Read a recent article that calls for greater focus on degree connectivity when managing MBA offerings. The article has been co-authored by Ulrich Hommel (Xolas), Joanne Powell (QED) and Sarah Hardcastle (Hardcastle and Associates); and published in MBA International Review, Nr. 82, pp. 14-16.   A copy of the article is also available here.

This article focuses on the advantages of managing a portfolio of MBA degrees as a portfolio. Whilst this might sound tautological, it reflects our experience that many business schools continue to run MBA programs on a relatively stand-alone basis, which can be explained by path dependency or internal governance arrangements. More typical is what we term the traditional portfolio approach, a focus on increasing gross revenue returns via market segmentation and realizing cost economies by pooling activities across programs.

We suggest a complementary and generally overlooked viewpoint that offering MBA programs with portfolio connectivity in mind can help to realize revenue (and additional cost) synergies that increase gross returns in the aggregate. They will “carry the day” if outweighing the opportunity cost of de-segmentation of the overall offer.