Which MBA?

soulblader_89

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Post this from other forum

I think is useful for u all

As ive mentioned previously, before doing a MBA you need to first ask yourself why do you want to do an MBA and what do you hope to achieve / get out of the MBA. Don't just do a MBA just because everybody else is doing it. Most ppl with MBA's here in Malaysia have not benefitted from it at all (except for personal development) simply because they didn't have a career strategy in the first place. If your career path doesn't require you to do an MBA then don't do it. A MBA is not an automatic pass to career progression. Its got to be in line with your career path / strategy. The organisation you work for needs to support and recognise the importance in the MBA course for your own career which is why most MBA's require a sign off from the company. Don’t just do a MBA for the sake of getting a piece of paper. The working world doesn’t just recognise a piece of paper (unless it’s from one of those top business schools). The recognition from the working world has to go hand in hand with you as an individual.

Also keep in mind that MBA's are usually for those between 25-30 with about 8 yrs experience. Beyond that, an MBA may not be suitable as the modules are catered for those seeking to move horizontally e.g changing industries, career paths, etc. For those with more than 10 yrs experience, going down the path of an Executive MBA is more suited as it gears you to move up the ladder into senior management roles.

The biggest draw for any MBA program is actually the alumni network. In fact, if you speak to any of the alumni from the top business schools, ull see that they will rank alumni networking as their No 1 take away from the program.

Personally in Malaysia, i have yet to come across any big companies giving high regard to Malaysian MBA degree holders. It can be used for personal development but i have yet to see someone actually progressing up the ladder cuz of a MBA. I work for a big MNC and MBA's here arent highly regarded which is why i have not pursued one myself.

I would strongly recommend you to try and attend the INSEAD MBA preview which is held quite often here in Malaysia. For your info INSEAD is ranked 4th in the world ahead of MIT and Cambridge. This will give you a very good insight of how an Ivy League MBA program looks like and entails. Then ull understand why you need to have quality working experience to enrol in the programme. Without it you will be left out of most discussions and you will have no way of following the terminology.

Just to give you perspective, the top MBA programs in the world cost approx RM450K. So if ure targetting a RM20K MBA, you can imagine the difference in standard and recognition. Not saying u need to do a 500K MBA to progress in your career, but it does give you some perspective.

Take your time and do proper research before embarking on an MBA program. Its a big commitment and its not easy. It will be very frustrating for you to 'suffer' for 12-14 months to get a MBA and then find out its a useless piece of paper

Some of the key factors i would consider before embarking on the MBA route would be:

1) Purpose - you need to know what you intend to gain from the MBA and whr ure heading to
2) MBA specialisations - corporate str, economics, finance, internation business, entrepreneurship, general mgmt, etc
3) Quality of student enrolment - more students with upper mgmt / senior positions as compared to lower positions
4) Class diversity - interation with students from varied industries will enrich your learning experience.
5) Ranking of the business school - if the industry doesnt know your business school, career progression options might be limited
6) Accredition - not important for Ivy League business schools, but an added advantage for the others especially if yor career path leads you to large MNC's. Again the key word here is 'recognition'.
7) Strength of the alumni - a stong diversed alumni association is a key factor in your career progression post MBA
8) Cost - if factors 1-7 above are clear, then cost should be secondary. ROI of the top MBA programs will ensure you get back your investment within a few years.
 

firsttimebuyer

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I am now at the university expo at MBS organised by Study Aboard. And also asking about MBA programs. Most of the replies I received seemed to be cookie-cutter.
 
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