Why Should You Do an MBA

8/7/2019 Why Should You Do an MBA

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Why Should You Do An MBA?

This is an invariable question in any MBA Entrance Interview. Getting this answer pat right iscritically important because it shows how clear you are about your expectations from the course.It is imperative that you answer this question to yourself before you rush to fill up forms to variousMBA colleges.

It is crucial on two counts: -

1. If you do qualify for a course and find yourself a complete misfit for the curriculum, it wouldmean you are actually not cut out for the management cadre in the corporate world. So you arelikely to saddle yourself with a career that makes you unhappy.

2. An MBA course is an investment, both in terms of time and money; hence, wasting it is anoffence.

Moving on, let’s look at a few caricatures wherein an MBA degree can be handy: -

a) The Anointed Heir who wants to hold the keys to his/her kingdom. This guy is someone like anindustrialist’s son, who will have to take over the running of an existing corporate empire.

b) The Shop Floor Enthusiast who wants to sit in the gilded corporate office. This guy is typicallysomeone who has devoted many years on the shop floor (it could also be in a lab... or in sales...or in data collection...), mostly a technical person who executes rather than strategises. This guynow wants to be a part of the strategic team.

c) The Intrepid Entrepreneur who wants to create an empire. This guy is someone who is all setto start his or her own business and wants to know the tools of how to do so.

d) The Power Seeker who wants to crack the management ceiling he/she has hit because of thelack of an MBA degree. This person is typically someone who is a part of management but seesmany promotions pass by him/ her due to a perceived lack of managerial perspective. Most of thetop management believe that a person with a management degree has managerial perspective.

e) The Money Player who would like to increase his/her pay packet. An MBA degree immediatelyincreases your market value. If a post-graduate in Economics is offered say Rs. 7,000 per monthas a starting salary, an MBA graduate is typically offered at least Rs. 10,000 to 12,000 per month.

f) The Reluctant Graduate who believes that he/she has learnt nothing at all that can get him/her a job. The non-professional graduate courses available today are not perceived to have anymarketable value by the corporate world. These, therefore, need to be augmented to make thegraduate ‘market worthy’.

The underlying advantage in all the six caricatures is that an MBA degree immediately flags youoff as someone who can be trained to take up positions of authority.

Apart from the positive boost that a person’s career gets, an MBA degree also offers three sidebenefits. Some may argue that these are the main benefits: -

1. An MBA course is a hot-house where you are pushed to deliver. You are introduced to fiercecompetition. The conditions work on you in such a way that either you break-down and leave thecourse half-way, or you end up becoming a tough professional.

2. An MBA programme exposes you to a very wide area of experience in terms of subjects andpeople. You get exposed to varied subjects like macro-economics, consumer behaviour,psychology, marketing, cultural heritage, communication theory, operations research, quantitative



techniques, finance, HR, etc. Most programmes cover over 30 subjects! Apart from exposure tosubjects, you meet people from various backgrounds and places. This really broadens your outlook!

3. And last but not the least, an MBA course brings together impressionable young men andwomen, and you may just catch your soul mate while slogging over case studies!

Why An MBA?

The MBA qualification broadens and enhances knowledge and should be viewed in a sense of building up skills. Although the most popular reasons for undertaking the MBA is to increasesalary, other reasons include widening career opportunities, furthering one’s career and/or toextend personal networks.

There are other equally important reasons that any prospective MBA student will state, but by far the most compelling is to create career opportunities for oneself. The challenges imposed by the

21st century have made it an essential component that we upgrade skills and qualifications inorder to meet the demands set by companies, customers and the environment we operate within.

This is where the MBA becomes a tool to be utilized in building up existing competencies - thetheory learned can be utilized to find plausible solutions to concurrent business issues. At the endof an MBA programme, one emerges with an upper level of functional managerial and businessissues as well as new conceptual skills ready to meet the demands that are set by thecompetitiveness around us.

With an MBA, you can: -

· Advance Your Career Whether you're a doctor, an engineer, or an editor for your local newspaper, a graduate business

degree can prepare you to move into a managerial position within your field.

· Change Your Career If your current career path is a less than perfect fit for your aptitudes and interests, businessschools can give you the opportunity to explore your options, then provide you with the trainingyou need to change careers entirely.

· Set-up Your Own BusinessInterested in starting your own business, but not sure that you have the necessary expertise tolaunch a start-up in a high-growth industry? An MBA can prepare you to do everything fromwriting a business plan to acquiring venture capital to launching an IPO. Research has shownthat the failure rate for small businesses started by an MBA is about 50 percent less than thestandard failure rate.

· Develop Technical Skill & Business KnowledgeCan you advance to a managerial position or launch your own business without the benefit of agraduate degree in business? Yes. There is much to be learned from on-the-job training andemployers certainly value work experience. However, an MBA programme will put you on thefast-track to career advancement by offering you the chance to develop a wide range of generalbusiness knowledge and a broad base of technical skill in a relatively short period of time.

· Become a Leader in an Emerging Field



· Innovative education can lead to an exciting career in a newly emerging field, such asbrand management, information technology, e-commerce, or mobile telecommunications.

· NetworkNetworking is another key benefit. Business school teaching styles encourage teamwork and,over the course of an MBA programme, you'll develop important relationships that can serve youwell throughout your business career. And no matter the school, you can often get plugged into anetwork of alumni working at a wide range of companies. This is useful for professional contacts.

Although the degree is considered the pathway to a successful career, it still does not guaranteea flood of job offers, but when one considers the positive options, it far outweighs the negativeissues. It is a costly course and the time constraints that are associated with the study load arelegendary. That’s why, in some circles, it has been termed “Married, but away”.

Approach the studies with an open mindset and let your intentions be to develop yourself to your full capacity. Accept the programme as a challenge, set your personal as well as career objectives and, most importantly, utilise the Masters of Business Administration degree to closegaps that may exist within your skills and qualifications, so that you can facilitate and expediteyour management caree.

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Why Should You Do an MBA