Delovoi Peterburg (St. Petersburg), March 03, 2010
ORIENTATION AT PRACTICE IS DEMANDED FROM MBA PROGRAMS, Anzhelika Tikhonova
Results of 2009 and prospects of 2010
SPb. According to some estimates, enlistment of students to MBA programs in St. Petersburg and Moscow decreased by 50-60%. Experts share their opinions about what this segment of education will face in 2010.
Anders Liljenberg, Dean of Stockholm School of Economics Russia:
Non-serious players who offered programs under MBA brand quit the market. For serious players to which I would also attribute the higher school of management and Skolkovo demand will be formed by participants of even higher level than before. For all of us the main task now is improvement of informing of the Russian consumer about what is MBA program. I also believe that it is important to modify the content of MBA program permanently to make sure that it corresponds to the trends of the present time.


On the other hand, they confessed unwillingness or inability to add a bigger orientation and business practice to the programs. Many Russian MBA programs are not exceptions. Hence there is a failure in enlistment of students for MBA programs in the last 18 months in majority of Russian higher educational institutions. We chose a different, not quite simple, way of development, that is following of the model of practice-oriented business schools. This resulted in a more or less quiet passage through the economic crisis.
I think that the main leaders of the St. Petersburg MBA market will cope with their plans of enlistment to the spring MBA programs successfully without lowering of prices.
The overwhelming majority of the players will have big difficulties in enlistment even if they lower the price significantly.

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Payment for knowledge and skills
The salary expectations of 55% of the candidates in St. Petersburg are in the brackets from 15,000 to 30,000 rubles and requirements of 27% of respondents with MBA degree start from 100,000 rubles.