It’s 6:30 a.m. and the alarm rings in a new day. First, I check London weather to work out how many layers of clothes I’ll need. Then, I check the Transport For London (TFL) website to see how the London underground is performing. Thankfully, the tube is on my side this morning.

I arrive at Hult and go straight to the 4th floor, Hult’s communal floor, to prepare my first coffee of the day and read the headlines in the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times. Then, it’s off to the classroom on the 1st floor, where everybody is waiting for class to start.

I greet my friends, we talk about our weekends, assignments, classes, and some of today’s headlines. After a while, it’s easy to forget just how international Hult is; an outside observer would note the cross-cultural conversation between a Brazilian, a Turk, a South Korean, and a Brit. At the beginning of the course I was uncomfortable communicating only in English, so this informal and more natural type of conversation—in addition to the support and patience from my classmates and professors—really helped me to improve my communication skills. In fact, this Module B, in the 3rd class of “Operations Management,” I gave a solo presentation to the entire class!

At 9 a.m., class begins. Today is “Global Strategy,” and as usual, it’s a very dynamic class with the professor explaining a theory and providing several real-life situations, with a thorough analysis about the current situation of the retail industry in the UK. The class is interspersed with questions, comments, and points of discussion from students. In this class, participation counts for 20-30%; in soft skills classes such as “Organizational Behavior,” this proportion can change to 40-50%.

We get a 15-20 minute break within the first half of the class. During this time there is a lot going on: people go to take a coffee, talk with the professor, and catch up with classmates.

After the break, we come back to continue our analysis and arguments of a case study, and the related articles and notes we prepared in advance. Professors are always encouraging us to reflect about the reasons behind our recommended actions, so by the end of the class we have a clearer image of the decision making process and the impacts it can have. At 12 p.m. class ends, and it is time to for lunch.

Back on the 4th floor, I sit down for a good chat with my friends, just like I used to do when I was working. This is the busiest time on the 4th floor; many students are eating and finishing their morning meetings/studies or just hanging out.

Though there is no more class for the day, it is still a very busy time on campus. Everyone has various appointments, like group meetings, group study, club business or self-study. Today I have a group meeting, where the task at hand is to finish our assignment for “Managerial Economics.” Two weeks ago we were presented with three questions that we need to answer based on class material and our own research—as a team.

Working in teams also serves as another good example of the type of cross-cultural communication students have the opportunity to hone at Hult. To illustrate, my current team is a combination of people from Ecuador, Brazil, Iceland, Austria, Japan, and Pakistan. Of course we have different ways of thinking and acting, but we use our differences to create a positive and supportive work environment. The goal is merge the best of our backgrounds to create a positive outcome. We have learned different techniques to improve our group work, including motivation, negotiation, and active listening. Above all, we understand that dialogue and discernment are the basis of successful teams.

A few hours later, the assignment is complete and we are ready to go home, and continue our work.

This evening, I will do a review of today’s class, prepare my readings for tomorrow and conduct some research for other assignments. And then it’s time for a good night’s sleep to recharge my batteries ready for another rigorous day of learning—who knows what that will bring!

Authored by Rafael Natali. Rafael is a Hult Global Ambassador. He has a background in Information Technology with over 10 years of experience, and four as a manager. He is currently an MBA student at Hult’s London Campus, where he is enhancing his knowledge and business skills, while in the midst of a multicultural experience. (Article courtesy Hult.edu)

AMBA is the international independent authority on postgraduate business education. Their accreditation service is the global standard for all MBA, DBA, and MBM programs, and they currently accredit over 200 business schools in more than 70 countries.

The AMBA MBA Innovation Award recognizes new practices, risks, and creativity in AMBA-accredited programs.  Hult’s new MBA curriculum, that saw them win the award, is the world’s first to be designed in collaboration with global business leaders and employers.

