Which MBA?

Inspiron510m

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
Messages
65
Reaction score
0
Dear all, need some advice here on MBAs here.

I've been told by my Managing Director to go take an MBA (to be paid by the company - a rather large Global MNC), before I continue, allow me to provide a little profile

Age: early thirties
Time Commitments: young baby
Work exp : almost 10, 2+ mid mgmt exp
Current job scope : 25% technical, 25% Marketing, 50% Business Growth
Education: Mostly IT with several certifications (which I've stop collecting for a long time), Bachelor and Masters in IT

Location of local provider is not really an issue as I drive.

Aim of MBA : To gain good business knowledge that will help me see things on a (even) bigger horizon and to gain an edge (besides, if my MD wants me to, why not)

Other concerns: Although the MBA is paid by the company, I think the likes of Insead and Chicago are out as I'm in mid management and its too expensive

After some research and thought, I am considering the Strathclyde MBA (local provider is Times Education). Reason being good content (I think), reasonable cost (SGD 30k), good accrediation (AMBA, EQUIS, AACSB) and decent ranking.

Due to personal reasons, I can only take the MBA later this year (if I do take the Strathclyde MBA, it would be the Oct intake) and I understand there will be several MBA fairs along in the year so my decision is not cast in stone yet.

Hence, I'd like to seek some advice from forumers who have took their MBA or are in the midst of shopping for one.

Q: If you were to take an MBA, which one would you choose over the Strathclyde MBA and please kindly share why.

P.S. I'm not interested in the local uni due to personal perferences (although I an get several exemptions if I take the Nanyang MBA).

Constructive disccusion only please
Thanks
 
Last edited:

darka2000

Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2005
Messages
244
Reaction score
0
give manchester a thought as well too. they rank 22nd again in 2008. strathclyde did well in their ranking though (2008)... if MBS $45k+ is too much for your co., jointly fund for the course.
 

Inspiron510m

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
Messages
65
Reaction score
0
give manchester a thought as well too. they rank 22nd again in 2008. strathclyde did well in their ranking though (2008)... if MBS $45k+ is too much for your co., jointly fund for the course.

Hi darka

Sincere thanks for the quick response.
The ranking you mentioned for 2008 , is it the FT ranking? Thanks
 

cosycatus

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2001
Messages
2,358
Reaction score
372
Hmmm, lot's of people take MBA's in my company ( yeah, we have a similar sponsorship scheme, only thing is any employee can take) so i've gather some info

- NUS/NTU is reallly very academic and workload is VERY heavy. Although the cert is rather recognized at least locally. What i gather is that this MBA is rather good if u are looking for a career switch, eg from engineering to banking cos they build the fundamentals. Sorta like compressing business school into 2 years.

- Stracytle one is rather popular and it focus on soft skills. Furthmore a lot of it's sudents are part time, so the course is nicely tailored for that crowd. They focus more on management stuff, stragtegy, syngergy etc
You might really want to consider this course cos oboviously, ur boss wants to groom you for some upper management position. I've a colleague who just finish it and jump to Mackinsey.

- Why do u try for the Insead one? It's not really that expensive and worth every sense of the $ NOT in terms of course work but the network you can built up there, which to me, is really what an MBA for manager should be all about, esp if u are responsible for growth.....
 

Inspiron510m

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
Messages
65
Reaction score
0
Hmmm, lot's of people take MBA's in my company ( yeah, we have a similar sponsorship scheme, only thing is any employee can take) so i've gather some info

- NUS/NTU is reallly very academic and workload is VERY heavy. Although the cert is rather recognized at least locally. What i gather is that this MBA is rather good if u are looking for a career switch, eg from engineering to banking cos they build the fundamentals. Sorta like compressing business school into 2 years.

- Stracytle one is rather popular and it focus on soft skills. Furthmore a lot of it's sudents are part time, so the course is nicely tailored for that crowd. They focus more on management stuff, stragtegy, syngergy etc
You might really want to consider this course cos oboviously, ur boss wants to groom you for some upper management position. I've a colleague who just finish it and jump to Mackinsey.

- Why do u try for the Insead one? It's not really that expensive and worth every sense of the $ NOT in terms of course work but the network you can built up there, which to me, is really what an MBA for manager should be all about, esp if u are responsible for growth.....

Hi cosycatus, thanks for the post.

Yes, I undestand the structure of the NTU/NUS MBA and the typical cohort, hence the preference in not taking their MBA

For Insead, my MD took his from an aussie uni that is not branded (he's australian and did his MBA way before coming to SG) so asking him to pay so much for my super branded MBA might be politically touchy... (you what I mean? :look:) Still, I'll take the school into consideration as you have a very valid point - networking which as you have correctly pointed out , is actually one of my KPI under business growth.

Thanks again for your post.
 

Inspiron510m

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
Messages
65
Reaction score
0
Dear Forumers, any more recommendations in addition to Manchester Business School and Insead.
Do kindly provide some insight. MBA shopping is an extremely 'difficult task' as the decision will determine half the success, hence I believe that all those who have taken an MBA or are in the midst of shopping for one will have valuable advice / suggestion to share.

Therefore, If you took and MBA or have the intention to take an MBA, which one would you choose if it is not the Strathclyde MBA and please kindly share why.

