MBA has significant financial liability associated with it, but does it actually serve the purpose? The records suggest that MBAs do actually go on to assume significant leadership roles in corporate world. A perusal of the same.
If you have dreams of running a corporate major one day and you think pursuing MBA would actually be helpful in this pursuit, you might be right after all. While critics accuse the current MBA education as nothing more than a farce which falls short on a number of aspects when it comes to teaching the right financial models, and handling real world situations, there is plenty of new research that suggests that MBAs, more often than not, go on to become effective corporate leaders.
As per a Spencer Stuart research, 40 percent of the S&P 500 chief executives are MBAs, any given year. Bloomberg Businessweek did its own study, taking two separate samples, the first of the top 10 CEOs, and the other of the bottom 10 amongst those 500 chief executives. As per the findings, five of the top 10 CEOs held a MBA degree while only two were holders of the degree, which is suggestive of the fact that people with MBA are better at leading than without it.
In a CNBC interview, GE’s CEO Jeff Immelt has admitted to the fact that, MBA played an important part in opening up gates to new opportunities, that would have been hard to get by otherwise. As he recalls, “business schools is one of the most intense times of your life. There are times you do feel overwhelmed from the standpoint that it’s midnight, I have another case to read, I don’t really understand the subject material, and you say, ‘Gosh, what am I going to do?’
What Immelt is trying to say is that, MBA prepares students for the tough world out there. The program is designed is such that it always keeps the students on their toes, where they have to come up with ideas at the spur of moment, and learn to think in an analytical manner. Jeffery R. Immelt earned his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, following it with an MBA in Harvard Business School.
MBA fosters competitive spirit and teamwork; simultaneously
As Jim McNerney, CEO of Boeing and an MBA from Harvard put it across, a MBA classroom has competitive spirit that simulates the way business is. Students come prepared for WAC exercise, “feeling prepared for a business environment which is often more about optimization than coming up with the right answer.”
If you are planning for entrepreneurship, then also MBA helps you immensely. Depending upon the choice of college, you will get to meet smart and intelligent minds, who have vast reserves of experience in their respective fields. You can learn early lessons on defining partnerships, working in teams, and creating new skill sets.
MBA fosters networking
Being a successful leader requires you to have the ability to network with the right kind of people. MBA presents you with plentiful of opportunities to do the same and that too in a relevant manner, that accentuates your business management capabilities. If you are pursuing a full time MBA program, there are good chances of meeting your future employers through internships which are an essential part of these programs. You also gain access to the vast alumni network, and with most top business schools having already produced top managerial level professionals, the elitist network is bound to pay off throughout your career.
So which MBA programs produce the most Fortune 500 CEOs?
Various leading publications such as The Financial Times, Business week & The Economist have prepared their own lists of MBA programs that graduate individuals who go on to become CEOs. Harvard is one college that is on every list, while Stanford and University of Pennsylvania are also not far behind.
While MBA in Finance and Marketing continue to dominate the popular charts, other unconventional programs like MBA in IT are also gaining acceptance as a relevant career path for higher roles.
MBA is also the road for a corporate riches
When it comes to salaries, MBAs have covered much ground here also. Apple CEO Tim Cook, who is an MBA graduate, was awarded a massive $ 378 million package in 2011, which was obviously good news for those looking towards the financial side of the coin? As per the Forbes list of America’s Highest Paid Chief Executives in the same year, 40 of the top 100 best paid CEOs in America have an MBA degree.
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