Online MBA

Hi All,

I am in the early stages of looking at an MBA. Due to my current situation (living internationally, not knowing which city i will be in over the coming years) online seems like my best bet.

What are members thoughts of an online MBA? I have heard that MBAs are best value with regards to the networking rather than the actual content, online would obviously deminish this.

Also, there is a huge range of options such as fully flexible, 1 subject at a time, 18 month programs, 3 year programs etc etc. Does anyone have experience in weighing up these options?

Or at the end of the day would any form of MBA help to increase knowledge and look good on a resume (as well as fulfilling a personal goal)?

prawn_86 said:

Or at the end of the day would any form of MBA help to increase knowledge and look good on a resume (as well as fulfilling a personal goal)?

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IMHO, the wrong MBA on the resume is a big negative for the rest of your career. So think carefully about what you actually want from the MBA.

The value of the MBA is also not just from content and networking... but the actual collaboration with other students of varying backgrounds and experiences. These soft skills acquired are also just as important for your career down the track.

I think the answer is that ‘it depends’.

Look at the people that have the jobs that you want and see if they have an MBA. In some industries, an MBA is the cost of entry or a requirement for progressing beyond a certain level. The number of industries where that is the case is declining, but if everyone doing the job you want has one, then you should go get one too.

Take a look at which schools those people studied. Are they all from one school? If so, they may only hire alumni, in which case an MBA from another school may not help you achieve your objectives. If they’re not from the same school, it’s worth comparing the schools they studied at to rankings such as http://rankings.ft.com/businessschoolrankings/global-mba-ranking-2015. Some industries are quite elitist, so in these cases if you don’t have an MBA from a top school, it won’t be much good to you at all.

It’s clear that the value of an MBA is greatly enhanced if you have the opportunity to network. It’s not just your classmates, or access to the alumni database that is important, often merely having an MBA from the same school will get you a first meeting. I’ve been fortunate enough to attend some IESE Alumni events in London and I can’t understate the tightness of the alumni group, even between different years.

skc said:

IMHO, the wrong MBA on the resume is a big negative for the rest of your career. So think carefully about what you actually want from the MBA.

These soft skills acquired are also just as important for your career down the track.

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Really? Do employers honestly look at schools outside say the top 20 in the World and think "oh, he went to the wrong school"?

Agree on the 2nd point, hence my question about doing it online

doctorj said:

Look at the people that have the jobs that you want and see if they have an MBA. In some industries, an MBA is the cost of entry or a requirement for progressing beyond a certain level. The number of industries where that is the case is declining, but if everyone doing the job you want has one, then you should go get one too.

Take a look at which schools those people studied. Are they all from one school?

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At this stage in my career it is a good point to get one, as a lot above me (especially in other organisations) have one, but not from any particular school.

prawn_86 said:

Really? Do employers honestly look at schools outside say the top 20 in the World and think "oh, he went to the wrong school"?

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Depends on the job you are applying for but once you get beyond a certain ranking an MBA isn't worth doing IMHO.

banco said:

Depends on the job you are applying for but once you get beyond a certain ranking an MBA isn't worth doing IMHO.

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It is a personal goal of mine, and i think in order to take the next stage, rather than spending years learning on the job from 1 company, it would help at the very least give another perspective

prawn_86 said:

Really? Do employers honestly look at schools outside say the top 20 in the World and think "oh, he went to the wrong school"?

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I think there are 3 categories of MBA's.

First there are the elite schools, the likes of Harvard, Insead etc... an MBA from them is a gold star (probably more so 10 years ago) on your resume anywhere in the world.

Then there are competent schools, like programmes from the local sandstone Universities... an MBA from them ticks the box for certain jobs and career paths, certainly within Australia.

Then there are schools which are nothing more than MBA sellers. If you have them on your CV but apply for jobs looking for the first 2 categories... you won't get anywhere and will be rejected on that basis alone.

So it depends on the career path you are looking for. An elite management consultant? A hedge fund? Senior executives for a major corporation (ASX50 size)? Or line management in mid-size firms and private businesses?

prawn_86 said:

It is a personal goal of mine, and i think in order to take the next stage, rather than spending years learning on the job from 1 company, it would help at the very least give another perspective

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If you aren't going to go to a uni that employers value you'd be better off doing your own directed reading and saving thousands of dollars.

skc said:

Then there are schools which are nothing more than MBA sellers. If you have them on your CV but apply for jobs looking for the first 2 categories... you won't get anywhere and will be rejected on that basis alone.

So it depends on the career path you are looking for. An elite management consultant? A hedge fund? Senior executives for a major corporation (ASX50 size)? Or line management in mid-size firms and private businesses?

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Yeh it is hard to cut through the sales pitches when most of the sandstone ones dont offer purely online. Am considering Deakin but still early stages

banco said:

If you aren't going to go to a uni that employers value you'd be better off doing your own directed reading and saving thousands of dollars.

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Unfortunately the letters do matter in my career, but i havent noticed (or looked into much) if schools have any impact. Plus i personally would like the structure

I have a pretty dim view of MBA's. Aside from the networking, what I've seen of the average MBA grad is no better than someone without an MBA, but they tend to think they're superheroes. MBAs are sold as learning leadership etc, and it is true people who come out of top (global 20) MBA schools have leadership skills, but I'd argue that those who went to those schools already had a natural gift for leadership, that's how they got in, so there's a fair bit of attribution bias. Doing an MBA at UNE or another third tier university will not "teach" you to lead. In fact it won't teach you much at all.

Regarding online MBAs, to be blunt, if I saw "online MBA" on a potential candidate's CV, the CV would probably go straight in the bin. My theory is if you're going to do something do it properly, and one of the most important aspects of an MBA is group work. I've seen an online MBA course, it was very, very basic stuff more akin to what you'd expect in a diploma course at TAFE. I did one of the online case studies, it took me about an hour and I got 100%. Really...without reading any course material or knowing anything about the subject matter (beyond general business knowledge) I got 100% (it was this simulation in case you're wondering https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cbmp/product/7015-HTM-ENG -- and no it wasn't a Harvard online MBA! ). It makes you wonder if the certificates are printed on the day you pay your course fees, because I can't see anyone failing.

There is a certain subset of people who go goo-goo for MBAs, unfortunately they seem to have convinced HR that MBAs are worth more than on the ground experience. For most, the only ones who benefit are the MBA factories. I'd also point out that less than half of Fortune 500 CEO's have an MBA.