A weak global economy hasn’t staunched employers’ interest in hiring MBAs, a recent survey by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) reports. In fact, the proportion of respondents to the annual GMAC Corporate Recruiters Survey who are preparing to hire new MBAs is higher this year than it was in 2007.

“Through economic slowdowns, as well as expansions, organizations see value in the skills that MBAs bring to the table,” says GMAC’s president and CEO David A. Wilson. “Even as there is serious retrenchment going on at investment houses, more companies in the finance and accounting industry plan to hire MBAs than did last year.”

There’s good news on the salary front as well, the survey has found. Most employers expect salaries to rise at the rate of inflation or better despite a rough economic climate that is seeing many firms cut back. “The preliminary salary projections are encouraging and do speak to the value of the skill and experience MBAs bring,” says Tom Kozicki, president of the MBA Career Services Council and executive director of MBA career services at the Paul Merage School of Business.

Corporate recruiters told GMAC researchers that this stable employment outlook for business school graduates reflects widespread respect among employers for people with MBAs. According to the press release, employers especially value business school graduates for their management knowledge and communications skills—traits that are as prominent among MBAs in a weak economy as they are when times are flush. The technical and quantitative skills typically emphasized by MBA programs also are selling points for recruiters.

So don’t let the economic slowdown get you down. Turns out that mega B-school debt will still be worth it.

Columbia Business School has partnered with the Frankfurt based Center for Value Investing to offer a value investing course in Europe. The course is open to investors at all levels who want to refine their understanding of value-based investing principals for professional or personal use. Registration for this course closes July 4, 2008 (enrollment is limited).

Investopedia defines value investing as “[t]he strategy of selecting stocks that trade for less than their intrinsic values. Value investors actively seek stocks of companies that they believe the market has undervalued.”

Participants will learn quantitative valuation techniques such as asset valuation and earnings power method to calculate intrinsic value. Methods of franchise valuation and calculation of investment risk will also be explored.

As Charlie Munger (Buffett’s egregiously rich side-kick) remarked: “All intelligent investing is value investing.” So if you’ve always wanted to visit Germany, treat yourself, and learn some important skills at the same time.

The Wharton MBA Admissions Blog offers comfort and guidance to candidates on their summer waitlist. While sympathetic to the frustrations such candidates may be experiencing right now, Wharton implores them to refrain from spending countless hours “developing creative ways to keep in touch and win us over.”

Greek Entrepreneur illustrates a popular charade while communicating. As he sees it, the only two means of effective communication are “speaking the listener’s language”, or, “explaining our terms using his experiences”.

Through her company, Happy Bunny helped raise nearly $15,000 last week for the Chinese earthquake relief fund. Way to go!

Necromonger revisits a post made before starting at INSEAD on the return on investment of an MBA. Now close to finishing the program, he is ever more convinced of the futility of making ROI calculations, especially for those graduating from top programs.

As the term at Chicago GSB ends, Etc and Etc celebrates having earned half an MBA and looks forward to a visit to Chile after finals…provided the visa process goes smoothly!

The Divine Miss N takes issue with personal labels as she juggles perception issues created by being both a designer and an MBA from LBS.

Calling all managers with an interest in Latin America! IESE, based in Barcelona and Madrid, has launched its first American MBA: the Senior Executive Program in Miami. This announcement comes as many European business schools look to strengthen their position in the U.S. market. The IESE program is designed for experienced professionals and will be run with two leading Latin American business schools, Mexico’s IPADE and Argentina’s IAE.

This fast-paced, high-level general management program–taught in English–aims to help senior executives with specific interests in Latin America achieve new levels of success in managing and leading their companies. It consists of four one-week modules (three in Miami and one in Madrid) and kicks off in October. Each participant will liaise with a faculty “coach” charged with helping assess individual progress and stimulating deeper reflection. Throughout the program, participants will develop their own “take-home agendas” and action plans for themselves and their companies.

What sort of participants is IESE looking for? The program is designed for those who derive a significant portion of their business from Latin America or plan to in the future. IESE says participants will typically be top-tier managers or company owners and have 15 years of managerial experience or more, and class selection will be made with diversity of companies, sectors and cultural backgrounds in mind.

The fee for the class of SEP 08/09 is $39,000, which includes tuition, all reading and classroom materials, most meals and accommodations in Miami and Madrid.

IESE, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, opened an office in New York in 2007. To apply online for the Senior Executive Program in Miami, click here.