Stephan Chambers is Head of MBA Programmes at the Said Business School and Executive MBA Course director. He joined SBS in 2000 after twenty years in academic publishing in the US and UK. He was acting Chief Executive of Blackwells US publishing company and Chairman of the NCC/Blackwell joint venture. He sat on the boards of two technology start-ups and was editorial director of Blackwell Publishing. He also works for the University of Oxfords technology transfer company, Isis Innovation.
1) Please give a brief overview of the Said Business School.
A) Said Business School (SBS) is the Business School of the University of Oxford. We are a young school (around 9 years old) at the heart of an ancient university. Our key activities are teaching of graduates and undergraduates, and research. The SBS community includes MBA students, Masters and Doctoral students, undergraduates, faculty and staff.
2) Please provide an overview of the class diversity at Said Business School.
A) SBS is the most international of major business schools with an astonishing diversity of student background. In the current year we have 180 students representing over 40 nationalities (around 30% from Asia, 30% from Europe and 30% from the Americas).
3) What do you think are the key factors that attract students worldwide to SBS?
A) The fact that its a one-year programme is clearly a huge draw, as is the Schools position at the heart of the one the worlds truly great research universities. Students like the diversity that Oxford offers, they enjoy its Collegiate structure and I think they appreciate the fact that we are a start-up business school, with the flexibility and responsiveness that that suggests, backed by a venerable institution.
4) Can you give us more details about the collegiate system at SBS?
A) At Oxford every student, whether undergraduate or a postgraduate, is a member of a College. That College becomes their physical home and their access point to the sports, drama, and cultural life as well as to the wider intellectual life of a 900-year-old university. In essence, the University of Oxford awards the MBA degree, the Said Business School teaches the MBA, and the Colleges look after students during their time at Oxford.
5) What is the current strength of Asians and Indians in the course?
A) Some of the most talented and well-prepared candidates in the world are admitted from India. Around 30% of the student intake at SBS is from Asia and a substantial number this year are from India and Pakistan.
6) What kind of students are a great fit at Oxford?
A) Clearly the minimum requirement is that students should be capable of passing the course and should be able to benefit both personally and professionally through the study at Oxford. Students should also be able actively to contribute to the class and bring a fresh perspective to discussions. In almost all cases that means they need to have worked for between 3 and 6 years after their undergraduate degree. Its the sheer variety of our students biographies that makes the SBS MBA such a challenging and transformative experience and that variety is, of course, enriched by students previous academic and work experience.
7) What opportunities do Indian students have after graduating from Oxford?
A) Indians graduating with an Oxford MBA can either return to India to work or they can remain in the UK under a newly introduced scheme open to graduates of the leading MBA programmes, that extends work permits for one year (renewable for up to 3 years) in the UK. Many will do both: that is remain in the UK and then return to India.
A) SBS has a significant commitment to and presence in Social Entrepreneurship in the form of the newly established Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, established at SBS by the co-founder of EBay, Jeff Skoll. The Centre researches the application of business principles to social and environmental as well as or instead of shareholder dividends. There are 5 fully-funded Skoll Scholarships for MBA students every year awarded to students who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to social enterprise.
9) What does Oxford plan to do to attract more students from India?
A) We work closely with our alumni to attract more of the best students from India. We regularly interview and host receptions here and intend to increase our activity over the next couple of years. The quality of students from the best Universities in India is extremely high and wed be delighted to get more applications.
10) How strong is the Oxford Alumni Network?
A) Oxfords alumni network is world-renowned and we work hard to integrate the business schools own graduate network into the wider University network to give our graduates genuinely global connections.
11) Provide us with an overview of the application process.
A) The various components that are the part of an application are the GMAT, the essays, the recommendations and the interview (held with a member of the SBS faculty either in person or by telephone). We do not admit students without an interview. We review applications in the round and have no GMAT or age thresholds. That said, our average GMAT is 690 and the average age of our students around 29.
12) How accessible is SBS to the Indian applicant?
A) SBS welcomes good students who will be active participants and lively members of the MBA class. Indian students have shown themselves to be outstanding participants in our previous classes and we welcome applications from those who think that they meet the admissions criteria and would benefit from the Oxford experience.