In fact, I lived for 20 years in Montreal where I raised 3 sons in a French-speaking household, so the HEC name has value for me at least. While I have no plans to relocate to France, there is high demand for my skill set in Europe, so having that credential might come in handy.
On another note, however, I thought I'd offer a perspective that I haven't seen here, regarding the iMBA program.
Today I decided to review courses from both the iMBA and the Macquarie programs. Given my own professional experience in the area of Organizational Change Mgmt, I chose courses on that topic from each program.
Illinois has clearly gone "all in" on their distance learning program, so one would think they might have engaged a team of media professionals to script the content, direct the presenters, and produce the videos and other materials.
Sadly, that appears not to be true. Leaving aside the low production values, 8th grade language level, and uncharismatic professors, however, what is most unsettling is the nature of the material itself. The iMBA curriculum was simply a dry, uninspired, and dangerously optimistic regurgitation of rudimentary, old-school Change Management doctrine.
By comparison, the Macquarie materials on the same subject not only had high production values, well-crafted scripting and engaging presenters, but immediately began by posing the deeper, more disturbing question of why Organizational Change remains so challenging, despite the abundance of well-known principles and practices that leading consultancies have all been employing for decades.
In short, even as a professional in the field of OCM, the Macquarie course felt like a fascinating documentary or perhaps even a novel one can't wait to continue, while the iMBA course reminded me of a dated, superficial article one skims, hoping in vain to find something substantial.
I do indeed want an engaging and thought-provoking educational experience, not merely a label on my CV, so I can't imagine opting for the iMBA program after this brief, but revealing experiment.
[Edited by Erik Yeargan on Apr 13, 2020]
In fact, I lived for 20 years in Montreal where I raised 3 sons in a French-speaking household, so the HEC name has value for me at least. While I have no plans to relocate to France, there is high demand for my skill set in Europe, so having that credential might come in handy.
On another note, however, I thought I'd offer a perspective that I haven't seen here, regarding the iMBA program.
Today I decided to review courses from both the iMBA and the Macquarie programs. Given my own professional experience in the area of Organizational Change Mgmt, I chose courses on that topic from each program.
Illinois has clearly gone "all in" on their distance learning program, so one would think they might have engaged a team of media professionals to script the content, direct the presenters, and produce the videos and other materials.
Sadly, that appears not to be true. Leaving aside the low production values, 8th grade language level, and uncharismatic professors, however, what is most unsettling is the nature of the material itself. The iMBA curriculum was simply a dry, uninspired, and dangerously optimistic regurgitation of rudimentary, old-school Change Management doctrine.
By comparison, the Macquarie materials on the same subject not only had high production values, well-crafted scripting and engaging presenters, but immediately began by posing the deeper, more disturbing question of why Organizational Change remains so challenging, despite the abundance of well-known principles and practices that leading consultancies have all been employing for decades.
In short, even as a professional in the field of OCM, the Macquarie course felt like a fascinating documentary or perhaps even a novel one can't wait to continue, while the iMBA course reminded me of a dated, superficial article one skims, hoping in vain to find something substantial.
I do indeed want an engaging and thought-provoking educational experience, not merely a label on my CV, so I can't imagine opting for the iMBA program after this brief, but revealing experiment.
