Cass vs Lancaster MBA: Comparison based on Location, Ranking, Class Profile, Curriculum, Salary & Career Service

UK’s Economy has struggled for the past 2 to 3 years and with the recent Visa restriction, finding jobs that offer the best ROI has become quite challenging. Let us compare two schools – Cass Business School and Lancaster University Business School, and find out which MBA program is better for you.

Location

Lancaster has historic ties with the British Monarchy, and is known for its cultural and educational centers. The presence of Lancaster University has transformed the City into a hub for higher education. Earlier, the City was known for its manufacturing industries especially textile Industry but from 1980s, the city’s economy became less dependent on industries and now is comprised of small businesses with 90% of them employing less than 10 employees. The only manufacturing industry that has maintained its presence felt is the aerospace industry. The city has embraced the service sector with hospitality, financial, retail, distribution and Business services dominating this sector.

Cass Business School on the other hand is located in London, one of the financial and commercial capitals of the world. Over 80% of employment in London City is generated by the service industries. The City is also the largest contributor of Financial Services jobs, and hosts 75% of Fortune 500 companies in the world. Other sectors that dominate London Economy are media, retail, and Insurance.

Ranking

According to Financial Times Global MBA Rankings - Cass Business School is ranked #40 in 2013, whereas LUMS is at #71. The difference is much pronounced in The Economist Full-time MBA ranking. Cass Business School is ranked #30 while LUMS is at #80.

Incoming Class Profile

Cass MBA Students have an average GMAT of 630 with 8 years of experience, and an average age of 31. LUMS has a much higher average GMAT Score of 654 with the class average experience at 6 years.

Curriculum

The Cass MBA Core courses are divided into four blocks. The first block covers Strategy & Organization. The Second block covers The Financial Environment that includes financial principles, Business Economics, and marketing fundamentals. Block three covers operational and human resource management. The final block covers Strategic Thinking and Corporate Governance. The Core curriculum ends with a strategy project. This will give practical tools and framework to implement theories learned during the course. The core also include a consultancy week where students will be assigned to work on a small and medium enterprise in Poland, where they have to develop a solution in the field of marketing, HR, Finance and Business Development.

The electives offered under Cass MBA include topics from Consulting and strategy, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Finance, General management, International & Marketing. Students can pick the elective focus based on their interest. During the final part of the program, students will manage a Business Consultancy project where they will address a real-world problem and create a feasible solution. Previous Business problems tackled by the students are from industries such as carbon markets, banking, advertising, manufacturing, tourism, and law.

The LUMS Full-time MBA program is divided into three terms with action based learning modules integrated into each term. Personal Development is an integral part of the course. Mindful Manager and the MBA Career Advancement Program, run throughout the course. The Core modules in the first two terms of the program include Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Operations Management, and Organizational Behavior.

The first term ends with New Venture Challenge where students will work with a start-up company for a period of ten-week, preparing a Business plan, doing research about the market, developing a marketing strategy, and how the Business can be financed in the near future.

The Core Modules in the Spring Term covers Strategic Management, Managing IT in Organization, Business Economics, and Global Society & Responsible Management. The term ends with the Consultancy Challenge where students will work on client based projects, utilizing their consultancy and conceptual thinking skills. At the end of the four-week challenge, students have to recommend steps to manage problems faced by the organization.

The Final project at LUMS is the Corporate Challenge, where students work on an MBA Consulting project for six weeks, starting from early June. During the Challenge, students get the chance to work for a Global Consultancy company. Students also have the option to choose an internship or a research based project.

Exchange Programs

Although City Study Abroad Programme is available for Undergraduate students, for the Cass Full-time MBA, there are no exchange programs. For Lancaster University Management School, the partnerships with Guanghua School of Management, Peking University (China), Copenhagen Business School (Denmark), Otto Beisheim School of Management, WHU Koblenz (Germany), NHH (Norway), and Universität St Gallen (Switzerland) allows students to work in cultures across Europe and Asia. The Exchange seats are based on academic performance, and motivation to work in a Global work environment.

Post MBA Salary

Lancaster MBA students earned an average salary of $96,000 against Cass MBAs $116,000, a $20,000 difference. For September 2013, the fee for Cass MBA was £34,500 while for Lancaster MBA, it was £26,000. Interestingly, Financial Times ranks Lancaster MBA at #4 for value for money against #33 for Cass Business School.

Internships

Internship Opportunity at LUMS occurs during the Corporate Challenge, which is a six-week period. Students can either take part in the challenge or select an internship program with a renowned company in the school’s network.

For Cass, the Summer Internship opportunity is part of the final Business Mastery Project, which allows students to choose from several projects that allow them to gain practical knowledge and networking opportunity. The Internship also helps employers to test the skills of the students, and to consider them for a full-time position.

Career Service

Cass Business School offers one on one support through Expert CV Review, Networking advice, Interview Coaching, Career Psychologists, Professional Development Workshops, and Online Career Resources. With Career Advancement Program (CAP), Lancaster MBA students are regularly trained to improve their presentation skills with individual coaching and practical sessions. CAP also addresses UK work permit issues, and offers tips on writing CVs.

Conclusion

Cass clearly outshines Lancaster in terms of post-MBA Salary, ranking, and location but if you were looking for a smaller class with a more global learning experience, Lancaster MBA would be a better choice.