I recently read an article on the Economist discussing why an MBA is pretty worthless (article: http://www.economist.com/whichmba/think-twice). I agree with the author, going for an MBA is a complete waste of time and especially money. Most people have this idea that an MBA will lead to more success in the their careers. University perpetuate this idea by throwing all statistics claiming over time you will out earn all education levels below you.
This is complete nonsense. Universities make too many assumptions one of which is that one will continually work with any interruption such as being laid off. MBA does not make you recession proof. When the economy tanks most companies lay off their most expensive workers and you guess it the MBA or MBA students are the first to go. MBA doesn't teach you to be more productive. It cannot make you more intelligent, and certainly doesn't guarantee you to be a more valuable employee.
Yes it is true on average an employee with an MBA will have a higher salary but this may work to their disadvantage because it makes them more expensive. Also if you are attending business school, the company may partial being paying for it which is also makes you more expensive and may lead to you losing your job. Just as bad is the company will removing the subsidiarity and leave you paying the bill.
What does MBA really give you? If it doesn't make you recession proof than what value does it really have? Business schools cannot teach you to be creative. The mostly teach you case studies of past business practices. What value does that have in helping a company grow when the material is dated and backward looking? What value does it bring to a company in a highly competitive business?
Business schools cannot teach you to be entrepreneurial. When Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, Google, Amazon, first started the founding management didn't have MBAs and look at the insane growth these companies achieved. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are billionaires and considered geniuses. Do they have an MBA? Currently these companies have very few MBA's in their top ranks. Also look at many companies in the BRIC countries. How many of their top management have MBAs? I am willing to bet a very small number. These BRIC companies are making money had over fist minting new millionaires and billionaires everyday. Hmmmmm I wonder if this the result of having an MBA?
MBA programs only benefit the universities who create them. Some many universities have MBA programs; full time, part time, weekends, online, executive mba and so on. You would think with all this competition the price would fall dramatically but yet the opposite is true. The cost of these programs have been skyrocketing for over a decade. I won't get into why but I am willing to bet its due to government subsidies, professor tenure, the availability of cheap credit and the belief by the population that having an MBA is a necessity. So do you really benefit when the cost of this programs put you deeper into debt?
MBA can provide you value if you have a powerful corporate officer sponsor who states get your MBA and I will promote you to the senior ranks. Then this makes sense to me because your mentor (corporate sponsor) has laid out a secured path for you. Also another situation is when one graduates from undergraduate school and cannot find a job. Since you cannot gain experience which is the most important factor in getting hired going to graduate school may help you in building contacts in the business world.
What about the professors who teach in these programs? They teach about the free market principles but yet their jobs are free from such principles? I find that to be hypocritical. The professors themselves have secured positions due to tenure while the rest of us are at risk of losing our jobs on a daily basis. They will never tell you that this program may not be right for you? Even worse they will never tell you that there is no real value or value add in going for an MBA. It is like a drug dealer telling you to stay off drugs or reduce your consumption. It will hit them in their pockets so why would they really help you? In the end it is truly up to you to decide if it is worth the cost. Just do your research and think hard about whether you are willing to risk the cost in getting an MBA while you are at risk at losing your job.
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