Stanford changes curriculum

n a move that could be a clue to what the future of management education might look like, Stanford University's Graduate School of Business is announcing a major reconstruction of its highly rated MBA program on June 6. The new curriculum, to be implemented in the fall of 2007, introduces two ideas that are uncharacteristic of the MBA world: flexibility and customization.

Unlike the traditional MBA curriculum, made up of core course requirements in the first year and electives in the second, in the new Stanford design each student will be matched with a tailored course schedule based on past education, work experience, and future goals. According to Stanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, a frequent critic of management education, the change is the most important thing that has happened in his 27 years at the school.

"This makes students more responsible for their education and potentially engages them more profoundly and more deeply," Pfeffer says in a release about the program.

While curriculum changes at schools are not unusual, they are often implemented by struggling schools to boost application numbers. It is rare when a school like Stanford, which is ranked highly and doing well, attempts a shift of this magnitude (see BW Online, 8/10/05, "Pushing MBAs Beyond the Books").

"PART OF THE MATURATION." The new curriculum model comes after a task force of 11 faculty members, led by economics professor Garth Saloner, was asked to examine the current curriculum and develop a new design that would better fit the needs of future business leaders. After getting feedback from hundreds of current students and alumni, a clear consensus arose centered on three distinct issues: Programs don't address the diverse background and experiences of students, the linear approach of most MBA programs doesn't suit everyone, and students were not adequately prepared for the global business environment.

"This is part of the maturation of the MBA," Saloner says.

With these issues taken into account, the new design starts students in a common program in the first quarter of study, not dissimilar to the old core of courses. The program will be based on five courses aimed at raising fundamental questions and engaging students, and will include courses like "Teams and Organizational Behavior" and "The Global Context of Management." In these courses, broad philosophical issues will give faculty members a chance to get to know the students and better understand what kind of curriculum each will need. Class sizes will be smaller, and students will be challenged in a way that wasn't possible with the wide diversity of the common MBA makeup.

"We aren't getting rid of the basics, but we feel that we can teach them better by motivating them more strongly in the beginning," Saloner says.

NO MORE ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL. Also, students will be paired with a faculty adviser who will help to craft an individual learning plan for each student. According to Stanford Dean Robert Joss, the new highly interactive curriculum along with the faculty-student advising and placement component "will challenge every student to his or her fullest capability."

After the core quarter, students each begin on their own path of study that will vary by pace, depth, and assumed knowledge. "What we heard from many students was that the current, one-size-fits-all curriculum wasn't working," Saloner says. "More experienced students felt underchallenged and students with limited business background were overwhelmed." With the new curriculum, students will be matched with course loads based on their prior knowledge and experience. For instance, a student strong in economics but lacking in operations knowledge would be placed in a high-end economics course with other students strong in that area and a base-level operations course.

In the second year, students will take part in intensive one-week seminars in specific subjects, meeting each afternoon for three hours. They will also be required to take part in a global experience that could be in the form of a study trip, an internship overseas, a service-learning trip, or a student exchange with Tsinghua University in China (see BW Online, 12/8/05, "Pressure at the Top").

FLEXIBLE FACILITIES. With about 750 full-time MBAs, Stanford is a relatively small program compared with other top schools. This, along with a large endowment, puts the business school in a unique spot to make such a change. "This is something that will play to our small size," Saloner says. "It will be harder for schools that are much bigger than us to do."

The new curriculum will require Stanford to hire 5% to 10% more faculty members to accommodate for the smaller class sizes, as well as the eventual construction of a new building that would be more conducive to this learning style. "The curriculum is meant to be flexible, and we need the same flexibility in our facilities," Joss says, adding that administrators have in mind a new campus that will deliver a more flexible space offering smaller seminar rooms and breakout areas, rather than the large lecture halls common in the current building. A new building proposal has been developed and will be presented to the Board of Trustees in June.

It will be a few years before it becomes clear what these changes will mean for Stanford and for the MBA world, but if the excitement within the school is any indication of what's to come, expect positive results. "Once in a while you come up with something and you feel like you really have it," Saloner says. "This is one of those times."

Business Week Article here