Do a Strategic MBA to ride the Sea Change Sri Lanka is up against -Rohantha Athukorala
View(s):Is the current turmoil simply a bump in the road or a sea change?
Sri Lanka is just about to experiencing a down turn in the economy with quarter 3 GDP dropping to 4.8%. Some are wondering if it’s just a bump in the road. The reason being if so then waiting until the storm passes and re activating a strategy is all what is required. But what we see is a slightly different situation. Companies globally are cutting back, laying people off, and reducing costs to the bone. Current predictions are that we are in for a sea change. Organizations are foreseeing a new reality that calls for new thinking. In other words we are in the midst of economic uncertainty unlike any we have seen since the Great Depression.
Environmental challenges threaten sustainability for millions of people and perhaps for the livable planet. The technological revolution has flattened the earth and turned us former typists and telephoners into technophiles and technophobes, social networkers and IMers. The generational divides are more palpable than they have been since the 1960s. The baby boomers are retiring, or were until the stock market crashed and their retirement funds were depleted, and the millenniums bring a different set of values and norms to the workplace and to the family creating conflict, miscommunication, and huge succession issues.
The era of United States world hegemony is ending. Americans who became accustomed to power and privilege are now waiting in the long “other” line when crossing international borders. The so-called BRIC nations of Brazil, Russia, India, and China are challenging the U.S. supremacy on economic, cultural, educational, and innovation fronts. And the world of nations is facing a new kind of international threat, from loosely connected factions undefined by national boundaries or 20th century modes of warfare. If we are in a sea change, what passes for the new normal will be characterized by three qualities: future uncertainty, inadequate information for decision making, and constant change. How will you, and all of those people and teams managing important organizations and institutions, have to modify their leadership to cope with this new reality?
Why a Strategic MBA?
With this background unfolding, the 12month MBA offered at Oxford College of Business in affiliation with the Australian Institute of Business (AIB) in Sri Lanka, I see the uniqueness of the MBA programme given that it is ranked no 3 in Australia and no 10 in the world. It’s 7 core subjects offered are all strategic subjects like Strategic Marketing, Strategic HR, Strategic Operations, Strategic Management, Strategic Finance Issues etc which is the type of training that is required so that a typical candidate is equipped to deal with the sea change issues that has implications to the multiple dimensions of a business. Each module in the 12month AIB MBA programme has its own strategic spin making students look at strategy from different business functions.
12month AIB MBA at Oxford College of Business is a technical MBA
If one does a deep dive the 12month AIB MBA offered at Oxford College of Business it could be seen as a technical MBA where the key strategic principles of modern day business is understood within a 12 month duration that can be high rigour in nature. But the fact is that it has produced some high caliber individuals in the recent past that has taken up top management positions in the corporate sector. Hence its interesting given that most us have been educated via Management MBA’s from traditional Universities that has also produced a separate breed of leaders that has also taken the Sri Lankan economy to be a 60bn dollar economy. The question is can the technical MBA products make Sri Lanka a 100 billion economy by 2017. Let’s wait and see. After all one part of learning in an MBA is the art of reflection that becomes a way of life in a year long programme.
Bring Results
Travel can open your eyes to a whole new world; Given that the 12month MBA at OCB is originated out of Australia which is a country that navigated it-self so craftily to have not much of an effect by the global financial crisis may be there is something unique that the AIB MBA has to offer to a Sri Lankan business graduate. This includes a different type of learning which is more individualistic, concentrating on one subject a month, grounded with strong theory and balanced with a practical assignment and an exam for each module, that is open book driven which is high-impact on delivery of result which is an interesting and unique concept of post graduate studies. Though it does not have soft skill training, the ethos is that at the very senior managerial level of education one is already equipped with the skill set and now needs strategic decision making training.
12month AIB MBA Ranked # 3 in Australia and ranked #10 in the world
A report released recently states that the AIB MBA is ranked #3 in Australia and #10 in the world according to the CEO Magazine (UK). I guess it indicates the global recognition and the impact it has made in the global corporate world by the products that it has delivered in the recent past. “I also observe that the 12 month rigour calls for strong dedication and sacrifice that brings out the athletism on the programme” Says Mr. Athukorala who is a Black Belt Karate whilst being a eminent Corporate personality in Sri Lanka. For more information contact Malindu Ranasinghe – 0714151547 or visit www.ocbsrilanka.com
| Environmental challenges threaten sustainability for millions of people and perhaps for the livable planet. The technological revolution has flattened the earth and turned us former typists and telephoners into technophiles and technophobes, social networkers and IMers |
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