The Eroding Power of the MBA
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I agree ... unlike the JD, or the CPA or other specifically-required "must have for entry" courses of study, the MBA requires a little more thought about whether you really need it. If you want to run a trading desk at Goldman Sachs, or do biz consulting at McKinsey, you're going to need it, and it has to be from the 5 or 6 schools they're currently recruiting at. Otherwise, the door doesn't open.RaceBannon said:
This was a good explanation. Especially the part about people being morons. No way to paper that over but for those who aren't who have goals like you had in mind, go for it and good luckwhlinder said:After graduating UW I immediately took the GMAT to try to get a decent score while I still had test taking skillz with the view that I would eventually want an MBA. The GMAT was only valid for 5 years, so 5 years later I was like ahh shit, guess I better get going with that MBA. I did not want to lose the 2 years of career progression nor could we afford no income for those 2 years, so I went the part-time route. Company paid for 1/2 and I got the rest. And so I went, very very slowly, towards the degree. It took me 5 years to complete.
-Went to GW since it was less than Georgetown, not tied to religion, had a satellite location close to home, more internationally focused and they gave me a small scholarship
-Classmates were fairly diverse. DC, with an international focus. That was good.
-Plenty of people in there right out of college with no work experience looking for more degrees. That was bad.
-I got to do a team research project abroad which was some awesome additional real world experience outside of my domain
-A good chunk of the programs was stuff I "knew" already but was able to formalize and have the credit to prove I knew it
-I gained general business knowledge in many areas, like finance, accounting, HR/legal, corporate strategy, company culture and leadership, which I probably would not have done as directly otherwise
For me it was worth it since I was (and still am) able to go way in depth in my areas of expertise, but the MBA allowed me to apply that in depth knowledge to the important things that other areas of the business have to do to support my primary stuff, and they knew they couldn't bullshit me. The global focus from GW helped as well which I targeted due to working at a global company in a global industry. However, I agree there is an issue with the brand of an MBA since you can get one from so many places and the people who come out of those are in many cases morons. They cheapen the value of "an MBA" compared to people who actually pursued advanced business knowledge through a real program.
Outside of that less than 1/10th of 1% of us, it takes a more thorough analysis of what it is you're trying to achieve. Did Wally Walker need the Stanford MBA to be the Sonics Pres & GM? I'm guessing not. -
Fuck Wally Walker
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And fuck Bob Whitsit, or however you spell his last name. Met him a few times through work and holy fucking shit, what. an. asshole.RaceBannon said:Fuck Wally Walker
Far surpassing @creepycoug -level of arrogance, which is pretty arrogant ... and off-putting. -
I forgot to comment on this gem. The author of the piece is someone who runs a continuing education program she tries to place as an alternative to an MBA. The regurgitated info on why you or your employer should give her money instead of an established school just adds the current news cycle trends. Diversity is the hot topic? MBAs are not diverse. Covid? Covid changed everything including MBAs. Whatever, maybe her program provides value and this does raise an interesting question on whether the degree is worth it.
I think an MBA is still worth it. I never finished mine, it wasn’t my intention to finish when I started - just a placeholder for the time. Little out of pocket expense for me since my employer at the time paid for most of it. Did I learn things? Eh, somewhat. It was pretty good for practicing collaboration, especially doing it remotely and with groups that were diverse in age, experience and background, ethnicity, nationality.
The real usefulness of the degree comes in salary negotiations, promotions, and getting hired. Of course not every company values or cares about an MBA, but having previously worked for a Fortune 500 I can absolutely guarantee you that they care. Hiring for management roles and promotion decisions in these large companies usually come down to a quick decision by some VP who will spend very little time on the matter. Your qualifications may get a grand total of less than a 30 second glance, and if there isn’t some strong separation or recommendation from a trusted source that MBA is getting the job. Over the course of a career I would be absolutely shocked if it doesn’t wind up paying for itself multiple times over. -
Question. Do I need an MBA to run a fireworks stand? I plan to specialize in snakes and sparklers.
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If you’re “america first” then you’ll only sell tannerite
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Snakes, no. Sparklers, yes.Swaye said:Question. Do I need an MBA to run a fireworks stand? I plan to specialize in snakes and sparklers.
More SKUs to manage. Complicated inventory matrix and optimization of product mix.
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MBA has lessened substantially because computer science/math BS people can be taught all of that in a company setting.
My wife graduated from Foster with good grades and then breezed through University of Portland's MBA progrum, and we've decided that if any mba knowledge would be needed it would be me going back to school or learning from her on a per-skills basis for my company. -
Why mba at Portland?haie said:MBA has lessened substantially because computer science/math BS people can be taught all of that in a company setting.
My wife graduated from Foster with good grades and then breezed through University of Portland's MBA progrum, and we've decided that if any mba knowledge would be needed it would be me going back to school or learning from her on a per-skills basis for my company. -
They live down that way. If I were to get an MBA in the greater Portland area, that's the one I'd get (also, it may be the only one available ... does Portland State offer one?)FireCohen said:
Why mba at Portland?haie said:MBA has lessened substantially because computer science/math BS people can be taught all of that in a company setting.
My wife graduated from Foster with good grades and then breezed through University of Portland's MBA progrum, and we've decided that if any mba knowledge would be needed it would be me going back to school or learning from her on a per-skills basis for my company.
