Executive future
As demand for MBA courses has slumped globally, it has been the best and cheapest schools that have held their own, says Zbigniew Turowski, one of the school's founders and its current vice-president. The weak demand, he says, is an inevitable consequence of the economic slowdown, but the very best schools still pull in large numbers of students, who seek to improve their chances on the competitive executive recruitment market. At the same time, the cheapest schools attract candidates keen to acquire a degree for its own sake, with little regard to its actual value.
Turowski says that the PW Business School has long been alert to the consequences of these developments and has adapted its curriculum accordingly. The changing market conditions have led to an increased variety of courses on offer, with schools around the world offering specialized courses that, in addition to the core management subjects, include extra modules. One such example is the Executive Master in Finance program that has been gaining popularity in the most established MBA markets and which will soon be offered by PW.
In such finance-oriented courses, the support of IT and computing tools is vital, hence PW's students can benefit from the expertise of academic teachers in the university's scientific and technical departments. Since PW also enjoys strong links with a number of corporations, such as IBM and Oracle, these firms are also involved in the teaching process.
Another important trend of the global market is the increasingly multicultural nature of courses. Turowski points to the London Business School's joint program with Columbia University, which is based in both London and New York.
"Despite horrendous prices, the program has proven extremely popular," Turowski says, adding that the global dimension is also important to the PW's MBA courses, which are taught in English. Currently, 40 percent of students are foreigners, attracted to the country's potential as a market.
Many of these students, Turowski says, have set up start-ups in the country, often benefiting from the contacts they made during the course of their studies. The networking opportunities are increased by the fact that the school's alumni association, the largest of its kind in the country, with more than a thousand members, also includes students among its numbers. "Thus, we have created a genuine community around the school, which is a unique phenomenon in global terms," Turowski says.
Turowski says that the PW Business School has long been alert to the consequences of these developments and has adapted its curriculum accordingly. The changing market conditions have led to an increased variety of courses on offer, with schools around the world offering specialized courses that, in addition to the core management subjects, include extra modules. One such example is the Executive Master in Finance program that has been gaining popularity in the most established MBA markets and which will soon be offered by PW.
In such finance-oriented courses, the support of IT and computing tools is vital, hence PW's students can benefit from the expertise of academic teachers in the university's scientific and technical departments. Since PW also enjoys strong links with a number of corporations, such as IBM and Oracle, these firms are also involved in the teaching process.
Another important trend of the global market is the increasingly multicultural nature of courses. Turowski points to the London Business School's joint program with Columbia University, which is based in both London and New York.
"Despite horrendous prices, the program has proven extremely popular," Turowski says, adding that the global dimension is also important to the PW's MBA courses, which are taught in English. Currently, 40 percent of students are foreigners, attracted to the country's potential as a market.
Many of these students, Turowski says, have set up start-ups in the country, often benefiting from the contacts they made during the course of their studies. The networking opportunities are increased by the fact that the school's alumni association, the largest of its kind in the country, with more than a thousand members, also includes students among its numbers. "Thus, we have created a genuine community around the school, which is a unique phenomenon in global terms," Turowski says.
