Leading the future of executive MBA education

The latest Tomorrow’s MBA report reveals that prospective students are looking for flexible learning that can be tailored to their needs, with technology integrated into the curriculum.

We spoke to Professor Peter Rodgers, MBA Director at Southampton Business School, to find out how Kortext is helping their programme to attract and empower executive learners.

Convenient

Kortext and Southampton Business School have a long-standing relationship, beginning when Kortext first provisioned eTextbooks for the MBA programme. Peter explains, ‘when we did our initial market research, we realised that Kortext was the best provider in the marketplace’.

This provision continues, several years on, with Kortext supplying each MBA executive with the key text for core modules, made available through our smart, easy-to-use study platform.

The Southampton MBA is a one-year, full-time, in-person programme. Peter describes the experience for executive learners as ‘full on’, with students on campus four or five days a week and attending classes for up to eight hours a day.

He says the partnership with Kortext gives their busy MBA executives reassurance and ‘peace of mind’. They can access required learning materials with one click, ‘so it’s one less worry for them’.

Collaborative

However, the MBA experience at Southampton is not just about timetabled sessions. Peter explains that the executives are experienced professionals who have already been in the workplace for several years and ‘some of the real learning is done peer-to-peer’.

Having core textbooks at their fingertips, available on any device 24/7, enables the executives to easily engage in this kind of collaborative, informal learning. ‘They can be having a conversation in a coffee shop and they’ll just click onto the platform to check something’, he says.

Competitive

In fact, Southampton Business School uses provisioned eTextbooks as a unique selling point of their MBA programme for prospective students. Peter observes that candidates frequently ask ‘which textbook do I need to buy?’ and ‘how much money do I need to set aside for books?’.

He says, ‘we can come straight back with “you don’t need to buy any because they’re all provided”’, commenting that this is particularly appealing to international students who are already investing a significant amount of money to study at a prestigious Global Top 100 leading Russell Group UK university.

Inclusive

However, the Kortext-Southampton relationship now goes beyond eTextbook provision. The MBA is benefitting from the advanced features available on Kortext, including the ability to instantly translate selected content into over 120 languages with complete accuracy.

As with other MBAs, Southampton attracts a diverse cohort and welcomes students from many different nationalities to the programme for whom English is often an additional language.

‘Like all organisations, we’re shining a light on the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion’, explains Peter, which means removing barriers to learning wherever possible.

The translation tool ‘brings a lot of confidence to the executives’, he says, ‘so they can actually concentrate on other things within the MBA experience’.

Efficient

AI is a key trend in business education now, and it’s very much on the radar at Southampton where Kortext’s AI-powered study tools are helping executives to summarise information, create study notes, and generate interactive Q&A on selected content, all within the safe confines of institution-approved resources on the Kortext platform.

For Peter, these tools ‘speed up the monotonous work of dredging through 100 files in the filing cabinet’ while researching. He adds, ‘is that the best use of an executive’s time? Probably not’.

Instead, the efficiencies offered by new AI study tools ‘create more space, more time for the development of critical thinking which is a skill set we try to develop’.

It’s fundamental for educators on the MBA programme at Southampton that executives emerge as authentic leaders, able to communicate and problem-solve effectively. Peter observes these skills are universally relevant because of ‘the interconnectedness of today’s international business landscapes’.

Future developments

In terms of future developments in executive education, Peter sees two major trends ahead.

The first is more flexible learning, with the post-pandemic online shift accelerating the demand for fully online or hybrid MBA programmes. In fact, Southampton is planning to launch a hybrid global executive MBA, in addition to the in-person programme offered currently.

The second is more collaborative learning enabled by technological advances. Peter is excited by the potential for business schools across the globe to be able to connect virtually for hackathons or mini-lecture programmes with input from students and educators worldwide.

Stay ahead of the curve

As a final observation, Peter says the relationship with Kortext ‘enables us to stay ahead of the curve’ at Southampton. He adds that ‘technological change is coming and it’s here to stay’, but ‘having these steps already in place is healthy’ and helps the programme to be future-ready.

If you’d like to find out how partnering with Kortext could empower your MBA, click here to start a conversation.