Archive for 'Online MBA' Category

Real MBAs

I am about to attend a conference on IT governance, which I helped to organize. Everyone on the list of speakers has an MBA. And all of the organizers (including myself) have MBAs. I wonder how many have Information Systems MBAs.

I’ve decided to line up conversations with as many of these people as possible, to see how their MBAs have affected their lives, and how they managed their study periods. It will be interesting to see how many of them studied their MBAs online.

Adventure

I had a telephone call from my MBA friend who is setting up his own business. He’s just found some seed capital from a business angel, and is really enthused by the whole process. It’s a particularly good situation as the business angel wants to get involved with the whole process, and add in his own expertise, which is quite different from my friends.

So he’s on his way, and putting together his network. I’m waiting to see what his next steps are; this could be a really interesting adventure.

Opportunities

Well, here is a typical example of networking, and how small the world can be. I worked in Zelenograd from 1993 to 2005, where the Russian part of my business was based.

I recently began working on a new international project; one of the others involved is a Zelenograd-based MBA who has a large network throughout Europe, New Zealand and the U.S. (his vast network was largely gained by earning his online MBA).

Having business contacts across the globe is highly beneficial, no matter your business role. And you do not need to start a business in a foreign country to gain international contacts. Earning an MBA, such as an International Business MBA, can give you a head start.

US MBAs

Yesterday, in the course of my normal business, I went to interview the CEO of one of the most successful (and largest) technology companies in New Zealand. During the course of conversation we started to talk about our own educational experiences. It turned out that he had earned an MBA in the US around six years ago. His previous experiences of higher education had been in New Zealand and the UK.

He commented on how much he had enjoyed the study-side of his MBA, including the challenge of the program and the chance to apply his professional experience to his classes. He also remarked on how “real” the case studies and the group work had been on his MBA. It was his opinion that the US took professional education very seriously, and was particularly good at combining education and industry experience to create a really effective learning environment for students.

Recruitment Aid

I asked an executive recruiter if he considered it a necessity for those in senior management to have MBAs. The recruitment specialist replied that, while if not a necessity, it was “definitely desirable for those who want to transition from middle management into senior management to have MBAs.”

He said that the knowledge gained from an MBA is directly applicable to senior management job duties and that there is an added factor about the kinds of people who receive MBAs. They tend to be more forward-looking and are willing to put real time and effort into their careers and day-to-day jobs. Because interviews provide companies very brief assessment periods and companies need all the clues they can get about potential employees, MBAs serve a very practical purpose to employers (in addition to the educational benefits they serve students).

Graduate work for MBAs

An ex-student of mine who is applying for an online MBA asked me what the academic level of an MBA is. His comment was that when he looked at the outline of each of the individual subject courses, they appeared to be higher than a bachelor-degree level but not quite the same as other masters’ degrees.

Of course, in a way he was right. One of the reasons that the MBA is set apart from other graduate degrees is that it is graduate level, but different from other graduate programs. The subject courses are informational, but the graduate elements of an MBA program are in the project work. This has to be completed in a much more integrated fashion than is normal in other areas of education. MBA project work requires finding unique solutions, integrating actions across functional disciplines, and creating new strategies and tactics to enable the strategies to work.

Make no mistake, studying for an online MBA is a tough intellectual exercise, but is more focused on preparing for a senior management career than further academic work.

MBAs for Women

I was reading some interesting research about women entering business schools for MBAs. Apparently only 30% of entrants are women – compared with 44% of entrants into medical and law schools. This statistic has been static for some years now, so it appears that women entrants have plateaued. However, 95% of women who did enter and took their MBAs were satisfied with the outcomes of their programs.

The study “Women and the MBA: Gateway to Opportunity” from the University of Michigan suggested four reasons women may not pursue MBAs:

• A lack of role models
• Business careers seen as incompatible with work/life balance
• Lack of confidence with math abilities
• Less likely to be encouraged by their employers

How do you defy these statistics?

Non-Profitmaking MBAs

A different kind of MBA I have noticed, which is offered by several providers and also as an online MBA, is for managers of non-profit organizations. The non-profit MBA is really interesting, because it needs to look at several areas of management with a slightly different focus than is used for normal commercial organizations.

Non-profit organizations need to consider aspects of business differently than for-profits. The following differences often exist between the two:

1. The image they portray to the public.
2. The way they view finances.
3. The way they recruit and retain employees.

Thus, the non-profit MBA will be taught differently than other MBAs, with different aims and objectives.

MBA Grads Want the Best

According to a survey of 95 schools from around the world conducted via Internet by GMAC, the body that offers GMATs, nearly half of all MBA graduates change jobs after they have finished their MBAs. They use the degree as a springboard to find new jobs and to position themselves further up the management ladder.

When choosing where to get their MBAs, students rank prestige of the business school high on the list of selection criteria. 39% said that global recognition was a major factor in their choice of schools, and beat other factors such as location, subject options and rankings.

It seems that quality of the school is a major issue that they feel will add to the reputation of their own degree – most important when you are looking for a new job, as you will wish to be associated with “the best”.

MBA Fees

I’ve been taking part in a workshop that looks at the cost of education to the student. For many years, most higher education has charged some fees, but these are often (but not always) subsidized. A constant exception to this rule is the MBA. MBAs are charged at full cost to the student. The logic behind this is that this is professional studies, aimed at increasing the effectiveness of managers and therefore their value in the market. They will therefore be able to afford to find the fees for this program.

I’m not entirely sure that this is logical, as many other graduate programs increase the value of the people who study them. However, it is true that most MBA students are already working in jobs that have reasonable salaries, and are motivated to improve themselves. So they probably find the fees necessary parts of MBA programs.