A few minutes after recording the video of Jaap, I managed to grab hold of Donald. I believe I’m not mistaken in saying that the November residency attendants unanimously elected him the “joker” of the group. You will notice he cannot help it and lets his young heart show in this short clip as well, even if he speaks of serious things, like the commitment needed to be successful in the programme.
So I give you Donald!
We are happy to announce that the University of Cumbria MBA at Robert Kennedy College has been listed again this year on the Financial Times 2013 Online MBA Listing.
The University of Cumbria long history that dates back to 1822 has been combined with the unique expertise of our College to offer one of the most content and cost competitive programmes in the World.
The Financial Times listing highlights that the The University of Cumbria MBA at Robert Kennedy College is now one of the largest MBA programmes in world. (you can download the full listing and report here ).
Our Students come from all over the World our programme incorporates a one week residency in Cumbria, England and allows our graduates to enjoy the same benefits of full time students including attendance to the annual graduation ceremony at the Carlisle Cathedral.
We are currently accepting applications for the April 2013 and May 2013 intakes. If you are ready for this challenge you are welcome to apply now!
In the video below you can see the impressions of our students during the residential week at the University of Cumbria World class campus in the idyllic Ambleside
Are you ready for the challenger and start your MBA ? click to apply now!
Hello everyone,
Although I am in the middle of reading midterms for the January cohort, I could not resist the temptation to surprise you all with a new video from the Students4Students series. Today our special guest is Jaap, whom some of you will know either from the residency or from our online world.
I caught up with Jaap last year in York, and for reasons outside my control the video was delayed again and again, but now it is here. Jaap has some practical advice for those of you attending the York residency, and also some advice about the programme in general.
Switzerland says Ja and limits “fat cat” salaries
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see also the http://www.cnbc.com/id/100516799 CNBC article by Carolin Roth
With close to 68% of the votes and a winning result in each of the 26 Cantons, Switzerland has voted yes to the referendum to give executives pay binding decision rights to shareholders. The new rules will be part of the the Swiss constitution and will allow shareholders to vote, even electronically, annually on management compensation with veto powers.
It also bans the payment of sign-in and exit bonuses, m&a bonuses and consulting contracts.
The vote highlights the Swiss strong will to enhance transparency and give more power to shareholders. The recent issue with the former Novartis CEO exit package has further underlined the gap between shareholders and population understanding of a fair and competitive compensation to what was seen as an exaggerate exit bonus.
Swiss Competitiveness not in danger
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The main concern for these that lobbied for the referendum proposal to be rejected was that the competitiveness of Switzerland as a place to do business will be impacted, as many multinational companies might opt for other locations where the executives compensation doesn’t have to be decided by shareholders.
I think that this will not be the case and Switzerland will continue to be highly competitive for several reasons. First the WEF competitiveness survey, topped by Switzerland in the last few years, does not consider executive pay as a criteria. Secondly for executives Switzerland remains a highly competitive place to work due to the low taxation (30% on average vs. 48% of Germany and 45% of England) and very high quality of life.
Additionally the fact that shareholders have now the right to vote on executives pay doesn’t necessary mean that they will not approve competitive salaries. It will however enhance transparency and avoid further situation where a top manager, regardless of the effective performance, will receive lavish sign-in and sign-out bonuses.
Transparency in a post-financial crisis economy
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The 2008 financial crisis has left a mark in Switzerland too. The overall perception of the population is that top managers come and go leaving too often the problems behind them. Regardless of several instances of poor performance their paycheck remained unaffected and this is not acceptable. It also tries to end a short term top management mentality by banning sign-in and exit bonuses.
The recent EU decision to cap banking bonuses to one year’s base salary is another signal that this reform might be adopted by other European countries too (Denmark and the Netherlands already have a binding shareholder vote on executives compensation).
In Short
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– Swiss Vote on giving executive compensation voting powers to shareholders passed with a large margin potentially opening a new era in corporate transparency;
– Swiss Competitiveness should be largely unaffected by the change as the criteria that make Switzerland one of the most competitive remain.
– The 2008 crisis underlined the failure of a “hands-off” approach is among the reasons for the need of more transparency and shareholders power;
– Other European countries might implement similar rules, particularly in the banking sector, but will be much slower in doing so.