Hult says it redesigned its One-Year MBA curriculum to fully integrate the teaching of critical ‘soft skills’ and measure students’ development in a systematic and comprehensive way.  

Using five key competencies (Adaptive Thinking, Communication, Building Relationships, Teamwork, and Execution) identified by employers as essential to success in the workplace, MBA students work on improving these competencies throughout the program through a blend of training, mentorship, and feedback from peers, faculty, and professional development specialists.

One of the key changes introduced by the school includes spending less time on theoretical concepts, and more time applying those newly learned concepts. The school says on its website that now “more time (is spent) simulating what really happens in business, as well as how to react to ambiguous and changing situations.”

Andrew Main Wilson, AMBA Chief Executive, had this to say of Hult’s win: “The fact that Hult International Business School created an MBA program in close consultation with leading employers, designed to deliver performance-ready MBAs to make a major impact in their roles from day one, is both extremely impressive and much in tune with the needs of modern business.”

As per the B-School, the new MBA curriculum takes the action based learning approach to bold new levels by combining skills development and competitive simulations with a six-month-long ‘Hult Impact Challenge’ – a hands-on project working on current business challenges faced by multinationals such as IBM, Unilever, and Philips. 

The challenge also gives student opportunities to demonstrate their skills and experience directly to potential employers.

Besides HULT, Maastricht School of Management was shortlisted for its MBA program’s focus on taking the lessons of management education to ‘fragile states’ and countries lacking in resources. Meanwhile, Grenoble and Warwick were in the running for developing novel teaching methods for use within courses – a nanotech educative board game and a film-making assignment respectively.  

By Jacob Parackal

The nature of companies has changed along with the change in the global economic scenario – most companies are now multinationals – they are conducting business in different countries around the world.

This change in the business world has also changed how companies choose their employees. Since employees have to work in an environment comprising of people from different cultures, each with a different way of doing work, MNCs are increasingly opting for MBAs who are capable of delivering the best possible performance in such an environment.

Having ‘managers without borders’ is now an important aim for most companies in the world.

More business schools are both increasing diversity in terms of candidates they accept as well as introducing diversity in their course curriculum to make students capable of adapting to workplaces with diverse work cultures at play. 

In this context, Hult International Business School bears the distinction of  having been ranked among the top B-schools for having the most international class. 

Nurturing diversity is important: diversity helps inculcate an appreciation of multiple perspectives and an appreciation of what is ‘different’ from us. Over a long term, encouraging diversity can strengthen the workplace and the larger community – it prepares the student to be a good citizen in a pluralistic society. 

Understanding the culture and a society and a country is also important to do business in a particular country and has significant impact on the success of the business in that society. 

The study of Human Resource Management and Fortune Magazine has revealed an interesting statistics through a survey they conducted. In the survey fifty two percent of the employees said that a good diversity in the work place improves the relationship with the clients whereas seventy nine percent of the employees said that diversity is the most vital element to improve their corporate cultures. Seventy seven percent of employees said that diversity helps to reduce conflict between the employees thereby increasing the quality of the decision making process which ultimately is reflected in increased creativity and productivity within the organisation.

In a recent survey, seventy seven percent of employees said that diversity helps to reduce conflict between employees thereby increasing the quality of the decision making process which ultimately is reflected in increased creativity and productivity within the organisation.

What are institutes doing to encourage diversity in class?

First to increase diversity, top MBA institutes are trying to accommodate students from various countries and from various cultures. Gender diversity is also being focused on. The diversity factor is also being accelerated by introducing students from different backgrounds such as media, military, not-for profit entrepreneurship as well as others fields such as fine arts.

The most basic level of diversity that MBA officers are looking for is students from a wide range of places and backgrounds. According to Gaurav Agarwal, Associate Director (Admission) at Hult International Business School, when HULT is looking for students it looks for diversity of thoughts, unique backgrounds such as athletes, diversity in terms of ethnicity, citizenship, age and country of origin.

