Both the core course and its international delivery through partner institutions have been accredited by the Association of MBAs since the early 1990s.A measure of its success is the Independent AMBA student of the year award, won in 1998 by Angela Jenkinson and in 2003 by Natalia Buchstaber, both Kingston graduates, against entries from more than 80 business schools around the globe.”We began small, with a target of 30 students, evenings only – walking before running,” recalls Professor David Miles, then dean of the business faculty, now Pro-Vice Chancellor for external affairs and business development. On a July evening this summer the Thames steamer Princess pulled away from Putney Pier with a cosmopolitan crowd of party-goers on board. “When I think of going back to work on Monday,” said Rob Hockel, “when I could be here…” He shook his head, speechless.. It was tough at the top, he made clear, but it was also exhilarating, fun and rewarding.Many left Ashridge with pens ready to sign large cheques. pared with 2003 underlying CEPS of €1.76.” When they managed to spot the same issues as those highlighted by the financial analysts talking on video they were as pleased as if they had won the lottery.But all this is theory. What practical use is an Ashridge MBA? Alumni were on hand to explain their project work, and where their MBA had taken them. “Bringing new answers to questions of who, what and why is not easy,” he warned.A swift break for a South African-themed lunch, reflecting the overseas element of the course, was followed by Steve Seymour presenting “Managing the City”, one of the electives offered.

The room of self-confessed financial illiterates battled to get their heads round a company’s interim results review full of statements like: “For 2004 as a whole, we except CEPS (earnings per share before goodwill amortization and impairment charges) at constant currencies to increase between 7 per cent and 9 per cent.. Antoine Lever, who runs a local IT consultancy said Ashridge was instrumental to his business – he conducted interviews with potential clients at the college and still uses its learning materials. Back in the seminar room they were given a snappy presentation on one of the key themes, “Creating Value”, by Stephan Schubert, an aerospace expert, who quoted the business author Gary Hamel to them: “In the new economy, those who live by the sword will be shot by those who don’t.” He got them to look at the success stories of Southwest Airlines and easyJet, and consider what stops the big flag carriers like British Airways going down the same road. But Narendra Laljani, director of qualifications programmes, was confident the thematic course would prove attractive. “It might prove frustrating to the kind of MBA student who wants rules about the right way to do strategy, but this is for people who want to figure out situationally how to act This is a course that is sophisticated and life-changing. It probably isn’t for you if you want to be an equity analyst in the City, but it is if you see yourself as the CEO of a medium-sized company.”After the break it was off to tour the resource centre, by which time it was clear many participants were beginning to picture themselves here, browsing in the tranquil library, accessing the vast online resources. Interestingly, the intuitives quickly had an avalanche of suggestions – but their ideas were eclipsed by the other group’s few carefully-crafted suggestions.

It was explained that numbers on the course would be small (“there’s no hiding place”), faculty members would always be available, and that “the death by PowerPoint’” approach of the bigger business schools would be avoided.Then it was on to an introduction to the “people” part of the fundamentals, with psychologist Patricia Hind directing people’s attention to the high business costs of poor selection and management of people. Hind pointed out how important it was, in management, “to understand people’s preferred style of dealing with the world and the people in it.”Like other MBA courses, Ashridge has recently struggled to fill places Last year’s recruitment was below target. A quick test of personality types had the room divided into two groups, logical thinkers and intuitive decision-makers, both of which had to come up with ideas for Christmas presents for the other group. Students later spend time abroad, work on a project, and choose modules. Long-winded anecdotes, though, were cut short by his bandmates.

We may never know what Van Morrison was doing in London’s rock’n'roll haven, the Columbia Hotel, with a bottle of whisky, but at least Eitzel proved he could provide better company.. Puppets: they pull all the wrong strings with some folk, inspiring the same degree of dread as mime and commedia dell’arte. But even those most militantly averse to this art form might find themselves enchanted by Venus and Adonis, an adaptation for marionettes of Shakespeare’s youthful erotic poem, directed by Gregory Doran for the RSC.
Combining elements of the Jacobean masque and of Japanese bunraku puppetry, Venus and Adonis is presented at the exquisite Little Angel Theatre in Islington, located in the kind of magical, tucked-away passage where you expect to find Harry Potter buying wands. Her writing has the directness and the common touch which academics and business people often find suspect, but she makes no apology for this. “I write books and make television programmes for a general audience, because politicians will change when they know that it is in their interest to change.”. The full-time MBA at Ashridge Management College costs almost £30,000, so an “MBA In A Day”, for free, has to be a bargain.