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Competition Can Foster Innovation by Charles R.B. Stowe and Doug Grider such as simulations, public speaking, and debates to enhance students' creativity and critical thinking. n A new apprenticeship program allows master's-level students to spend one week at school and three weeks working at host companies. That cycle repeats every four weeks throughout the school year. Partici- pating companies pay for students' tuition and give them time to par- ticipate in blended learning activi- ties. Students who do not have an apprenticeship must spend a man- datory year abroad. n A Pearson e-book with mate- rial related to managerial innovation has been created by faculty. Students can access it in French or English, through platforms such as Moodle, Speechi/Alexandra, OpenPortal, and SharePoint. n A new administrative structure gives managers more autonomy and allows different groups to collabo- rate more easily. n New recruitment centers in Thailand, Morocco, Greece, and the Dominican Republic attract a more international student body, and centers in Tunisia and Algeria are planned. To accommodate interna- tional students, some course content is delivered in French and English. n A network of corporate part- ners connects the school to firms in France, Europe, and the 21 Mediter- ranean countries. The school is in the process of forming the Mediterranean Schools of Management Consortium, a network of business schools that want to study managerial innovation and contribute to the development of Mediterranean countries. So far, Jourdan is pleased with the school's niche strategy. He says, "We believe our niche in managerial inno- vation positions us well as we reach out to national, European, and Medi- terranean markets." "You Have to Stand for Something" These educators are excited about what increased competition means for the industry. Their schools are rethinking their pro- grams and designing new ways to approach business education. Their efforts, they hope, will translate to more innovation, greater efficiency, and quicker responsiveness to market trends. But even as the market grows more crowded, the old rules of branding will continue to hold, says Olian. If schools want to com- pete, they'll have to create distinct positions that deliver on their promises. "It's the old-school answer. You have to be excellent at what you do and distinguish your school from the competition," she says. "You have to stand for something. You have to show why a student would pick your program over those of your peers." The way today's competitive landscape is shaping up, the market ten years from now is certain to be different from what it is today, Olian adds. In the eyes of many educators, that may be a good thing for everyone in the business education community. 38 September/October 2012 BizEd Can traditional business schools compete against proprietary, for-profit institutions? Yes! In fact, AACSB-accredited programs must design a strategic response to for- profit providers like Capella University, Kaplan University, the University of Phoe- nix, and other smaller competitors whose bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degrees compete with our traditional programs to attract business students. Many business educators worry that it will demean our status if we acknowl- edge for-profits by trying to compete. But that's not the case. If we tailor our response correctly, competing with for- profits will demonstrate our ability to innovate and strengthen public under- standing of our programs. For-profits are only getting better at what they do. Ignoring that reality is not a viable long- term strategy. Competing Through Creativity To compete effectively, administrators at traditional schools first must recognize the value of the for-profit model. For- profits pay lower faculty salaries, make minimal investment in physical facilities, and keep administrative overhead costs low. They invest the resulting high cash flows in well-designed, far-reaching mar- keting efforts. Compare that to traditional schools, which invest heavily in high-cost real estate. They build expensive "smart classrooms," dormitories, cafeterias, and facilities that sit empty much of the time. They pay higher salaries to faculty who want to reduce their teaching loads to make time for academic, consulting, vol- unteering, and administrative obligations. The advantage seems to rest with the much leaner for-profits, at least from an operational perspective. Well, for-profits may be leaner, but we still can turn our disadvantages into com- petitive strengths in a variety of ways: