MBA popularity soars in the Middle East
Demand for MBAs in the Gulf states has led to British schools providing courses in the region. Nick Jackson reports
Published: 19 April 2007
"I wanted to do an MBA but I didn't want to have to leave Saudi Arabia," says Aamir Al-Ghamdi, a marketing manager based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Al-Ghamdi is halfway through an executive MBA with Manchester Business School in Dubai. He is one of a new breed of professionals based in the Middle East who want a British business education without having to throw in their jobs and up sticks to the UK.
Demand by professionals in the Gulf for MBA programmes taught to British standards, but delivered locally, is attracting some of the biggest names in business education. Manchester's Dubai programme launched last year. In December, London Business School followed suit. And last month, Cass Business School announced its plans to launch the first ever executive MBA specialising in Islamic finance in the city.
The courses operate out of Dubai's Knowledge Village tax haven, taking advantage of a regional boom in construction, energy, and finance in the city that is positioning itself as the financial and educational hub of the Gulf. Dubai is also a cheaper destination than London for MBA students from India.
It is easy to see the attraction. On its first round of recruitment, London Business School will take £2m in fees. But the schools say it is more than money that is drawing them in. "We're not doing this to make a load of money. There are lots of places you can go and do that," says Dina Dommett, managing director of the LBS's Dubai London programme. "This is something a little bit bolder."
For LBS and other schools it is a chance to position themselves at the heart of the Gulf boom. Dommett sees LBS's role as grooming a new business elite for the region. There is certainly a demand for it. At $69,950 (£34,975) the LBS's fees are double some Dubai programmes. Cass Business School will charge £24,000 for a two-year course. Even so, Dommett has received over 100 applications for the 16-month executive MBA course, and not just from professionals based in Dubai.
The course is structured so that students can come from across the region, with online self study combined with monthly four- or five-day courses at the school's local offices in the Dubai International Finance Centre. Recruitment, assessment, and workshops will all be done by LBS faculty.
Some electives will be tailored to the region, with more local case studies, but the programme's fundamentals in finance and accounting will be the same as in London. "We don't want some strange hybrid," says Dommett. "The tools they're going to learn will be the basic London Business School skills."
In contrast to LBS's approach, Cass Business School, part of City University, London, last month announced EMBA programmes in Dubai designed around regional interests. They are thought to be the first EMBAs to specialise in Islamic finance. Islamic finance brings sharia law to the marketplace. It works by banks acting, for a fee, as matchmaker between borrowers and lenders, who share the profit or loss from the borrower's investment.
Overseen by sharia scholars, it also forbids loans to companies who deal in alcohol, gambling, arms, or pork. There is an acute need for managers who can bridge the gap between religious law and the global marketplace. "Islamic finance is probably the fastest growing sector in finance," explains Dr Hassan Hakimian, associate dean at Cass Business School. Islamic finance, he says, is expected to grow by 15 per cent a year over the next decade. And, he adds, this is not just an issue in the Gulf - London could well become the biggest centre of Islamic finance outside the Muslim world.
Bradford University School of Management began offering MBAs in the city in the Nineties in partnership with a Dubai businessman and later Emirates. "It's worked very well," says Professor Stuart Sanderson, associate dean at Bradford.
A change in the business laws in the United Arab Emirates means that foreign operations no longer need a local business partner. Business schools can go it alone. Manchester University moved in to the Dubai market last year and now has over 200 part time executive MBA students.
Manchester's involvement, explains Nigel Bannister, CEO at the business school, is a combination of local demand and opportunity. "Dubai reminds me of Singapore," he says. "There's the same investment in infrastructure and government and authorities are certainly welcoming. An opportunity like this allows us to continue to develop a deeper understanding of the way business works in different cultures."
'What the London Business School and others are doing is excellent'
Haitham Al-Kadi, 34, is vice president - Middle East at Forsyth Partners. In 2003 he took an MBA in finance at the University of Edinburgh Management School.
My MBA was of immense importance to my career and I did have to make sacrifices. I had to quit my job and pay the fees out of my savings and I had to be away from my kids. That was the biggest sacrifice. But I saw it at the time as an investment.
I think what the London Business School and others are doing is an excellent step. A lot of companies here in the Middle East have put emphasis on an MBA but many people will find it difficult to commit themselves to a full time MBA programme. At Edinburgh, out of 100 students,I was the only one from the Gulf.
At present, programmes in the UK do lack material that looks at the Middle East. It's great that Cass is doing an EMBA in Islamic finance. The growth of Islamic finance is a big thing now.
But doing an MBA in Britain offers interaction with foreign students and faculty members that would have been more limited if I'd done it here. You develop your networking and communication skills. I still see the value in investing time and going there.
Independent Offers
A-Z site map
Indy 100 prices
MORE: Travel podcasts
SAVE: Travel offers
FREE: Email headlines