To better prepare business students for the aftermath of the recession or for sustainable technology advancements, schools are redesigning the curricula taught in business degree programs. By doing so, academic institutions are providing future MBA degree holders with the most advanced programs available anywhere in the world.
For example, the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley has voted to revamp its business degree programs to better prepare students for the evolving economy. The school plans to integrate all courses with the Berkeley Innovative Leader Development (BILD), which emphasizes the importance of professionals who implement new ideas in every branch of their business.
The fundamentals of accounting, finance and marketing will remain the core of the MBA courses, but classes will be integrated with innovative leaderships skills. By adding these new elements, the programs will help students gain more knowledge of problem finding and problem solution.
"We want to prepare leaders who define what's next for our markets and our societies," said Rich Lyons, dean of the school. He added that innovative leaders "[are] more critical than ever to our collective future because our world is on so many unsustainable paths, in areas such as education, healthcare, demographics, safe water and energy."
In 2008, the average salaries for holders of MBA degrees ranged from $73,510 to $171,583, depending on the field, position and years of experience, according to PayScale.com, a research company.
