There are few people in the world of business schools who would bet against Blair Sheppard, dean of the Fuqua school at Duke University in North Carolina.

One of the most mercurial thinkers in the business, he has been the brains behind many of the most innovative management programmes around. And last year, he decided to pilot another Fuqua first: a one-year masters in management studies degree, intended to give a bit of business know-how to recent graduates in subjects as varied as philosophy, modern languages and maths. The first year of the pilot has been a resounding success, says Sheppard. In particular, the faculty has warmed to the programme: “The students are smart and willing to go with ideas.”

But for Sheppard, this kind of “pre-experience” masters degree (more usually referred to as a masters in management, or MiM) is more than just a degree for kids in North Carolina. As the university continues its quest to build overseas campuses, he says this degree will form the basis of others to be taught at Duke University campuses in countries such as China, India, Brazil and Singapore, and in the Middle East. “In a year or so, you will see a variant of this as the local degree to anchor us in these locations. There seems to be a real need for this degree in each of the regions that we are talking about.”