Young MBAs Prefer Innovative, International Firms Than Start-ups: Says SDA Bocconi Survey

Young managers still dream of developing their career in a company, innovative and international rather than go in for a start-up, according to a survey among MBA students and alumni worldwide conducted by SDA Bocconi.

The ideal company they prefer to work is for Google, LVMH or McKinsey, the survey conducted among 370 MBA students and alumni from 45 countries, with an average age of 30. They will take part in the 2016 Rolex MBA Regatta from September 29 in Italy, organized by SDA Bocconi.

Despite the buzz about start-ups and entrepreneurship, 69% of the respondents indicated a preference to grow in an established company rather than launch their own business (31%). However, they wanted to develop their career in a flexible manner that includes grasping different job opportunities at different times (72 %). Only 28% preferred to stay and grow vertically in the same company. A majority of 60% career path that would preferably take them abroad. The remaining 40% emerged as stay at home country types.

Consulting and professional services sector remains the most attractive career choice. Next comes the financial and insurance sector followed by the fashion, design & luxury sector, energy and utilities and last of all, the Information and Communication (ICT) sector.

Apart from Google, LVMH and McKinsey as the top three preferred firms for a career, the students stated their preference for BCG, Tesla, Bain, General Electric, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan.

They also held as important, characteristics and values of a company are also important in career choices and respondents indicated ‘being innovative’ as the most important. Next in line were preferences for a company that values employee training and continuous learning, which is results-oriented, that emphasizes quality and that it is international.

“The results of the survey are interesting because they show that MBA candidates attach importance to the quality of the companies in which they would like to work but also to the flexibility of their career path and a work experience with an international breadth. It should also be noted that a not small percentage, about one third of respondents, increasingly sees the launch of a business venture as a challenge to grasp even in a particularly uncertain economic context like the present,” says Stefano Gatti, Director of the full-time MBA at SDA Bocconi.

The 370 participants in the survey are from 19 business schools from around the world who will compete in Santa Margherita Ligure from September 29 to October 2 for the 2016 Rolex MBA Regatta trophy organized by the SDA Bocconi Sailing Club, in collaboration with the Yacht Club Italiano and in partnership with Rolex.

Participants will be engaged in three intense days divided between challenges in the sea, discussion and networking and come from schools including, apart from host SDA Bocconi, London Business School, Harvard, MIT, Columbia, Wharton, IE, Manchester Business School, HEC, IESE and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. (Image Courtesy : www.telegraph.co.uk)