Britain exports MBA to Israel

THE growing enthusiasm for executive MBAs has led Bradford Management Centre to help develop a programme in Israel, writes Roger Trapp.

The course - to be known by the rather long-winded title of the University of Bradford Management Centre MBA Programme in Tel Aviv - aims to fill a gap in the development facilities that are currently available in the country.

"Although there is great demand for MBA studies in Israel, most of the programmes are full- time and those that are part-time do not accommodate the needs of working students," said Nahum Biger, academic director of the course.

He is understood to argued for a more practical, European-style MBA - in contrast to the US model, from which most existing courses in Israel have been developed.

Professor Biger, professor of finance at Ilaifa University and a visiting professor at the Peter Drucker Graduate School of management in California and at the University of Cape Town business school, said Israel's economy was developing increasingly close ties with the European Union. "So it is time to have a down-to-earth, applied MBA programme, rather than a theoretical one."

He added that Bradford had been chosen for the partnership because of its international reputation for teaching and research. In recent years, the business school has developed close relationships with such companies as Heinz, Exxon, Unilever and Rolls-Royce.

The BBC has also chosen the school for the executive MBA programme it is using to help its staff become more commercial in outlook.

Bradford also has international experience. It has an MBA course at the Netherlands Institute and an undergraduate programme in Singapore.