Interview with Peter Johnson

Interview with Peter Johnson, Director of International Admissions of the full-time MBA Programme at Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

Innovation is considered the keyword at Haas. How exactly does the curriculum and pedagogy at the school encourage innovative thinking and teach students to apply the same in real life?
You are right, but specifically, the key phrase is “Leading Through Innovation”. At Haas—it’s not just about innovation, but about how to lead organizations in innovative and creative ways. We help students develop these skills through many different courses and activities. For example, students work with actual companies to develop innovative solutions to business problems through our “Haas at Work” programme, they have courses that specifically address innovation, including “Creativity and Innovation in Marketing”, they compete in our two business plan  competitions, which are judged by Bay Area venture capitalists and we even have a case study
during the orientation programme that focuses specifically on finding innovative solutions to a set of business problems.

Globalisation has heralded many changes in the way business is done around the world. Geographical barriers are fast crumbling and the successful manager must have a truly global mindset and capability to work across borders. How does your programme mould participants to meet the challenges thrown up by business in this rapidly changing age of globalisation?

We provide students with the opportunity to internationalize their learning experience in a number of ways. In addition to courses that directly address the global context of business, we have some amazing special programmes and opportunities. Our International Business Development Programme, for example, provides students with the opportunity to work on a real consulting project for a company or organization internationally, including three weeks onsite in another country. About one quarter of our students participate in this programme. We also have a unique partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization through which we fund student projects in the developing world and co-sponsor a conference each year. Additionally, each year we offer the student-organized Southeast Asia and Asia Business Conferences as well as student study  tours to other part of the world during the winter break and opportunities for a semester of study abroad.

Of the various specializations offered, would you say that any  one has been a particular favourite among participants?

We are proud of the fact that each class (intake) in the Berkeley MBA Programme includes students with a wide variety of professional experiences as wellas a broad range of career goals. As a result, there isn’t a single specialization area that is most popular, but rather a group of them. Finance, entrepreneurship, management of technology, global management, marketing, real estate and healthcare management are among the specialization areas that are particularly popular.

What are the minimum eligibility criteria for applicants to the fulltime MBA? Is previous employment-experience absolutely essential? Does it necessarily have to be in a managerial capacity?

At a minimum, applicants must have a recognised first degree, a GMAT score, and in many cases a TOEFL or IELTS score. Although we do not have set minimum scores for most things, successful applicants normally have very competitive scores and undergraduate records. Previous employment is very important as well. Although it is not a formal requirement, most competitive candidates have at least two years of work experience after their first degree. The quantity of work experience is not as important as the quality of that experience, however. Although the work does not have to be in a managerial capacity, it certainly doesn’t hurt. We are most interested in candidates who have begun to develop leadership and management skills, whether in a formal managerial roles or not.

What for you is the most important aspect of an application? In other words, what are the major factors that help you decide on final selection?

There is not single factor that is most important, but a group of significant factors that informs our admission decisions. We look closely at academic preparation, including performance in the first-degree programme, type of institution, choice of major and GMAT scores. Work experience is another important characteristic—not necessarily the amount of the experience, but the quality and richness of that experience. We consider the types of responsibilities a candidate has had, their record of promotions, if any, leadership opportunities and how their recommenders compare their work to that of their peers. Another important area of consideration is personal qualities— communication skills and professional poise, leadership and team skills, creativity and potential for leadership positions in the future. We interview virtually all of the candidates that we are seriously considering—typically 25% of our applicant pool. For applicants who are not native speakers of English, we also require TOEFL or IELTS scores.