Percept Research Shares Insights from 2018 Executive MBA Western Regional Meeting

Dr. Joyce Kurpiers of Percept Research attended the 2018 Executive MBA Council Western regional meeting April 29 – May 1. The Thunderbird School of Global Management hosted the conference as one of the Glendale campus’s final events before the school’s move to its new Arizona State University location. Along with ASU, the University of Arizona also co-sponsored this conference, which gathered about 60 attendees.

True to form, Thunderbird’s Keaton Allen opened the conference with humor and clear logistics for the meeting’s events. Executive Director Michael Desiderio then reported on the Council’s recent achievements, upcoming events, and the state of the Executive MBA industry.

EMBAC Executive Director Michael Desiderio delivers industry updates

The regional meeting included sessions covering topics around teaching a “Global Mindset”; “Creating High Performing Teams”; “Instructional Design and Delivering Hybrid Programs”; “Ideation”; and “Career Management and Executive Coaching.” Dr. Kurpiers also co-presented with Randell Hernandez (University of Washington) on “Implications of the Digital Generation on Business Education.”

Attendees enjoy a light-hearted moment while sharing industry insights

After the first full day of vibrant and thoughtful discussions on the state of the industry and programs’ strategies for addressing students’ needs, conference attendees enjoyed a rousing matchup between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field (sorry Dodgers fans, the D-backs came out on top this time). Before the game, attendees enjoyed time with Hatuey Mendoza, a former Diamondbacks pitcher, Thunderbird alumnus, and the Diamondback’s Coordinator of Latin American Operations.

Attendees take in the Diamondbacks/Dodgers game 

We wanted to share some of the interesting insights we heard at the meeting:

• Mary Teagarden (Thunderbird), offers tips on how programs can help EMBA students foster a “global mindset,” which helps individuals navigate cross-cultural barriers by developing and integrating intellectual, psychological, and social capital.
• Emily Holland (GMAC) conveys that research on GMAC’s new Executive Assessment Exam demonstrates the exam’s value as a predictor of academic success, which may surpass that of the GMAT.
• Suzanne Sanchez (Thunderbird) notes that Thunderbird offers credit for work experience by allowing students to write and publish case studies with Thunderbird professors.
• Anthony Campisi (Annodyne) dispels that myth that organic social media draws better results, explaining that paid social media can generate more leads than organic social media.
• Denis Leclerc (Thunderbird), observes that building and nurturing high-performing teams relies not only on diversity but also inclusion (e.g., of women, marginalized groups, and cognitive or intellectual perspectives).
• Kelley MacCleary (Arizona State University Carey) leads the membership in ideation exercises emphasizing that leaving time for play re-sets the mind for conceiving new ideas from diverse vantage points.
• Louise Kaputska (University of Washington Foster) explains that in the first two quarters after matriculation, career counselors introduce themselves to students by asking students for their two-minute “elevator pitches,” then helping them refine their pitches.
• Natasha Munshi (St. Mary’s College) adds that St. Mary’s requires students to engage in non-graded co-curricular career workshops that augment their career development skills.

Do you have other insights that you would like to share in our article comments section below?

Attendees listen to Hatuey Mendoza, a former Diamondbacks pitcher and Thunderbird alumnus

Dr. Kurpiers led a session focused on key business school metrics in the industry that were measured in the 2017 Executive MBA Council Membership Program Survey and from the MBA Student Entry and MBA Student Exit Surveys offered by Percept Research 

Joyce also co-presented with Randell Hernandez (University of Washington Foster) to share insights on future business education needs of the “digital generation,” drawing from a custom market research study managed by Percept Research on behalf of AACSB, UNICON, and EMBAC.

Percept Research serves as the research partner to the Executive MBA Council. The mission of Executive MBA Council is to educate, network and inform. The council both captures and disseminates valuable industry data to member schools, the media, and the corporate sector.

Percept Research conducts management education market research for over 250 business schools worldwide and provides custom research engagements which include new program feasibility studies, in-depth interviews, admissions funnel assessments, and topical studies.

Be sure to check out more photos from the regional meeting on the Percept Research Facebook page.