Canberra’s Australian National University (ANU) has unveiled Australia’s first evidence-based MBA as part of a new suite of nine postgraduate business programs.
The new MBA program focuses on building students’ understanding and application of an evidence-based approach to management by integrating the concept across the entire program.
The goal of the evidence-based approach is to arm students with a unique set of analytical skills that enables them to identify, evaluate and apply the best available evidence to solve current and future challenges.
The revised MBA was designed with the help of the International Centre for Evidence-Based Management (CEBMa) in the Netherlands.
ANU Research School of Management Director, Professor Byron Keating, said of the approximately 19,000 MBA programs being taught around the world, the vast majority were delivering similar content, and were based on some variant of the case-based approach.
“Embedded in the evidence-based approach is the belief that the world is changing, and that our MBA programs need to be adapted to reflect this changing world. We need to be teaching the skills to respond to tomorrow’s challenges, not just give students the knowledge to solve today’s problems,” he said.
“We need to train students to become critical and analytical thinkers that challenge assumptions, that can extract insight from the data and information that surrounds them, and then apply this insight to have a positive impact on the world around them.
“When we re-designed all of the courses in our MBA program to equip students with the skills to identify, evaluate and apply the best available evidence to inform more effective decision making,” he said.
READ – EVIDENCE BASED MANAGEMENT IS THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS EDUCATION
Centre for Evidence-Based Management (CEMBa) Eric Barends said the new suite programs were an exciting initiative.
“Evidence-based management is the key to unlocking better organisational outcomes,” Dr Barends said. “The ANU evidence-based management programs represent the future of business education.”
The 1.5 year course is offered through ANU’s Research School of Management. The School was ranked 18th in the world in the area of “social science and management,” 1st in Australia for “business and economics,” and received the highest rating of “well above world standard” in the 2015 Excellence in Research Australia.
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Students looking to get a taste of ANU’s evidence-based MBA are required to have at least five years’ work experience, with a Bachelor degree or international equivalent with a credit average. Potential students can also transition into the MBA via the ANU Graduate certificate in management or with an EdX MicroMasters in Evidence-Based Management.
Applications for the new MBA close in early February for domestic students and mid-January for international students. The course has an indicative annual fee of $30,768 for domestic students and $40,992 per year for international students, with a small number of merit and equity scholarships available.
For more information please visit www.future-ready.com.au.
