MBA: Cross the channel and think international

Studying for an MBA at a Continental school is a good way to jump start a global career. And you can learn about a whole new business culture.

ONE QUESTION increasingly asked by people considering taking an MBA is whether to stay at home or go abroad, to Continental Europe, for example. In a global economy, particularly if you want to work for an international company - and to work abroad - it helps to have studied in a foreign country, and to have absorbed that culture and learnt the language.

Michael Moore, who decided to do an MBA in his mid-twenties, opted to study in Holland, because he wanted to work in Europe. His one-year full- time MBA at Nijenrode certainly did the trick. It gave him a qualification which enabled him to work for a local Dutch company, and later for an international business and technology consulting firm. "Nijenrode has a strong brand name in particular circles," he explains. "The networking potential is immense. I couldn't have made the transition from my management consulting firm in London, to what I'm doing now, without having gone to Nijenrode."

Now he speaks Dutch, and has learnt to work alongside other nationals - something which the school specialises in. And he has an MBA which has currency on the international scene. If you are minded to go abroad for an MBA, you can choose from among 17 schools accredited by the Association of MBAs. They range from the highly selective IMD in Switzerland, and the French school, Insead, attended by Tory leader William Hague, to schools which are less well known, but do an excellent job in working with their students.

Apart from Nijenrode, there are two other schools which are accredited by the Association of MBAs in Holland. One is the Rotterdam School of Management, a highly-rated institution which vies with Insead and IMD for reputation, and is thoroughly international, and Nimbas, the Netherlands Institute for MBA Studies, an associate college of Bradford's management centre, based in Utrecht. You don't have to worry about a lack of languages with the Dutch schools, because their MBAs are taught in English.

Alternatively, if you are interested in Spain and the Spanish way of life, and if you are keen to see the sun more than we do in Northern Europe, it is worth investigating the business schools in Barcelona and Madrid. They will introduce you to a whole new business world, which stretches from southern Europe across the Atlantic to the Spanish-speaking countries of South and Central America.

It's invaluable for people to live in another country and to learn about a culture other than their own, says Julio Urgel, Dean of the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid: "It's also useful to speak another language, particularly when that language is the third most spoken language in the world, and to live in an international community."

The Instituto de Empresa has a good reputation outside Spain. Set up 25 years ago at the end of the Franco era, with no religious affiliations, it is located in a stylish mansion in the heart of the financial district. Students come from all over the world (only 16 of the year's class of 54 are Spaniards), and there is a special emphasis on entrepreneurship. In fact, its MBA is all about preparing to start a business. In the past 10 years, 350 firms have been set up by Empresa students.

The International MBA, which lasts 15 months, is bilingual. But you don't have to speak Spanish to gain entry. Language classes are laid on in the first term. For the first five-and-a-half months, all courses are taught in English. It is only after then that you are expected to learn in both tongues.

Barcelona is home to two schools accredited by the Association of MBAs. IESE runs a Harvard-style two-year MBA, and has classes entirely in English in the first year. By the second year, MBA students are expected to have learnt some Spanish (classes are laid on) and to take some courses in Spanish. You will find yourself in a reasonably international atmosphere - students hail from 40 countries, one-half from outside Spain.

Both IESE, and another school in Barcelona, Esade, are based on religious organisations. The former is part of Opus Dei, a Catholic group, and the latter is linked to the Jesuits. But religion does not intrude, except to provide an ethical underpinning to the MBA work. The MBA at Esade is a 21-month programme, and students can choose whether to do it in Spanish or English. Non-Spanish speakers in the English programme take Spanish lessons. And those who speak both languages can opt for classes in French or German.

The language school at Esade is a notable strength. So is its international placement service, which helps students to find jobs and which provides counselling to alumni.

The cost of these MBAs varies. The Instituto de Empresa qualification is cheaper, partly because the course is shorter (pounds 10,000 for 15 months). The MBA at IESE costs pounds 9,200 for one year (the qualification takes two years to complete), which puts it into an altogether more expensive bracket.

In France, there is a whole range of schools, apart from the well known Insead, which are worth consideration. EM-Lyon, a grande ecole situated in the North West of Lyon, is ranked as one of the four best business schools in France. You don't have to have perfect French to gain entry. Students can take the first term core courses in English while they work on their French. Forty per cent of MBA students come from outside France - the full-time MBA lasts a year and costs around pounds 10,000.

Another grande ecole, Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris - MBA Sciences Po, runs a nine-month MBA, which costs about the same as that at EM-Lyon. It is a new qualification, very small (only 40 students a year), and focuses on European and international institutions. One of the charms of this MBA is that you are very close to the bar, Les Deux Maggots, where the old Marxists, Simone de Beauvoir and Jean Paul Satre used to hang out.

You may also be swayed by its director, the maverick economist Professor Jean-Jacques Rosa, who thinks the euro is a big mistake. That's the advantage of going abroad - being introduced to new attitudes and ideas, or maybe the same ones, but expressed in a different way.