Not too long ago the idea of starting an MBA program in management of technology at DePaul University sounded like a good career move as students sought courses to improve their chances at earning Internet riches.
But the anticipated class of 30 to 40 new e-MBA students for the fall didn’t materialize.
“Applications were insufficient to move forward with the course,” said Thomas Donley, director of the school’s Business Technology Center. “We are experiencing a bit of a backlash at the academic level as a result of the dot-com collapse.”
As DePaul’s experience suggests, the buzz that made high technology the hottest thing on campus has cooled considerably following the spectacular meltdown of e-business firms and other Internet operations.
Almost every business school worth its salt either adapted MBA courses or started new programs in a bid to cater to the children of the new economy. But demand is drying up, or at least changing focus, as a result of the dot-com fallout.
“E-commerce is no longer anything more than an important asset in the rigors of an MBA. It’s important but just part of the MBA portfolio,” said Dave Wilson, president and chief executive officer of the Graduate Management Admission Council, a non-profit organization that administers the Graduate Management Admission Test, a widely used exam for entrance to business schools.
“It [the dot-com craze] gathered a luster that wasn’t sustainable. It is no different to the international and entrepreneurship moves of prior times, when schools introduced new courses then,” Wilson said. “Technology is becoming a more integrated part of courses. It’s a maturation of the process.”
After running to keep up with the pace of innovation, schools are now chanting the integration mantra. They point to a more conservative and structured attempt to integrate technology alongside core courses.
“The excitement initially was that technology is going to add value in and of itself,” says Linda Salchenberger, director of Loyola University’s Center for Information Management and Technology. “Now that it’s gone, schools are integrating e-business into the mainstream.”
“I must have interviewed 1,500 students this year,” added Paul Magelli, director of the University of Illinois’ Office for Strategic Business Initiatives. “I hear them saying they still have this interest and curiosity in technology and its applications to traditional disciplines. They are asking, “What are finance, marketing and operations doing? How have they integrated technology into their discipline?'”
Magelli has watched such trends shift to a more structured, integrated approach before. From the drive to introduce such courses as women’s studies and urban issues to computer sciences in general, Magelli has seen much change after more than 40 years in the education business.
He also remains upbeat about the attractiveness of high tech. At the end of October, Magelli will lead prospective MBA students on his sixth high-technology tour to a variety of tech universities, including Illinois, Purdue, Iowa, Indiana, Maryland, Carnegie Mellon and MIT.
The tour has gathered such momentum that The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the London School of Business are looking into joining the annual trek.
A quick change back
Still, over the past year, students have been quick to switch attention from e-commerce to more traditional subjects. In a recent survey of 2,094 undergraduate and MBA students, only 5 percent said the Internet and dot-com sector were the hottest, down from 36 percent a year earlier. The survey was conducted by WetFeet Inc., a San Francisco-based recruitment firm.
MBA students were particularly down on prospects for Internet firms, with only 1 percent still excited about the sector. That’s a far cry from 2000, when 47 percent of MBA students were keen on the sector.
The fallout has had its effect on perceptions of peripheral areas as well. E-business consulting grabbed just 5 percent of MBA students’ votes as the hottest arena, compared with 23 percent a year earlier.
A traditional MBA favorite, the consulting sector, is again at the head of the class. Despite the current round of mass job losses, including Accenture’s announcement Friday that it will trim another 1,500 workers, 24 percent of MBA students ranked consulting as the hottest industry, up from just 1 percent a year ago.
Stanford Graduate School of Business has seen enrollment slip from 5,431 last year to 5,253 applications for its 360 or 370 annual MBA places.
In an interesting twist, however, Stanford, in the midst of Silicon Valley, saw late applications increase 9 percent with a 120 percent jump in enrollment from students with a high-tech background. That jump is largely attributed to people looking for a new route to the top after the dot-com bust.
Fads frowned upon
“Basic e-commerce courses have declining enrollment,” said Joel Podolny, a Stanford professor of organizational behavior and senior associate dean for academic affairs.
Students also have a better grasp of the Internet, rendering once-popular courses, such as its introduction to marketing using the Web, much less popular, Podolny said. “We tend not to offer a course if there is no demand, and MBA students are very good at letting us know what courses they want and what they need.”
Although Stanford and others like it appeared to be at the forefront of the drive to catch up with the fast-changing new economy, Podolny said the university anticipated the change of heart.
“We felt a lot of pressure to have an e-business MBA but because we anticipated that it was a bit of a fad, we made a serious attempt to develop a more refined strategy. We didn’t overinvest in it.”
Top business schools are also happy that the “focus” of MBA students is back, now that the lure of potential Internet millions has dissipated, he said.
