The
Columbia Business School is a place where business research and business
practice come together. CBS faculty produce cutting-edge research that is
influential in business circles around the world. The School helps ensure
that this research is up-to-date, realistic, and relevant to business needs
by engaging New York City-based businessmen and businesswomen as faculty, speakers,
and program participants. MBA students benefit by gaining both a top-quality
business education and access to leaders in fields across the full spectrum
of business activity.
A distinctive feature of the Columbia MBA experience is the sense of
community that students develop and maintain. Entering classes are divided
into clusters of about 60 students. Each cluster of students goes through
core courses together, and its members subsequently cross paths in electives
and through other activities. This system lays the groundwork for Columbia's
renowned alumni network, which is both large and wide-spread. At last count,
over 35,000 Columbia alumni were active in 42
states and 59 countries.
Here is our interview with Linda Meehan,
Assistant Dean for Admissions at Columbia Business School.
How do you see the MBA program at Columbia evolving, particularly with
respect to other top MBA programs?
Columbia has always had a top-notch reputation. Under Dean Hubbard, we
continue to expand the strong foundation built under the guidance of our
previous dean. One of Dean Hubbard’s ideas at work is the concept of
enhancing the relationship between theory and practice under one roof. So a
key differentiator between Columbia and peer institutions is not just our
New York City location, but what we do with this location.
Being in New York affords us the opportunity to bring experts into the
classroom. They show the practical work that is being done in the field, and
marry that with theory developed by our esteemed faculty. Our faculty
generates ideas and theory, and the practitioners that we bring into the
classroom apply that in a real environment. For those companies and those
people who are looking for solutions to current problems, these
relationships with our faculty and our students provide a unique approach.
By putting these ideas to work under one roof, we offer an extraordinary
learning experience through our MBA program, and we do it extraordinarily
well.
Columbia puts particular emphasis on integrating overarching themes into
core classes. Can you elaborate on this?
We focus on interweaving themes like ethics, entrepreneurship, and
globalization throughout our coursework. We augment this with focused
programming – again, our location provides phenomenal resources. We have a
strong array of guest speakers and others who are directly involved in
corporate governance as part of our network. This exposes our students to
ethical issues in a practical way rather than in just a theoretical way.
Columbia Business School developed this integration of programming and
coursework many years ago by integrating a global theme into our coursework.
That was one of the ways that we have become the premier institution for
international business studies.
We have also done this with entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is not just
starting a business. It is also a mindset. When you study the core courses
here [at Columbia], you are gaining exposure to globalization,
entrepreneurship, and ethics – all with both internal and external
expertise. We think this perspective is the best way to deal with these
topics.
Of course, this does not mean that you cannot take specific classes in these
areas. In fact, you can actually concentrate in entrepreneurship or
international business. But you don’t have to, as you will be exposed to
them anyway since they are interwoven into your classes.
What are some examples of how you capitalize on Columbia’s New York
location?
A great example of this is our Executive-in-Residence program. This started
at Columbia, and the fact that other schools have integrated similar
programs is, obviously, a great form of flattery. This program brings in
leaders from all fields and all industries [to our career services]. It is
made up of 10 top-level executives who advise our career services office.
So, if you are interested in investment banking, you have a past Managing
Director of DLJ here. Media? You have the current CEO of InterMedia
Advisors. Consulting? You have a past Managing Director from McKinsey.
Again, we capitalize on our location as part of the academic experience. Our
students tap into our network on a very personal level, not just through our
alumni. One of the things that is spectacular about the Columbia education
is the exposure students have to CEOs and people who are running major
companies and organizations worldwide.
Another example [of how we capitalize on our location] is the social venture
fund. If you look at all of our centers – and there are many – and if you
have an interest in the research being done by faculty there, or the
activities that are coming out of the centers, you can become very involved.
Last year several faculty members developed a leadership program for the New
York City public school system. It was highlighted in the Wall Street
Journal and the New York Times. This project evolved into a program that
actively involved both faculty and students in its implementation. Because
of our faculty’s research and our location, we were able to reach out and
help our community and this amazing city.
Columbia’s location in one of the financial capitals of the world is clearly
an attractive advantage, but New York is often associated primarily with
finance. What other industries do you see large numbers of students going
into?
For most top schools, you will see in the placement reports that the
majority of people are going into financial services or consulting. But that
is simply because those are the two industries that have valued the MBA to
the greatest extent and hire so many more MBAs than other industries do.
That is not to say that our students only go into those fields. They also
take jobs in marketing, media, real estate, VC, hedge funds, start-ups,
healthcare, social enterprises…it is a matter of choice, and depends on
their goals. Our students go pretty much where they want to go.
And remember that there are lots of different jobs in the same area.
“Marketing” can mean working in financial services at American Express, or
the fashion industry at Coach, at a hospital, a pharmaceutical company, or
even a newspaper or television network. Our alumni are everywhere. It is a
matter of choice.
Columbia has strengths outside of finance and international business – but
we make no apologies for our strengths in these areas. After all, finance is
the backbone of every industry and organization, and a firm grasp of that
area is mandatory.
Don’t choose a school because a publication or website identified a school
as a “marketing school” or a “finance school.” That is unfair to all
schools, as we are all general management programs. Look instead at whether
the institution has the programs and the coursework that you want. You
choose what to focus on beyond a core curriculum. At Columbia, we are very
flexible on whether you concentrate or not, and how you customize your own
program.
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