Forget US degree, Euro MBA is hotter, Economic Times, India, 12 June

When Anuradha Gupta was looking to jump-start a corporate career, she looked to Imperial College's Tanaka Business School.

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: When Anuradha Gupta, a 25-year-old professional, was looking to jump-start a corporate career, she looked West. Not to the US, the favourite hunting ground of to-be MBAs, but to the UK.

Imperial College’s Tanaka Business School gave her just what she needed: a concise one-year MBA programme in one of the world’s most diverse financial centres, London.

“I was looking for a one-year programme in a very cosmopolitan environment. In addition, Tanaka’s presence in London offers excellent opportunities for industry interface with sectors like finance, IT, medicine and healthcare.” she says.

Gupta is just one in a stream of Indians choosing European business programmes over the US’ more celebrated ones. And not just in the UK, but also in non-English-speaking countries like Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain among others.

Reports on enrolment figures at some of Europe’s prominent MBA programmes bear testimony to this. Since ‘01, Barcelona’s ESADE has seen a 400% growth in Indian enrolments; while at France’s INSEAD and Switzerland’s IMD, the numbers grew by 155% and 133% respectively.

“The more diverse population of European B-schools is drawing Indian students,” says Stephan Chambers, head of MBA programmes at Said Business School, Oxford University. “Students at US B-schools are overwhelmingly from the US. In Europe they’re not.”

Students from India are even choosing B-schools which are less known in India like Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School in Brussels. Importantly, the school, which has English as the medium of instruction, has started holding roadshows in India from last year.

Says Varun Sahay a consultant and a current student: “I decided on an MBA at this school after looking at other European options like Insead and Rotterdam.” Sahay, who holds a masters from Duke University, has already experienced US campus life.

This diversity, say students, means richer class discussions that are not dominated by the US perspective, a global network of friends, and a definite edge in a world where employers are seeking managers who understand the essence of being international.

In terms of syllabus, European MBAs are often seen to be as good as US ones and in some areas even better. Says Narendra Laljani, director of qualification programmes, Ashridge Business School: “UK schools like Ashridge have a number of advantages over US schools not just in terms of greater mix of nationalities of both faculty and students, but our focus is on a practical application of business theory.”

Opportunity cost is another clincher for the Europeans. Not only do their one-year programmes work out cheaper than most US two-year MBAs, they also mean a year less spent outside the workplace. Club that with Europe’s progressively easier visa and work regulations and the European programmes are coming out trumps.

“Today, I have a network of friends in practically every country. I have a window into their ways of working and culture, and help is always just a phone call or e-mail away,” says Gupta.