職場雙語:高管爲何願付高昂學費?

What impresses students on the world's Most expensive executive MBA programme? Is it Wharton San Francisco's lavish new campus in a landmark building, or the latest interactive technologies in each classroom? The concierge-style service they receive from school staff, the free iPads, the all-inclusive accommodation at the Meridian Hotel or the chauffeur service that drives them the half-mile there?

世界上最貴的EMBA課程的學員們會對什麼印象深刻？是沃頓商學院(Wharton)奢華的舊金山新校區所在的地標性建築，每間教室裏最新的互動教學設施，學校教員無微不至的服務，免費的iPad，無所不包的Meridian酒店服務，還是酒店和半英里外校區之間的汽車接送服務？

"It's going to be a great place for watching the America's Cup this fall," says student Peter Eberle, pointing to the panoramic view of 'Frisco Bay and Bay Bridge.

學員彼得•埃伯利(Peter Eberle)指着眼前一覽無餘的舊金山灣(Frisco Bay)和海灣大橋(Bay Bridge)說："在這地方看今年秋天的美洲盃帆船賽(America's Cup)肯定棒極了。"

He is joking (mostly), but the view is as breathtaking as the price tag. Yet executives like Mr Eberle are queueing up to pay $175,678 to enrol at the school. It is as if the recession never happened. Wharton San Francisco has even increased its fees by 1 per cent for the class that began last month. It may be 3,000 miles from home in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania but, after 10 years in California, the Wharton brand has been successful enough at ingesting west coast entrepreneurship and high-tech energy to enable its San Francisco satellite to steer a course through the storm.

這位學員多半在開玩笑，但那景色確實令人歎爲觀止，正如那個課程的價格。不過，像埃伯利這樣的高管還是願意排着隊交175678美元的學費來註冊這個課程。就好像衰退根本沒發生過一樣。沃頓商學院舊金山校區甚至將上月開課的課程學費調高了1%。位於加州的沃頓商學院舊金山校區距離位於費城賓夕法尼亞大學(University of Pennsylvania)的主校區可能有3000英里，但憑藉沃頓的品牌、10年的經營和高科技教學手段，該校區在西海岸的企業家教育十分成功，足以讓它安然度過風暴。

"People still don't think San Francisco when they think Wharton," admits Bernadette Birt, executive director of the programme. "But many students come here with ideas already brewing in their heads and ready to step out as entrepreneurs."

"如今大家仍然不能把舊金山和沃頓商學院聯繫起來。"該項目執行主任貝爾納黛特•伯特(Bernadette Birt)坦承，"但我們的許多學員在入校之時就已懷有創業的想法，打算在畢業之時成爲企業家。"

Still, the waters could yet get a little choppy as competition on the west coast increases. The lampposts in San Francisco's financial district that do not carry advertisements for Wharton, carry ones for Babson College, the business school that specialises in entrepreneurship and which launched a fast-track MBA in the city in 2010. Across the bay, UC Berkeley will launch its MBA for executives in 2013, after Berkeley's Haas School of Business and Columbia Business School agreed to wind up the joint EMBA they have run since 2002.

不過，隨着西海岸競爭的加劇，局勢可能變得更加變幻莫測。舊金山金融區的路燈柱上貼的不是沃頓商學院的廣告，就是巴布森商學院(Babson College)的廣告。巴布森的專長是培養企業家，它從2010年開始在舊金山開設了一個速成MBA課程。在舊金山灣對岸，加州大學伯克利分校(UC Berkeley)哈斯商學院(Haas School of Business)與哥倫比亞商學院(Columbia Business School)同意結束自2002年起合辦的EMBA項目之後，前者將從2013年開始開設EMBA課程。

Wharton San Francisco is positioning itself as the intensive, fully-immersive, all-expenses-paid model at the top end of the market – hence the decision to trade its downtown hub for even classier accommodation. At the beginning of the year, the school moved to the sixth floor of a Romanesque revival building once used by Hills Brothers – inventors of vacuum-packing – to roast and pack coffee on the city's Embarcadero (waterfront).

沃頓商學院舊金山分院定位於高端市場，採取密集型和沉浸式教學，所有費用包含在學費裏。因此該校決定從鬧市區搬到更高檔的地段。今年年初，該校搬到了舊金山Embarcadero（濱水區）一棟翻新過的羅馬式大樓的6層。真空包裝的發明者希爾斯兄弟(Hills Brothers)曾經在那棟大樓裏烘焙和包裝咖啡。

The annual intake on this two-year EMBA is about 95 students – so what do they get for their money?

這個兩年制EMBA課程每年接收約95名學員——那麼，這些學員付出的學費會換回些什麼？

The campus – which is used exclusively for the EMBA programme and a handful of executive courses – is flooded with natural light and sustainable woods, walls hung with paintings from local artists. Breakout rooms and mother-and-baby rooms are furnished like airport executive lounges. There are two teaching rooms, each with capacity for 75 students, plus a lecture theatre for 160.

該教學區由這個EMBA項目和幾個高管課程專享，採光極佳，大量採用可再生木材，牆上掛着當地藝術家的畫作。休息室和母嬰室的陳設好像機場的行政貴賓室。有兩間教室，每間可容納75名學生，還有一間演講廳，可容納160名學生。

Each has the latest audio-visual equipment and cameras for web-conferencing speakers from the east coast and Wall Street. In smaller seminar rooms, students can Skype their east coast counterparts or team members working overseas. And the restaurant serves food prepared by local artisans.

