TOP 7 INDIANA UNIVERSITY

Application Contact:

Joseph A. Pica

Assistant Dean and Director

MBA Program, Room 254

Graduate School of Business

Indiana University

10th and Fee Lane

Bloomington, Indiana 47405

U.S.A.

　

　

Business isn't about theory and abstractions.It's about fast-paced life in the marketplace.

The Indiana MBA Program takes the focus out of the classroom and puts it in the boardroom.

Or on the trading floor. Or in the corridor after a high-powered meeting. Or in the quiet of your office at 11 p.m. as you finally come up with the solution that has eluded you all day. That's business. And we want Indiana MBAs to deal with it better than anyone else.

-- Indiana MBA Brochure --

　

三年前，印地安那商學院面談了超過140名大企業經理人，發現這些企業面臨一個共同問題，就是擁有太多的專才（specialists）但缺乏通才的經理人做整合的工作。一個大企業總裁愁眉苦臉地說：我公司裡有財務經理、行銷經理、系統部主任、生產部主任，將他們分開來看，個個都身懷絕技、苦幹實幹，但是，卻沒有任何一個可以單槍匹馬搞定任何一筆生意。每次都非得等到大家坐下來談不可！真是通才難求！

於是，印地安那商學院立刻著手為教育管理通才而設計新的課程。一九九五年的全新課程，打破分科授課的限制，第一年的必修課全部合併在一起，稱為foundation core和professional core，兩者均由教授群（faculty team）聯合授課。更創新的是，每一個學期你將只會拿到一個成績。

一九九二年印地安那商學院教授們的教學品質被學生評鑑為不及格（below average）。在第一年的課程更改為教授聯合授課的方式之後，一九九四年該院的教學品質大幅改進，名列第二，僅次於一向以最高教學品質著稱的達頓學院（Darden）。『有競爭才有進步』-- 一群教授共同教一門課的結果，使得每一位教授都非得使出渾身解數，免得在學生面前被其他的教授比下去、看扁了！

這就是印地安那商學院。只要有批評，就立刻有改進。只要有一個理念（idea），就立刻有一個創新（innovation）。因此五年前還在20名邊緣徘徊，今日已穩坐top 10，直追西北、哈佛、史丹佛！

印大商學院的改革是『去蕪存菁』而非『激進盲從』。五年前新生入學的第一件事：擦亮履歷表，準備求職（job-hunting），至今還是新生訓練的重頭戲。專門與企業界做公關的助理教務長Randy Powell，也仍然是印大商學院僅次於教務長的第二號靈魂人物。否則，光憑創新的通才教育與良性競爭下漸入佳境的教學品質，位於純樸小鎮（Bloomington）的印大商學院，仍將很難由位於都會區、擁有廣大就業市場的其他頂尖商學院（例如：Stern 與 Columbia）中脫穎而出。

一個打紐約前來的MBA學生這樣說：我開著車離開家鄉New York City一路西行，我看到愈來愈濃的綠野和愈來愈稀的人煙。當我進入一片玉米田中，聽到有人對我說：歡迎光臨印大商學院！後來我認識了Randy Powell，才發現中西部的人不但獵鹿（deer-hunting）有一套，求職（job-hunting）也酷斃了！

目前第二年的課程只有三門必修課：Legal Environment、Macroeconomics、和Strategic Management，其餘都是自由選修。你可以選定一個領域選修四門課以上，取得該領域的主修；也可選定兩個以上的領域各修四門，拿到雙主修（double major）。當然，你更可以繼續第一年的通才教育，不偏重任何一個領域。一九九四年畢業的那一屆超過一半的學生（52%）選擇印大商學院最強的財務（finance）為主修，在這個領域的選修課基本上包括三個主題：全球性（global）、技術性（technological）、與道德性（ethical）。

印大地處印第安那州南邊小鎮 Bloomington，據學生在玉米田中的描述，這是一個混合著安娜堡、柏克萊、與劍橋氣質的大學城。倘若你自認不是『社交長才』也不具有『學術氣質』，請不要考慮印大商學院！這裡給你的不僅是嚴謹的商學教育，更著重你的人格發展與人際關係。

幾乎所有的MBA學生都加入了MBAA（MBA Association），這是一個綜合性的學生社團，同時經營超過14種學生俱樂部。例如：投資俱樂部（Investment Club）不定期舉辦企業觀摩或校內學術演講，1993-94年還辦了一個証券與投資遊學團，在緊湊的行程中至少參觀拜訪了投資銀行界的主要企業諸如：Goldman Sachs & Co., Salomon Brothers Inc., Kidder Peabody, 與 Merrill Lynch。

印大商學院十分重視學生的履歷表。從新生訓練時你在個人電腦上輸入履歷，它就自動進了學校的database，你可以花十幾元美金買到新生的履歷大全，但假若你想買畢業生的履歷大全，則大約得花上一百美金！除了database系統，目前印大校園內的電子郵件網路（e mail network）也已經成為本校學生、教授、與外校（甚至海外）取得連絡和資訊最方便、最廉價、又最先進的方式。

在玉米田中經營job-hunting的生意並不容易，但Randy Powell的強勢作風卻令人印象深刻。Randy協助MBA求職的哲學十分原始：高薪job、低薪job、只要給薪就是好job（黑貓、白貓、能捉耗子就是好貓）。這使得印大MBAs畢業時就業率雖然居高不下，但起薪卻是top 10中最低的。五年前印大還在top 20 邊緣徘徊時，畢業生對於這樣的求職哲學還多能甘之如貽。如今穩坐top 10，起薪仍然只有哈佛的一半，就有許多學生開始不以為然。看來，印大商學院只重視job-hunting skills已經落伍了，趕緊加入salary bargaining Skills，才有可能繼續經營這家玉米田中的 job-hunting 老店。

校友感言

I was worried about my quantitative abilities here. But there are many trade-offs in a team. A person in my first team who was beyond belief in quantitative skills worked with me and got me right up to speed. On the other hand, I'm know- ledgeable about the concepts of organizational behaviors and organization development. I've worked with people in my group one-on-one. A couple of them jumped on my coattails the way I jumped on others' for quantitative information. That's the power of teams. You're personally and individually responsible for your own development, but you can absorb what you need easily within a team. At Indiana, I learn the art of giving and taking.

The Indiana faculty are really into teaching. When they come to class, they're excited, revved up. And they go the extra mile. They're always in their offices. If you tell them you don't think you're doing so well, they'll help you out, tell you what you need to study. It's a two-way street. They look to MBA students for perspectives and opinions as well. My background is in accounting and I'm a CPA. I had a faculty member come to me and ask if an accounting exam was too tough.

If you're like me, you're using all the rankings and guides and looking at reputation, cost, and value. But don't stop there. You need to know more. At Indiana, I saw great opportunity when I came and looked over it. I heard the Indiana program was more generalist, less focused on number crunching. At other business schools students told me they didn't like the atmosphere -- people erasing your disks, stabbing you in the back, that type of thing. Yes, things get exaggerated, but an atmosphere anything like that wasn't for me. I'm not cutthroat person. You won't get advantage of me in the real world, but I don't go around looking to get ahead by stepping on someone else. I'd rather work with people when I can. And that started sounding more and more like Indiana.

I wanted a program that would help me acquire technical knowledge, leadership and managerial expertise, and solid communication and interpersonal abilities -- the balance of skills that I believe successful executives would need in the nineties. I wanted a technically superb finance department, a balance between case-study and classroom work, and a broad-based curriculum that integrated disciplines. Other top schools used the case-study method exclusively to develop technical skills. That wasn't for me. I just narrowed things down -- and there was Indiana.