1,775,365 research outputs found
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Exploring MBA career success
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the meaning of career success in relation to the attainment of an MBA degree, for a group of experienced managers. In so doing, the paper aims to consider the adequacy of MBA career success, defined solely in terms of external criteria. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 36 in-depth interviews were undertaken with MBA alumni which sought to capture the individual's own account of their career success in relation to their MBA. The study utilised an inductive data analysis approach. Findings – The findings revealed a diversity of meanings given to MBA career success, with success generally being expressed in much broader terms than conventional notions of fast track career advancement. The salience of internal criteria for judging MBA career success is thus highlighted. The findings may be seen to further dispel the myth that MBA students are concerned exclusively with status and salary. Research limitations/implications – The study focuses on the experiences of graduates from only one MBA programme. Additionally, the study reports retrospective accounts of MBA career success, a longitudinal design would be advantageous. Practical implications – The demonstration of a plurality of career success provides potential advantage for business schools recruiting MBA students. Organisations can benefit from a wider understanding of MBA career success. Originality/value – The findings suggest that the value of the MBA encompasses more than fast track career success
MBA education: a must in a competitive Romanian business environment
No full textThe effective management of Romanian companies can represent an advantage in a competitive business environment, shaped by the end of transition, the EU membership and the globalization process. MBA programs represent, in our view, the key for the implementation of management theories and practices whose effectiveness has been validated by Western countries experience. The Romanian market developed slowly since 1993, with three major players dominating it: the Romanian-Canadian MBA, ASEBUSS Executive MBA and CODECS. These programs and the more recent entrants are facing legal recognition uncertainties and competition from the new professional master programs that will be developed under the Bologna framework, in addition to competition from European and American MBAs. The responses of Romanian MBAs to these challenges are critical for their future in an increasingly competitive environment.management, MBA, competition, education
The Returns to an MBA Degree: The Impact of Programme Attributes
No full textThis paper explores the impact of various MBA programme attributes on the average post-MBA salary of graduates, contributing to the literature on the returns to an MBA degree, which to date, has focused predominantly on the impact of individual student traits. The analysis uses a new panel dataset, comprising MBA programmes from across the world. Results indicate that pre-MBA salary and quality rank of programme are key determinants of post-MBA salary
Transformation and feminisation: The masculinity of the MBA and the “un-development” of men
No full textPurpose-This paper sets out to explore the gendered nature of the MBA and the benefits men and women gain from the course. In so doing it highlights a relationship between the masculinity of the MBA and the ‘un-development’ of men.
Design/methodology/approach- The paper draws on secondary data and critiques the masculinity of the MBA pedagogy.
Findings- Examining outcomes from the MBA, evidence suggests that while men may achieve greater progress in terms of career development and pay, it is women who are more likely to undergo ‘transformational’ change.
