Business Leadership Strategy: To MBA or Not To MBA, That is the Question?

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Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) August 29, 2011 -- This week’s blog attempts to answer a question that many business people or budding business people ask themselves at some point in their career. As someone that trained as a scientist, but then changed careers to marketing, and worked in a large company, I know getting an MBA seemed essential to me as a stepping stone to positions of higher responsibility, the corner office and more pay? But is it essential? And, does it pay off?

For An MBA

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Business Leadership Strategy: To MBA or Not To MBA, That is the Question?

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For me, at least, and many of my colleagues that pursued an MBA, an MBA provided the knowledge and understanding of how to analyze, structure and assess a business. How to plan and create a business, make financial decisions, strategize, target customers, develop marketing and public relations initiatives, and ensure one operates within the law and ethical boundaries. It taught us about organizations, people management, and accounting, how to inspire, grow, manage through difficult times and gave us a vocabulary and sense for how to approach, dissect and solve business challenges.

The US Small Business Administration estimates that 70% of new businesses survive at least two years and almost 50% survive for five years. One of the top reasons for business failure is reported to be a lack of business understanding and expertise. Although an MBA cannot teach you everything it does teach you the basics so that you don’t fall into the obvious traps. http://smallbiztrends.com/2005/07/business-failure-rates-highest-in.html

I am also a firm believer in the need to continually learn, and an MBA can certainly challenge you to think about businesses from a number of different angles, and there are certainly a lot of lessons to choose from, both those that lead to success and those that lead to failure. In fact, one of the real attributes of an MBA is the ability to understand and look at a business in different ways, both in terms of new opportunities and also the risks associated with the business activities.

Against An MBA
Most entrepreneurs I know don’t have an MBA and do quite well without one. They are definitely not essential to success – you only have to think of Gates & Zuckerman as examples, and you can certainly learn a lot on the job and if your employer provides training. And there is nothing to stop you from reading up on other areas of business that interest you.

There are also a few negative associations with some individuals with MBAs, for example, some are seen as over analytical and suffer from analysis paralysis; others are thought of as analytically strong but low on practical skills and managing personnel. Studying for an MBA can certainly be expensive in time and cost, and can take you out of the work environment where you could be learning.

Does an MBA pay?
The salary levels of jobs that require an MBA certainly pay well, and my impression is that an MBA can certainly help you get on in the business world. A recent survey by Businessweek put the median pay for MBA graduates at $88,000, but range is very broad with the highest paid reaching $150,000 after newly graduating (only about 4%). So, it can pay well, and it does open the door for more diverse jobs, particularly if you are willing to move around both in different functions but also geographically (more of this next week).

MBA or Not?

I did an executive MBA (2 year course, sponsored by my Company, while I worked), and I have to say it was very helpful from both a practical standpoint of being productive in my day-to-day job, but also helping me work out what I wanted to do next. It definitely helped me in my career and in my personal goals to take on different responsibilities and expand my capabilities. You still learn much more on the job, but I felt more prepared to tackle new challenges; it provided a solid foundation on which to build. If you want a career in business, in a large company, it is definitely an asset to have; if you want to have a well-rounded understanding of what makes business tick, then yes again. Is it essential: no. I have served with many successful businessmen and women on boards that do not have MBAs, and they do just fine. But, if you want my biased opinion, if you plan a long career in the business world, it is definitely worth having an MBA.

Next week I will talk about where to go to study for an MBA, what business school, what type of course work you should be looking for, and the type of jobs and careers this can lead to.

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MP Consulting Services specializes in the areas of strategic planning, marketing and social media. Mark Philip, principal at MPCS, has over 20 years experience in managing businesses, both small and large, has orchestrated multiple turnarounds, built product pipelines, launched new products, sold companies and created significant shareholder value. Let me know how I can help you with your business challenge

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