He admits being an admission officer is an intense job – managing the mix is not an easy task. 

After my graduation from Hult, I can say I have a home in nearly 64 countries – Select My Tutor, my start-up requires me to. With our company slowly expanding into various countries, I require the help of my classmates from diverse backgrounds and countries to understand and localize the product based on the country we expand into. 

As Stephen R Covey says, “Strength lies in the differences, not in the similarities”

Contributing Blogger Jacob Parackal is a 2011 alumnus of Hult International Business School. He has more than 4+ years in strategic consulting for top MNC companies. He is currently the co-founder of  ‘Select My Tutor’ and is running its operations. 

The conventional, theoretical class room education is losing favor in the current turbulent economic environment. Students with strong theoretical knowledge but without any experience of how to apply that knowledge in the field are being considered to be ‘no good’ by corporations.

Corporations today no longer have the time to make a candidate fit for tackling real life challenges by putting them through a time consuming training process. The most advanced and contemporary business institutes have already changed their course structure to one oriented to ‘practical learning’ rather than theoretical class room learning, in response to the changing environment.

‘LEAP’ is a leap by Hult in that direction.

LEAP stands for Learn, Experience and Action Projects. The essence of this style of teaching is not to undermine the importance of abstract theory, but to incorporate the practical applications of those theories. In fact, when students learn the practical application of their theoretical knowledge, they get a much better understanding of the subject being taught in the class room.

As part of LEAP, the learning process is divided into two steps.

First you get strong theoretical knowledge from one of the best faculties in the world and thereafter you undergo learning through the case study methods to give you a sense of how these theories and principles are being applied in practice. This involves interactive learning through thought-provoking discussions with students from around the world. At this stage, Hult provides you with the theory, tools, terminology, and trends to give you a broad perspective on business.  

To enrich the LEAP process, insights and real world experience of the faculties is a vital element.

To develop the analytical ability of the students to translate the theory into practice, the students participate in panel discussions with industry experts and are provided exclusive networking opportunities and company visits.

The students receive first hand advice from visionary speakers such as Arianna Huffington on the choices and mistakes they have made in analyzing and responding to real life situations. Hult’s Global Rotation gives you the opportunity to experience international business practices up-close.

The last step is definitely the Action Projects. As a business student, you can participate in a real-world project for a major company or an Action Project created in partnership with your current employer, which is a ‘win-win’ for you and your company.

Advised by a mentor, small teams of students compete with one another to develop a business strategy and present their recommendations to that company. Hult’s Action Projects are designed to emphasize innovation and growth and focus on the paramount challenge facing any company: identifying new pathways for growth.

As stated LEAP is a leap towards the most modern way of developing business leaders and has been recognised by industry experts all over the world. The practical approach of teaching is available in many business schools, but the difference is that few of them are as diversified and contemporary as LEAP.

As a Student who went through the LEAP way of learning at Hult, with professors with real world experience i.e. doing business or in corporate world, I learned to tackle real life problems.

The reason you will see many start-ups emerging from businesses schools that incorporate the LEAP model in some manner is because when their Founding teams get out of business school, they are all set to tackle real world problems. 

While starting up selectmytutor.co.uk, I had come across quite a few obstacles on a daily basis. But having worked with 3M during my action project helped me negotiate the winding entrepreneurial path and even get introduced to some key contacts that helped me get the necessary seed funding for starting up my venture.

The old school teaching methods need to give way to the new technology based learning such as the LEAP method.

MBA graduates need to be industry ready and meet the requirement of the companies they are hired in. In this environment of austerity, corporates are preferring employees who need the least training and are the right fit for their team.

Contributing Blogger Jacob Parackal is a 2011 alumnus of Hult International Business School. He has more than 4+ years in strategic consulting for top MNC companies. He is currently the co-founder of  ‘Select My Tutor’ and is running its operations. 

Cover image courtesy Fastcompany.com