1. Design of Online MBA Programs
G. Anand Anandalingam
Former Dean
Imperial College Business School, London, UK
Smith School of Business, U of Maryland, USA

2. The Impact of Online Business Programs on Business Schools
History
University of Phoenix
University of Maryland University College
The Challenge
Declining base of MBA students
Change of educational culture
The Dilemma
How does one maintain brand equity while launching online programs

3. The Real Question
Should top-ranked Business Schools start launching online programs?
Debate at Harvard Business School
What are Tier-2 B-Schools to Do?
How should top-ranked Business Schools use modern technology and social media to pursue their strategy and vision?
Programs only?
What about Research?
What about organizational design and communication?

4. Some Thoughts on Program Design and Development
MOOCs vs Other Offerings
MOOCs
Very little revenue potential (truly open?)
Too many drop-outs (over 90%)
Challenge of branding for 2nd tier institutions
Market Segmentation
Friction of full-time vs part-time vs global
Cost/Revenue Sharing
How much of cost/revenue to share?
Control vs Outsourcing recruitment
Choice of vendor

5. Why an online MBA? A strategic decision
Delivering online programs helps address the following key strategic challenges:
Innovate programme delivery – Need to adapt to changing market demand and expectations
Increase global footprint – Online programmes promote brand awareness and impact at a global level
Solve space constraints – Online programmes enable to grow the B-School without the need for additional physical space
Increase revenue– Online programmes provide the opportunity to develop additional revenue streams

6. Decision at Imperial College
Run our own Online MBA Program
Call is Global Online MBA to reflect distribution of students
Student Choice
Full-Time, Week-End, Global Online
Tuition and Fees comparable across programs
Marketing done by ICBS and criteria set by ICBS
Recruitment done by Study Group for the most part
Admissions done by ICBS
Partner with EdX for some MOOCS
Very low fees/tuition
Specific offerings (pre-MBA, mini-MBA, intro to Finance
Mostly as a Marketing Tool

7. Conceptual Design Inspiration High Tech High Engagement
© Imperial College Business School

8. Inspiration

9. High tech
Technology works “Out of the box” Example: Give students the latest tablet device pre-configured with course content, including materials, , access to live classes etc. OR Require students to have the latest devices and software

10. High Tech The online classroom
Students experience live online classes with course leaders via the best-in-class tools including:
Google Hangout
Mimio Teach
Personify

11. High tech
Fast content
Use fast development techniques that enable courses to be updated rapidly in order to maintain links to an ever changing research base.

12. High tech
Rich content
We will also include rich content that promotes an active learning approach.

13. High tech Social media integration
Integration with common social media platforms

14. High tech Learning analytics Learning analytics provide
Students (and their instructors) with summary and comparative performance indicators. For example:
Task lists
Course completion
Scores in tests
Activity levels
Communication levels
Badging

15. High tech Support software
Use Software will to provide excellent levels of service support.
And provide data for service improvements.

16. High engagement One Model: Use of Live Sessions and Tutors
Students attend short course introductions by course leaders during the on-campus sessions
Students attend live classes with course leaders every 2-3 weeks during term times.
Students received feedback on assessed work from course leaders during their course.
Online tutors log-on to the Hub daily Monday to Friday. They respond to student questions, hold office hours.
Online tutors deliver regular live revision sessions focused on topics selected by the students.
Online tutors monitor student progress in the activities and give feedback on performance.
Note on experience from GEMBA
Online tutors need to be tightly integrated: Force interaction
Software needs to be compatible with iPads
Quality of tutors
- Ability to deliver lice session
Check knowledge of material through academic interview

17. High engagement Use a Cohort Model
Divide Students into Sensible Cohorts:
Programme = all students on programme
Cohort = all students starting on a particular date (around 100)
Stream = each cohort divided into streams (max 30 students)
Syndicate groups = each stream divided into syndicate groups (6 students)

18. High engagement Use Active Teaching Assistants
Teaching assistants. For example PhD students and Post-Docs) ) log on to course sites daily, respond to messages, hold office hours, track progress and produce summary reports.
Administration staff should be engaged in actively monitoring student progress and identifying any potential issues before they happen.

19. High engagement Peer-to-peer interaction
The use of syndicate groups, group activities and interest groups promote peer-to-peer interaction.

20. High engagement Face-to-face work
Students given opportunities each year to meet face-to-face through:
Orientation session
Global Study Tours
On-campus electives
Regional networking event (lectures and networking)
(Minimum three weeks of F2F compulsory over the programme)

21. Some key working decisions
How many intakes: Imperial: 2 intakes per year: Jan/July Smith: 4 intakes, every quarter Number of students: Imperial target: 100 per cohort Smith target: per cohort Price: Imperial: £30,000 - £35,000 Smith: $76,000 Students: Entry requirements as per EMBA/WEMBA. Cohort drawn from a wider geographical area. Curriculum: To initially follow EMBA/WEMBA programs

22. Any Questions?