“It is a mistake to see studying in Europe as all the same, but just in a different language," recently wrote an MBA graduate from a top European business school in a French magazine. Actually, it is not even in a different language, since most European MBA programmes are either taught in English or are bilingual. Learning another language or immersion in a different culture is definitely not what on MBA in Europe is all about, although it can be an added advantage in certain careers.

A successful manager in a global company should bring a number of critical skills to the job, such as an integrative management style, good communications skills, an exposure to cross cultural experiences, an ability to make decisions and the ability to adapt to different situations.

By its very nature, Europe is multicultural because its citizens enjoy frequent business and leisure contact with neighboring states across a relatively small area. Leading European MBA programmes make effective use of this diversity within the learning environment, with faculty members from Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, the US and Asia. Moreover, programme team members representing a wide range of nationalities may find themselves investigating a case study involving the marketing of luxury shoes in Brazil.

Because some 60 90% of students at many top European business schools are foreign, learning about the host country's cultural differences is incidental. The focus is on how to manage in today's global marketplace, and a school's multicultural faculty and student environment provides pragmatic insight into ways to approach a problem, allowing students to be comfortable in an international setting.

The combination of an excellent generalist European MBA programme providing the fundamentals of business management   strategy, marketing, finance, human resources, information systems   and the international dimension of their studies provides the best possible basis for an aspiring global manager, able to switch locations, disciplines, departments and continents far more easily than graduates from North American MBAs.

The following is an attempt to list the main similarities and differences between European and US MBAs:

Similarities

• A master of business administration degree is awarded;
• Admission requires a GMAT score and an undergraduate degree;
• The MBA is a practical, career-oriented degree;
• Learning is under pressure and students' performance is closely monitored and evaluated;
• Business schools foster close relations with the business community;
• The school's reputation is linked to its faculty~ tough admissions policy and success of its alumni.

Differences

• Programme duration is shorter;
• Longer work experience requirements;
• Older students;
• Greater diversity and originality of teaching and learning methods;
• MBA programmes are most of the time not part of large universities;
• Many shorter programmes (10 months to 2 years);
• Smaller numbers of students, facilities, faculty and endowments in general;
• Much less corporate acceptance (donating funds, hiring and promoting);
• International exchange programmes.

Author: Richard Perrin, International Relations Manager, HEC Paris – Graduate Business School

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