雷鸟折翼内幕：记一所老牌商学院的衰落

摆脱颓势的良机？

    卡布雷拉的继任者拉里•彭利坚称，鉴于这所商学院在依然不断增长的全球管理教育市场上面临的种种挑战，这项合作绝对有必要。过去17年间，雷鸟学院全日制MBA项目的注册人数累计下降了75%。彭利把学生人数的下降归因于商业教育市场的变迁。

    “我认为，由于机会成本，学生们不会像过去那样选择为期两年的MBA项目，”他说。“所有私立院校的学费都上涨了。所以，这种需求的变化要求商学院必须与时俱进。”

    为了应对这个不断变化的市场，桂冠教育公司将提供1,300万美元，用以帮助雷鸟创建新的在线和本科课程，同时协助它进行全球扩张。彭利表示，雷鸟打算在巴黎、马德里、圣地亚哥、圣保罗和亚洲启用新校园。

    与桂冠结盟也将帮助雷鸟摆脱一场愈演愈烈的债务危机。2009年和2010年，当美国经济危机最严重的时候，雷鸟的年度预算其实还有盈余。但彭利随即指出，由于私营教育机构依赖学费和各种捐款，它的财务状况具有很强的波动性，雷鸟的年度预算已经无法继续实现盈余了。相反，这所商学院已累积了2,450万美元的债务，单2012财年的赤字就高达400万美元。

    他声称，与桂冠合作还可以带来其他财务收益。首先，这项价值5,200万美元的售后回租协议将帮助雷鸟商学院自建校以来首次摆脱债务。其次，这次结盟还可以让雷鸟重新回到运营大有盈余的好日子（运营盈余有望达到1亿美元）。最后一点是，雷鸟将投资3,000万美元对校园进行改造升级。

    但许多校友并不买账。拥有近100名活跃成员的上海校友会于5月下旬义愤填膺地发来了一封抗议信。他们声称，雷鸟宁可考虑关闭，“以保持这一品牌的完整性和声誉，”也不应该寻求与桂冠合作。

    彭利说，这封信让他非常伤心。他说：“我认为，与桂冠结盟可以让雷鸟焕发出新的活力。在我看来，对于许多学生来说，这一点比什么都重要。”（财富中文网）

    译者：任文科

An opportunity to switch gears?

    Penley, who succeeded Cabrera as dean, maintains that the partnership is absolutely necessary due to all the challenges the university is facing in what is still a growing market for global business education. Over the past 17 years, Thunderbird has experienced a 75% decrease in enrollment for its full-time MBA program. Penley attributes the drop to a shift in the business education market.

    "I think because of opportunity costs, students are no longer choosing two-year MBA programs like they did in the past," he said. "And the price of tuition has gone up at all private schools. So schools must shift with that shift in demand."

    To address this changing market, Laureate will provide $13 million to help Thunderbird create new online and undergraduate programs, while also expanding its global footprint. Penley said Thunderbird is looking to launch campuses in Paris, Madrid, Santiago, Sao Paulo, and Asia.

    The alliance with Laureate will also pull Thunderbird out of an accumulating debt crisis. At the height of the economic implosion in 2009 and 2010, Thunderbird was running annual budget surpluses, but Penley said that due to the fluctuating financial nature of a private institution that relies on tuition, gifts, and grants, Thunderbird is no longer running a surplus. Instead, the school has racked up $24.5 million in debt and was $4 million in the red in fiscal 2012.

    The partnership with Laureate, he argues, will include other financial benefits as well. First, a sale-leaseback for $52 million will pull the school out of debt for the first time in Thunderbird's history. Secondly, the alliance could take Thunderbird back to the days of operating solidly in the black with the potential to produce $100 million in operating surplus. Finally, adds Penley, $30 million will be invested in campus upgrades.

    But many alumni are unconvinced. The school's Shanghai alumni group, with nearly 100 active members, shot off a protest letter to the school in late May, suggesting that Thunderbird should even consider shutting itself down to "preserve the integrity and reputation of the brand" rather than team up with Laureate.

    Penley says he was genuinely saddened by the letter. "Thunderbird is, I think, given a new vitality by virtue of this alliance. And I think that's going to be important to a lot of students," he says.