IMCB—An International Forum for Management Development
| Pages | 12-14 |
| Date | 01 March 1985 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb057395 |
| Published date | 01 March 1985 |
| Author | John Peters |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
IMCB-An
International
Forum for
Management
Development
by John Peters
Industrial Fellow in Management
Communications, International
Management Centre from Buckingham
About two years ago, a bold—some said suicidal—venture
in management education was launched. The International
Management Centre from Buckingham, set up by a group
of UK business school academics had aims that were
nothing less than radical—to work with managers, not from
a campus, but at or near their own work place; to move from
standardised "we know best" teaching towards syllabus in-
put by sponsoring organisations. This involved a heavy com-
mitment to the principles of action learning, which many
business schools use at the periphery of their programmes,
but few, if any, at the core. Therefore all programmes would
be in-post and work-based.
"For too
long",
the principal and prime mover Gordon Wills,
previously Professor of Customer Policy at Cranfield,
said,
"business schools have hidden behind words like 'enhance-
ment' and 'enrichment'. An organisation has a right to de-
mand a
real,
measurable return on its often significant in-
vestment, and a right to influence the content and the ap-
proach.
Because we don't ask for state funding, we must
run as a business We must be proactive not reactive, and
produce what the market wants, not sell what it suits us
to produce."
An intimidating part of the operation was to live up to the
"International" tag The logistical problems alone, of resour-
cing international programmes with materials and faculty
while maintaining local relevance and quality, are frighten-
ing Yet it was precisely this that the founders were most
determined to make succeed.
Arrogance
A year ago, Prof. Wills wrote of the "arrogance" of many
British business schools, which presume to increase the ef-
fectiveness of overseas managers on UK-based program-
mes,
using largely British teachers and texts
Writing as a graduate of a traditionally run British business
school MBA programme, it is especially interesting to
observe how IMCB has gone about overturning this neo-
colonialism In my MBA group, a heavy presence from,
especially, Africa and the Far East, testified to the overseas
reputation of British management education. However, the
lack of relevance of much of the MBA programme for the
non-UK participants soon became obvious, through com-
ments expressed both in and out of the lecture theatres.
These inherent shortcomings are echoed by the chairman
of IMCB's MBA programme, Keith Howard, himself a tutor
in the traditional business school system for many years.
Referring to the limitations of the traditional MBA, he stated
"the ultimate heresy" in suggesting that "MBA graduates
from the 'Ivy League' of business schools on both sides of
the Atlantic are recruited by companies less for the value
added during the programmes than for the fact that they
were selected for a prestigious programme in the first place."
Market Pragmatism
The success of IMCB's approach to international manage-
ment education and development has come about for a
number of reasons. To over-simplify somewhat, the main
one has been market pragmatism On most management
development activity programmes, from a part-time MBA,
to a one-day seminar, who picks up the bill? Generally speak-
ing,
as any personnel or training manager will testify, it is
the organisation. Yet how often do practitioners consult the
bill-payers on their particular needs and requirements? How
often do senior executives get the opportunity, let alone en-
couragement, to contribute to a syllabus? The answer, sadly,
is rarely—the same old "we know best" standardised out-
put prevails.
Similarly, how often are questions about the actual "nuts
and bolts" of learning seriously addressed? After all, is it
not true that a manager is a manager is a manager; that
a 25-year-old computer salesman in London, a 50-year-old
works inspector in Hong Kong or a 35-year-old head of
research department in Lagos all respond to the same lear-
ning stimuli and all need to know the same things?
IMCB came in from the market end of the operation, with
a similar approach to a business consultancy, asking ques-
tions,
ascertaining needs and wants, with fewer assump-
tions of infallibility than normally found. Programmes are
all based around action learning, which integrates the needs
of the sponsoring organisation with those of the participant.
12 IMDS • MARCH/APRIL • 1985
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