From Luke Armstrong of Coburg Consultants

 

Every July, a group of top-calibre young leaders from a wide range of academic backgrounds enter Dalhousie’s Corporate Residency MBA program.

And then a beautiful identity crisis happens.

MBA programs arose in the early 1900’s as industrializing nations sought out a more scientific approach to management. As organizations became larger and more complex, seniority in a company ceased to be recognized as sufficient management training. Management itself became a profession. Mechanical engineers, journalists, chemists, and lawyers sought out MBA training in addition to their technical training to assume leadership roles in their organizations.

There is no ideal undergraduate degree for an MBA. In fact, Dalhousie’s CRMBA celebrates the multidisciplinary nature of the degree and the benefits of a broad experience in tackling complexity. Management Without Borders, the innovative interdisciplinary course in second year, places MBA students in teams with students from other management disciplines to consider real issues with regional stakeholders. Students learn to leverage their diverse experiences to produce the best solutions possible in the face of complexity.

Personal and Professional Effectiveness further teaches CRMBA students to leverage their unique knowledge sets. This core course runs throughout the two-year program with themes such as innovation, design, creativity, and complexity. The theme in first year is “Self-Management and Engagement,” giving students a deeper knowledge of themselves as a leader, a manager, and a thinker.

This is when the identity crisis resolution begins. Rather than try to reconcile a split-image as a chemist and a businesswoman, Irina Bojinescu believes the CRMBA actually expands on skills she developed in her undergraduate degree.

“My chemistry background has provided me with a reliable foundation of analytical, logical, and conceptual reasoning skills that have served me well in the business environment,” says the second-year student.

Dalhousie’s CRMBA doesn’t build over your background, it builds on it. Megan Maltby took a B.A. (Hons) in English before coming to the program. Reflecting after her residency with the First Angel Network, she now recognizes her background in research and information synthesis gave her an edge in the classroom and when considering new ventures at First Angel.

“My research and writing skills from my undergrad have been a huge help in managing the fast pace of MBA classes. On residency too, the ability to read extensively, and then consolidate a succinct business briefing was invaluable.”

Students with scientific or technical backgrounds make up 45% of the class of 2015, including biochemists, engineers, and computer scientists. About 18% of the class hails from the arts, with history, music, and fine arts represented. The remainder of the students studied commerce or management in their undergraduate programs.

This program produces the most competent businesspeople around, yes, but it goes deeper than that. The CRMBA takes one’s current skills and interests, from any discipline, and develops the individual into a confident, values-driven leader prepared to take on global issues.