from different academic departments and take place in a specially designed MBA studio. Class sessions encourage group interaction and open dialogue with faculty and guests from outside Bentley. The novel setting is also a work lab, where student teams can meet and work closely with professors outside periods of formal instruction.
“The experience illuminates the social structure of business issues,” says MBA program director David Schwarzkopf. “Students learn innovative ways of approaching these concerns, with a keen appreciation for the social consequences of their business decisions.”