每間教室都配備了最新的視聽設備和攝像機，可以與東海岸和華爾街的人開網絡會議。在較小的研討教室裏，學員可以在Skype上與東海岸的學員或在海外工作的團隊夥伴進行交流。餐廳供應由當地廚師烹製的食物。

While proud of the campus, Ms Birt stresses that this is not the reason students pay big money As in Philadelphia, EMBA students receive more than 700 hours of contact time. "They are getting more for their money – other programmes offer 400 hours and their fees are not much less than ours."

儘管對校園設施感到自豪，但伯特強調，這不是學員們願意掏那麼高的學費的原因。跟在費城校區一樣，舊金山分院的EMBA學員面對面教學時間超過700小時。"我們的課程性價比更高——其他的EMBA項目只有400小時，而學費並不比我們的少多少。"

As the global economy recovers it is not too far-fetched to imagine EMBA fees breaking the $200,000 mark soon. But is there a danger that top-end schools might price themselves out of the market?

隨着全球經濟的復甦，EMBA學費很快突破20萬美元大關並非不可想象的事情。但是否存在這樣的危險：頂級商學院的定價可能脫離市場實際？

"The market is dictating the price," says Dave Wilson, chief executive of the Graduate Management Admission Council.

管理學研究生招生理事會(Graduate Management Admission Council，簡稱GMAC)首席執行官戴夫•威爾遜(Dave Wilson)表示："市場決定學費。

"As long as candidates fill seats, the price is not a barrier in the eyes of either the students or the schools. The market is in equilibrium as supply is meeting demand.

"只要申請人數不低於招生人數，學員和學校都不會覺得學費是個障礙。市場是均衡的，因爲供給可以滿足需求。

"The real question is how stable is this equilibrium. Will supply continue to meet demand or will the increasing price drive down demand for the seats?

"真正的問題是這種均衡狀態有多穩定。供給會持續滿足需求嗎？抑或不斷上漲的學費會降低需求？

"But at the moment, the ability to increase the price of a graduate management degree is a testament to the value proposition of the degree."

"但就目前而言，能夠提高一項管理研究生學位的學費，證明這個學位有價值。"

But John Fernandes, chief executive of accrediting body AACSB believes that there would be resistance from students and their employers to paying $200,000 for an executive programme.

認證機構美國管理商學院聯合會(AACSB)首席執行官約翰•費爾南德斯(John Fernandes)認爲，如果EMBA學費要20萬美元，學員和他們的老闆可能會猶豫。

"An EMBA is considered as an investment in the company and the individual and organisations would have to consider very carefully whether they would be willing to pay that amount for an executive MBA programme," he says.

費爾南德斯說："企業認爲EMBA是一項投資，報名EMBA的個人和組織會仔細衡量自己是否願意爲一項EMBA課程支付這麼多學費。"

Wharton San Francisco has no faculty of its own. The EMBA programmes are sequenced so that faculty can teach one weekend in Philadelphia, then fly to San Francisco the next. The choice of options differs a little, but the core curriculum on both programmes is identical.

沃頓商學院舊金山分院沒有自己的教員。他們對EMBA課程進行一定的編排，這樣教員可以這個週末在費城授課，下個週末飛到舊金山授課。兩個校區的選修課程略有不同，但核心課程是一樣的。

"We don't want our students to feel the east coast is getting something different," says Ms Birt. If anything, San Francisco students get the better deal from faculty, she adds. "The level of engagement here is different, because faculty don't have family distractions while here. They stay at the same hotel and take the same meals and so it makes for much greater connection with students." Wharton San Francisco attracts people working in high-tech, such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Cisco, as well as executives from the hotels, entertainment and healthcare sectors, attorneys, engineers and people working in product development, R&D and marketing.

伯特說："我們不希望讓我們的學員覺得東海岸的課程跟西海岸不一樣。"她補充說，要說有所區別的話，就是舊金山校區的同學能與教員有更多接觸。"在這兒的時候，教員不會爲家庭分心，因此會給學生更多關注。教員和學生們住同一個酒店，在同一個餐廳吃飯，因此與學生的聯繫也緊密得多。"沃頓商學院舊金山分院吸引了一些高科技行業的人士前來就讀，比如谷歌(Google)、Facebook、LinkedIn和思科(Cisco)的高管；也吸引了一些酒店業、娛樂業和醫療行業的高管，以及律師、工程師、產品開發人員、研發人員和營銷人員。

The 30 electives chosen by students tend to lean towards the entrepreneurial, adds Ms Birt, who can now count Mozilla and Gap as neighbours.

伯特補充說，30門選修課大多偏向於創業方面。如今，該校與Mozilla和Gap比鄰而居。

It is a significant challenge to start a business while holding down a job, juggling family commitments and completing an EMBA.

在工作、照顧家庭、完成EMBA學位的同時自己創業，這是一個巨大的挑戰。

However the biggest pressure comes from students themselves. Only a third of EMBA students at Wharton San Francisco have more than 50 per cent of their fees paid for by their employers. Many pay the entire cost from their own pockets.

不過，最大的壓力來自學員們本身。沃頓商學院舊金山分院的EMBA學員中，只有三分之一由僱主支付一半以上學費。許多學員完全自掏腰包。

"This is a big investment in their lives and careers," says Ms Birt. "They demand a transformational experience."

"對學員們而言，這是對自己生活和職業生涯的一筆巨大投資。"伯特說，"他們要求得到一次通過學習脫胎換骨的經歷。"