Many In The Blogosphere Think The MBA Degree Is A Waste
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Was motivated to highlight a link based on
this post at Dilbert Lives.
Folks contemplating an MBA may want to take a look at this well-traveled blog post by Seth Godin which reflects a position of not pursuing an MBA. I have a lot of respect for Seth Godin as well as many others that speak out against an MBA. My favorite part of Seth's post is this:
Folks contemplating an MBA may want to take a look at this well-traveled blog post by Seth Godin which reflects a position of not pursuing an MBA. I have a lot of respect for Seth Godin as well as many others that speak out against an MBA. My favorite part of Seth's post is this:
An MBA has become a two-part time machine. First, the students are
taught everything they need to know to manage a company from 1990, and
second, they are taken out of the real world for two years while the
rest of us race as fast as we possibly can.
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Hey I love this blog as well. It runs along the same lines as, if you are interested in business, why bother learning, just do.
The logical progression is....why bother going to college....why bother going to school....why bother learning to read or write or do arithmetic?
Just get into business early man!!! Then you'll be ahead of all those other poor schmucks who are wasting....yes literally wasting their valuable time and money learning.
I mean how many educated people/ MBA's do you know who are succesful in business? Exactly!! No, much better to make it on your own, like my friend Fred, the local janitor.......HAH!!!
0 Star(s) awarded I think the focus of many MBA programs now is to create entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, not just prepare students for consulting or investment banking.
I believe that you can apply your MBA successfully only if you understand an industry or two in depth, meaning developing knowledge of every aspect of the industry - Operations, Marketing, Finance and HR. An MBA opens your eyes MBAs to the various aspects of a business. MBAs also are made aware of General Management skills they may need for managing people, but one really learns through experience. In other words, my perspective is that the knowledge you gain by doing an MBA makes you more aware of the business environment.
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steveshu21pub
on November 7, 2005 at 4:35 PM
indusnomad,I think the focus on creating entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs are good goals. That said, Seth's post tries to the make the point that MBA programs don't add enough value outside of consulting and investment banking (and even then that the MBA is questionable).
As for applying the knowledge that comes with an MBA, I will say that I think my mind is better able to address business issues after having gotten an MBA. Much like engineering gave me some fundamentals and structure to better understand technology, an MBA has helped to give me some additional foundation for tackling problems that I face in industry.
Seth suggests that one could get a lot out of reading a bunch of business books. Perhaps. An MBA is not a mysterious degree. But Seth's kind of philosophy errs on selling the MBA too short.
0 Star(s) awarded Here is my perspective.....
Im an Account Manager currently managing 4.1 million dollars for an offhore outsourcing company. My colleague is doing about the same. After 2 years in MBA school, I will have the skills to manage a large team and deal with HR issues as well as manage profitability and risk. My colleague will probably be managing 12 million dollars.
In the end, we will be both be successful, however, when the time comes to choose someone as Vice President managing the geography of the US, I will be chosen because I have the skill sets necessary to interface with all aspects of the business. My colleague will continue to get high sales quotas as will I. However, I will be the one managing and have the potential to grow into a larger position.
Hope it makes sense.
Rahul
It is my belief that those how have natural leadership skills and posses certain degree of charisma will inevitably make good leaders in the business field provided they have some level of formal training and knowledge of the numerous facets of business. Those who lack these skills in their natural ability but are fueled with aspiration will only find advancement in leadership positions via MBAs. In essence those who can do do, and those who can't, learn to do. The number 1 and 3rd richest men in America are college drop outs.
I think each individual has his/her own reason to pursue an MBA - or at least that's how it should be. For me, an MBA is about changing perspectives and getting to know the bigger picture, be better equiped to manage risks and to have a healthier social network.
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Having said that, anyone has a "business model" of getting an MBA equivalent in knowledge to "close to the top 25" business schools at significantly lower cost with "close to the top 25" brand image?
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erikadianasari
on April 21, 2006 at 3:50 AM
Koolblogs, agree with you re: each individual has own reason to pursue MBA.
In the meantime ..I do believe MBA can broaden the perspective and give such knowledge that we might have missed or not gained throught our experiences previously/ currently...
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