Before choosing a course it is important to understand the range of potential benefits that different programmes may offer: you can then decide which of these are most important to you. You also need to understand the other dimensions of variation between programmes, such as length of course, academic level, degree of specialisation and the pattern of time commitment needed. These are likely to be equally important factors in selecting a programme.
This article looks at how provision has developed from the original US MBA model to the wide range of programmes now available, and at the way in which both student and employer perspectives on MBAs have changed, in the UK, and Europe more generally. This historical digression is not strictly necessary, but if you have the time you may find that it helps you to understand the current situation.
Change in provision has been – and continues to be – dramatic. Forty years ago Master’s-level management study was rare in Europe. Although MBAs were popular in the USA, few European employers had more than a hazy idea of what ‘MBA’ even stood for, and were probably unaware of any other qualifications at this level. Only a handful of young, ambitious managers pursued an MBA, and on gaining it risked being thought of as expensive, arrogant and generally useless.
This is no longer the case. A formal management qualification is now almost a prerequisite for management success. Key stakeholders in the management education process include managers seeking such qualifications and their employers, the universities and colleges providing such education, and the government who partly
funds it, and has an interest in the impact on the quality of management within the economy. Some 500 European business schools produce more than 20 000 graduates a year, most of whom already have substantial management experience behind them. (This is still a small number in relation to the 80 000 or more MBA graduates annually in the USA, together with increasing numbers of managers gaining specialist management qualifications.)
The reasons for this expansion, and its consequences, may help you to consider what you want to do. Costs and benefits of study have changed markedly, and you need to evaluate both when deciding, first, whether or not to seek a qualification of this kind, and, subsequently, which qualification to pursue.
MBA ORIGINS
The prototypical MBA originated at Harvard around a century ago. Programmes following this model are highly selective, highly pressured, and normally involve two years of full-time study. The first year concentrates on the basic management disciplines: control, managerial economics, finance, marketing, organisational
behaviour, human resource management, production and operations management. It also covers factors influencing the business environment, such as government and the international economy. During the second year there will be scope for organisational placements, perhaps in the form of consultancy projects, and for study of a range of electives.
Teaching on such programmes is heavily case study based – a method pioneered in the Harvard Law programme. Harvard MBA students report being expected to analyse two or three substantial case studies per night – each requiring two to four hours’ study –in preparation for class presentations and discussions the next day. The academic level is extremely high, and the atmosphere highly competitive, placing considerable
pressure on students.
This distinctive approach to teaching management has many benefits. The first and obvious one for students is the prestige attached to the qualification itself. The top business schools are highly selective: merely being accepted suggests something special. The competitive nature of the programme ensures that successful graduates are likely to thrive in competitive business environments.
Until fairly recently employers would compete vigorously for the graduates of these business schools, offering ‘golden handshakes’ on starting, and salaries two or more times the size of those offered to non-MBA graduates. The MBA graduates were valued because they had gained a highly analytical approach to managerial problem solving, and the ability to approach new problems in a structured and rational fashion.
From the 800 or so case studies they had analysed, they had a ‘vocabulary’ of types of problem, and a degree of familiarity with a wide range of business contexts. They had a clear grasp of finance, and the ability to use financial models. The competitive approach to teaching developed a high level of confidence in students who survived it.
These qualities made graduates particularly attractive to management consultancies and investment banks, the subsequent employers of the majority of graduates. The first European business schools modelled themselves upon Harvard, but several important changes took place from about 1980 onwards. These significantly influenced what managers and employers wanted from a qualification, and how they wanted to achieve it. As a consequence, the ‘Harvard’ model is no longer the dominant one in Europe.
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