So here's an interesting thing, which first I heard from a friend who attended one of those Ashridge "MBA in a Day" events.

Ashridge is reorganising the taught element of its MBA into four thematic semester-long blocks which can be taken in any order. Full time students will take two blocks per semester, and part-time students will take one. The two groups will be partly taught together, allowing substantial interaction between the highly-international full-time group and the very Europe part-time cohort. Students will be able to join in any semester, move between the modes and take semesters off.

There are other MBA programmes with integrated four module core curriculums (e.g. University of Melbourne - http://www.mbs.edu/go/degree-programs/mba-and-general-management-programs/emba/subjects, and the University of Wisconsin http://www.wisconsinonlinemba.org/mba/modules.php) but I cannot think of any where the full and part-time students are regularly (even if partly) taught together.

What do people think of it?

Hi Duncan,

This seems like an excellent idea from Ashridge. More interaction with more people, plus the chance to move between the modes and take semesters off. What's not to like?

This is really interesting. In some ways, the modular format is taking certain cues from similarly-designed executive education courses (Ashridge's exec ed program is very robust, BTW.)

But while I understand the value of networking with a diverse group - wouldn't throwing both cohorts into one big group make the learning environment a big confusing? One of the benefits of a traditional MBA program is that you can build strong bonds with your classmates, and I'd worry that this would be lost in a more hybrid environment.