The North American MBA: a "product" which can be universally applied ?

Jean-Pierre Helfer, a university professor and former director of the IAE at Poitiers before managing the IAE at Paris I University for ten years, argues for the acceptance of the MBA in the French and European system of post-graduate management teaching. At the same time, he emphasises the need to develop a differential strategy in order to make French and European MBAs attractive to foreign students. The fact that a degree designed for an American public may be generally accepted, is a symptom of the maturity of the French management teaching system. Furthermore, it raises general questions about the organisation of training in management : should the training be long or short ? Is it appropriate to teach management to students at the beginning of their training ? Jean-Pierre Helfer shows how such a debate makes us question the evaluation criteria of management training.