Originality and value- Drawing on work from critical management education (CME) and on models of learning, this paper argues for the need to ‘feminize’ the MBA, where feminization is used in a critical context to include a challenge to rather than rejection of dominant discourses. This goes some way to address the charge that, while CME has highlighted some of the programme’s moral and political foundations, it has failed to recognise the gendered implications of the MBA
The International Market for MBA Qualifications
No full textThis paper explores the relationship between fees charged by MBA programmes and the number of applications to these programmes, using a panel dataset comprising universities from countries across the world. Using Three-Stage-Least-Squares methods for simultaneous equations, we find a two-way relationship between fees and applications: higher application numbers encourage universities to charge higher fees in the future, but higher fees in turn curtail application numbers. Of particular note are the results pertaining to additional explanatory variables that potentially represent MBA programme quality signals to applicants. We find evidence that higher GMAT scores of existing students increase applications, as do higher post MBA salaries. Meanwhile, university and programme professional accreditations do not impact on student application choices, nor do alumni ratings of programme quality. Published MBA programme rankings appear to have little impact on applications, and where an effect can be identified, it appears that a better ranking discourages applications
Transient, unsettling and creative space: Experiences of liminality through the accounts of Chinese students on a UK-based MBA
No full textThis is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ The Author(s) 2009.This article explores the experiences of liminality through the accounts of Chinese students on a UK-based MBA programme. The transient nature of the MBA experience, as well as the international status of the Chinese student, is resonant with conceptualizations of liminality as ‘in between’ space. Based on semi-structured interviews with 20 MBA graduates who had subsequently returned to China with their qualification, we explored their perceptions of outcomes from the course and their experiences as international students on a programme imbued with western norms and values. Results support the unsettling yet creative implications of liminality, as well as the fragmented insecure nature of identities, as individuals pass through the MBA ‘rite of passage’ in terms of ‘becoming’ a manager and entering a new phase of career. Accounts suggest the creation of hierarchical structures within liminal space whereby Chinese students, through their positioning at the margin, have uncomfortable yet illuminating encounters with alterity. At the same time, they experience levels of ambiguity and uncertainty in the post-liminal phase of China-located employments, as new western-based managerial identities collide with dominant discourses of Chinese organization
The International Finance Corporation's MBA survey: how developing country firms rate local business school training
No full textGraduate education in business administration was developed in the U.S. around the turn of the twentieth century. MBA and similar graduate-level business programs took hold more slowly in other countries, but the number of such programs expanded more rapidly from the 1960s onward. In an effort to determine what firms from these countries require from business school graduates, the IFC used its extensive contacts with these firms to conduct a survey of the quality of business education in these countries. The survey results imply that the strengths and weaknesses of developing and transition country MBAs seem to overlap with those of MBAs from the U.S.: managers in the U.S. and in the developing countries find that the technical and analytical skills of MBAs are well developed while the practical training/skills and communication/language skills of MBAs are significantly lacking. On the whole, only the African and Middle Eastern firms were significantly dissatisfied with the quality of local MBA graduates. The survey results show that MBAs worldwide are not fully satisfying the needs of firms. Each of the other regions of the world has its own particular weaknesses, while at the same time some common weaknesses (such as work experience and communication skills) stand out. These results show that a cookie-cutter approach to training MBAs cannot work. Rather, MBA programs have to be tailored to suit the needs of the local business community while also teaching common business fundamentals.Tertiary Education,ICT Policy and Strategies,Educational Sciences,Teaching and Learning,Primary Education,Tertiary Education,Teaching and Learning,ICT Policy and Strategies,Educational Sciences,Primary Education
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More success than meets the eye: a challenge to critiques of the MBA. Possibilities for critical management education?
No full textManagement education generally, and MBA programmes in particular, have been persistently criticized for failing to speak adequately to management practice. One response to such criticisms has been to suggest a wider consideration of critical management education (CME). Drawing on research findings from an empirical study of MBA learning, the article argues that MBA learning can be seen as more valuable to the manager in practice than critics contend. Moreover, the learning which is valued resonates with both a critical understanding of management and critical accounts of the role of management education, suggesting that a covert form of CME may already be operating. We argue that further building on this understanding provides the potential for a more prominent CME. Specifically, we propose that the experience brought to and lived within the MBA programme provides an opportunity for `problematizing' accepted ways of making sense of the world
Operations management teaching on European MBA programmes
No full textA comprehensive review of the literature established that several investigations
have been made of operations management teaching in the USA, whereas almost
nothing has been published on European teaching. Therefore, an exploratory
investigation was made of operations management teaching on the MBA courses of
ten leading European business schools. The results show that course content is
similar across schools, but there are large variations on three dimensions: the
time allocated by schools to the subject; the balance between operations
strategy and tools and techniques in teaching; and the level of emphasis given
to service operations. The results also indicate the emerging importance of
integrating operations management with other subjects in the MBA curriculum and
the key challenge facing faculty - the need to raise the perceived importance of
operations management. The comparison of courses will be of interest to all
operations management faculty who teach core courses and particularly those who
are looking for ideas on how to re-design courses
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