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MBA degrees alive and well in '06
Is the MBA obsolete? After all, the master's of business administration degree has been around since the turn of the 20th century. It helped take America from an agrarian to an industrialized economy and propelled many workers up through the ranks of Fortune 500 companies in the 1950s and since.
But this is 2006! Maybe the old workhorse no longer has the legs for today's diverse, ever-changing and global marketplace.
You won't convince Will Killgore, Pawan Hegde and John Siwulich of that. The three MBAs graduated from the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University in May and already are reaping the benefits.
Like most of today's MBA students, they went to class while working full time.
"Georgia State's Flex MBA program allowed me to gain career experience at the same time I was getting an education," said Killgore, a real estate representative with Opus South Corp., a commercial real estate development company.
Killgore started in tenant representation with another company but wanted to move into development, his real passion. "The Flex MBA was perfect because I could take the core business courses and choose a concentration in finance and real estate," he said.
Georgia State's Career Services helped Killgore find his new job, which required real estate experience and an MBA. Now he's involved in the land acquisition, construction and marketing of the company's industrial, commercial, office and multifamily housing projects.
"I found excellent value for my money in this degree," Killgore said. "I wouldn't have my new job without it."
Hegde's degree took him to a job with Thomson Corp., a workplace solutions company.
"I'm in a two-year management-rotation program, where we work in various divisions to get a better sense of the whole organization and find our best fit," Hegde said. "At the moment, I'm working in a strategy role in New York. After that I'll move to a financial, and then an international, assignment. The MBA was a must for getting this job."
Hegde bypassed full-time programs in favor of earning his degree at night in three years while working for a health care services company.
"I wanted to move into a more corporate-level career role and knew I needed more general business knowledge. The MBA helped develop me for the position I'm in now," he said.
An MBA with a concentration in information systems gave Siwulich the skills to climb higher in management with the U.S. Postal Service. The 21-year employee was promoted to quality improvement specialist and is implementing new automation and training employees.
"I'm already putting the theories I learned to use and feel like what I've learned will carry me through the rest of my business career," Siwulich said. "There have been so many breakthroughs in statistical theories and business models. The business world is different. Schools need to go out and find out what's really happening and teach that -- my professors did."
"MBA programs have to pay attention to what's going on in the business world -- and more," said Jane Mutchler, associate dean for academic planning and programs at Georgia State's J. Mack Robinson College of Business.
While there was a dip in MBA enrollments and hiring of graduates three or four years ago, the numbers are climbing again. Registrations for the GMAT (the MBA entrance test) were up 3.9 percent worldwide this spring over 2005 numbers, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).
Applications are up as well, thanks in part to revamped programs offering a smorgasbord of delivery methods to fit different career and personal needs. A few years ago, education experts noticed that the number of people taking full-time, two-year programs was going down, while the numbers of part-time and working students were growing.
TOP 10 CHARACTERISTICS CORPORATE RECRUITERS LOOK FOR IN MBA HIRES Source: Graduate Management Admission Council's 2006 Corporate Recruiters Survey |
"We decided we needed to jump on the bandwagon and provide more choices," Mutchler said.
Besides the Flex MBA, in which part-time students take core business courses and can choose from 15 concentrations, Georgia State has a Global Partners MBA that puts students on four continents in 14 months to get an up-close look at international business. An 18-month Executive MBA, with lock-step courses on Fridays and Saturdays, is geared for working managers moving up.
Last year, Georgia State enrolled its first class in the Professional MBA program. The two-year program has classes every other Thursday night and Saturday and takes working students with at least three years of business experience through lock-step classes with the same cohorts.
"I was excited about this new program, especially since I've been trying to earn this degree for about eight years," said Jason van Namen, director of marketing and delivery management with Modem Media, an interactive marketing and advertising agency.
Van Namen had evaluated and been accepted into top programs in Atlanta and Chicago, but a new job or move always kept him from enrolling.
"I really wanted an MBA degree to complement my undergraduate degree of BS in agriculture and my minor and work experience in international marketing," van Namen said. "I'm so glad I chose this program. There's so much diversity in terms of companies, experiences and cultures in my study team. Everyone has different strengths, and we all learn from one another."
The ability to share work experiences and network is one of the benefits of a cohort-driven MBA program, said Rodney Alsup, senior associate dean of the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University.
Executive MBA programs -- some taught on-site at corporations -- are on the rise nationally because "companies see the course content, which offers a breadth of business knowledge and skills, as a way to invest in their employees. They're willing to pay for it," he said. The expectation is that the employee will stay with the company and move up.
A 2006 Global MBA Graduate Survey by GMAC found that 63 percent of 6,000 graduates rated the overall value of their degrees as outstanding or excellent, while another 29 percent rated it as good. The study also found that the typical MBA student was making $61,302 before earning the degree and expected a post-MBA salary of $86,350.
While these are averages, Alsup said that 50 percent to 60 percent of KSU's Executive MBA students got promoted after earning the degree.
With more choices in delivery methods -- such as KSU's Web-based program -- and in curricula, students must research and evaluate MBA programs carefully to make sure the programs match their skills and career goals.
"Our Executive MBA is different, in that we have a dedicated team of faculty who do nothing but teach this program and a very integrative curriculum," Alsup said. "The international experience is also much more extensive."
KSU students are teamed with students from The Institute for Business and Public Administration in Bucharest, Romania.
"They spend two weeks in Bucharest, forming teams and starting projects, which they'll continue via e-mail, audio and video conferencing for eight months," Alsup said. "They'll complete the projects when their Romanian team members come here."
Knowing the details is important when selecting a program.
"It's no longer the same boiler-plate of courses. Some schools differentiate themselves by having strengths in teaching leadership, teaming, project management or marketing," Alsup said.
The business world wants MBA graduates with good communication skills, an understanding of business ethics and the ability to manage in a global economy in addition to a broad understanding of business, Mutchler said, and schools are building their curricula accordingly.
"We added a strategic business-communications course two years ago that teaches everything from making a presentation to the right language to use when terminating an employee," she said.
The MBA isn't a perfect fit for everyone. A specialized, advanced degree -- such as an MS in professional accountancy, finance or marketing that gives in-depth knowledge about a particular field -- may be a better choice for some people.
"The new thing on the horizon is a joint specialized degree, such as our MBA/MS [master of science] in health administration, MBA/JD [law degree] or MBA/MS in finance degrees," Mutchler said. "As long as we continue to pay attention to the needs of the business world and change with the times, there's no danger of the MBA outgrowing its usefulness."
