In Reinventing Business Education by Dean Isabelle Bajeaux-Besnainou of the McGill Desautels Faculty of Management (Desautels) she makes the case that students in today’s environment need to develop strong analytical skills and then be given the opportunity to practice these skills through some form of experiential learning. To be able to respond to the COVID or post COVID economy strong analytical skills are becoming more relevant than solving cases written for a different time and programs such as the Master of Management in Analytics (MMA) at Desautels do just that.
However, there is another option for those participants who would prefer to study while they continue to work in their managerial jobs The International Masters for Practicing Managers (IMPM) does use cases but these cases are the real life and work issues that the participants bring into the program. During the five modules of the program, which take place in 5 different business schools around the world, concepts and frameworks are provided by faculty. With these frameworks, and input from fellow classmates, participants address the challenges they are currently facing in their workplace.
In other words participants use the analytical tools and concepts provided by faculty and with input from fellow participants solve their own cases and help others solve their cases. At a time when all managers are dealing with the implications of the COVID crisis, what could be more valuable than sharing best practices within a group of international leaders?