MBA vs MBI

It is time to move on to the MBI. MBA is becoming a global commodity.

Education in general is facing issues regarding its capacity of adaptation towards our globalized world. There are still debates over whether business education is about teaching a profession, or a social science subject. That debate will continue.

Managers and employees are more and more asked to use their personal knowledge and skills to analyze contexts, characterize problematic situations, and provide suitable solutions. Therefore, managers and employees’ training should not involve scholar knowledge acquisition only. It should encompass experiences of applications of that knowledge to solve concrete corporate challenges.

Therefore, the MBI pedagogical approach integrates business challenges that students will have to solve by applying the delivered knowledge. To achieve such a goal, students work in small teams of 3 to 5 members. The composition of the teams is established to ensure the diversity and complementarity of profiles. The cognitive profile of each student is established at the start of the year by using a test determining the dominant traits of his/her personality.
The active resolution of multiple real corporate challenges helps students to strengthen their core competencies and more particularly their "soft skills".
The MBI program focuses on developing students' personal potential through the acquisition of actionable knowledge* and does not focus on filling their brains with theories.

MBA vs MBI?

Let us consider the differences between a traditional Master in Business Administration (MBA) and a Master in Business Innovation (MBI).

The MBA content and format evolved to address economical and industrial needs but it still remains focused on the core traditional business fields such as accounting, finance, marketing, human resources and operations.

The MBI is focused also on the current strategic/competitive needs of modern organizations.

It also covers the core business areas. However, it integrates them in a more pragmatic and transversal manner. For example, within the innovation projects feasibility course, the different aspects of product or service viability, risk and sustainability are addressed, taking into consideration strategic, economic, technological, legal and operational aspects.

The key differences are summarized in the following graphic.

* Argrysis & Schon 1978 (ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING: A THEORY OF ACTION PERSPECTIVE)