If you took the Strathclyde MBA, can you also kindly share about why such a choice and some feedback on the program (the good, bad and ugly)

Thanks
 

lincoln_wang

Senior Member
Joined
May 19, 2002
Messages
1,075
Reaction score
1
Hi Inspiron510m,

I'm currently undertaking the Strathclyde MBA. I was facing the same dilemma as you and i understand how confusing it can be. For me i narrowed it down to a few offerings which were Nottingham, Bradford, Strathclyde and Manchester as they were around the same price range. My original choice was Manchester mainly due to the ranking, it being more financial sector oriented and where the university was from. However i ended up not choosing Manchester due to their min age of 27 as well as the limitations of having a financial oriented MBA.

Strathclyde was my eventual choice as at that time they were triple accredited and the course was very strategy oriented. From my point of view, an MBA is taken to give you a better understanding of the various aspects of the business and allow you to better perform in a senior management position and being in a senior management position, the ability to develop sound strategies for your organisation is far more important than being well verse in the financial sector. So that was the deciding factor for me.
 

Inspiron510m

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
Messages
65
Reaction score
0
Hi Lincoln,

Its great to hear from someone who is doing the Strathclyde MBA and understand the reason why it was chosen.

What is the average age group in the programme? I thought I was quite young at 30+ but I guess you are not local and hence, no NS?

If I do choose to do the Strathclyde MBA, could I contact you to understand the programme in greater details?

Hi Inspiron510m,

I'm currently undertaking the Strathclyde MBA. I was facing the same dilemma as you and i understand how confusing it can be. For me i narrowed it down to a few offerings which were Nottingham, Bradford, Strathclyde and Manchester as they were around the same price range. My original choice was Manchester mainly due to the ranking, it being more financial sector oriented and where the university was from. However i ended up not choosing Manchester due to their min age of 27 as well as the limitations of having a financial oriented MBA.

Strathclyde was my eventual choice as at that time they were triple accredited and the course was very strategy oriented. From my point of view, an MBA is taken to give you a better understanding of the various aspects of the business and allow you to better perform in a senior management position and being in a senior management position, the ability to develop sound strategies for your organisation is far more important than being well verse in the financial sector. So that was the deciding factor for me.
 
Last edited:

lincoln_wang

Senior Member
Joined
May 19, 2002
Messages
1,075
Reaction score
1
Hi Inspiron510m,

The avg age group is about 32 so i guess you'll fit right in without any problems. I'm local but i obtained my bachelors before enlisting that's why i'm still reasonable young. Even so i've found no problems engaging with my coursemates.

The good thing about doing this mba is the cohort is roughly about 18 students but each semester you will either have classes with the cohort before yours or the cohort after yours so you will have a good mix of people to network with. The professions are also quite diverse with people in engineering background to finance to IT and entrepreneurs etc so we get different prespective of the different departments. The administrator of the course is also very supportive and we get alot of help from her. The only negative part is maybe the lack of wireless network in the centre but there's LAN connections so its not that bad. I myself personally use mobile broadband.

You can feel free to contact me via pm and i'll give you my mobile number. Just call me if you wanna know more about the course and i'll try to answer any questions you may have. I can also help refer you to the administrator of the course directly.
 
Last edited:

Macbookpro555

Junior Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2007
Messages
47
Reaction score
0
I am doing the Strathclyde MBA right now.. There's a fair share of directors in my class whom I can learn from. Agree with Lincoln that my classmates are all from diverse backgrounds. from the typical engineer to the auditor to the civil servant to the general manager and director.
I enjoyed my classes a lot and I feel the teaching is adequate to prepare me for management level.

Administrative support is excellent. So far I have no complaints except the location since it is not near to MRT ( and i dun drive) .

I chose Strathclyde MBA because it is triple accredited , reasonable ranking , strategy focused and
Best all all ... it is value for money.

Other triple accredited MBA in SG will have cost more than 35K.

manchester mba - 45k :eek:
helsinki mba - 36k:s31:
Insead MBA - an arm and a leg :s16:

Strathclyde mba - 28k =:p
 

darka2000

Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2005
Messages
244
Reaction score
0
there are also thunderbird (US), henley (UK), bradford, nottingham and birmingham.

warwick & tanaka distance learning MBA not sure are they found in singapore.

lastly of course we should all give a courtesy consideration, our SMU premium MBA. :s8:
 
Last edited:

Sao Feng

Junior Member
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
6
Reaction score
0
Thanks for inputs on Strathclyde MBA. Any current or previous students of Birmingham and Bradford MBA which conducted by MDIS and AEC? Hopefully can get some inputs from you on this 2 MBA programs also.
 

rahul49

Master Member
Joined
Jun 9, 2006
Messages
2,776
Reaction score
0
INSEAD is obviously the best there is in Singapore. But its extremely difficult to get into. Need a top GMAT score and a very good profile. I figure....how difficult an MBA is to get into reflects on how good it is.

Strathclyde course content looks good...but how is their faculty ? Cant find info about who will be teaching the course.
 

crankster

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2003
Messages
75
Reaction score
0
Have a friend who did the strathclyde mba - still doing same job 2 years after finishing the course. Salary did not increase much either.

Frankly what is the value of an mba these days? There are so many mba graduates out there - it must be the most common masters qualification! The so-called edged has to be seen in that perspective!

Unless you get into a really top notch programe like insead, chicago, LBS, wharton etc, have to question whether it is worth the effort just to add mba behind your name and consider stress to work/life balance.
 

crankster

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2003
Messages
75
Reaction score
0
1 more point - got bond or not ? How long? Don't be beholdened to your company who can then dictate your salary and progression...
 

Inspiron510m

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
Messages
65
Reaction score
0
Have a friend who did the strathclyde mba - still doing same job 2 years after finishing the course. Salary did not increase much either.

Frankly what is the value of an mba these days? There are so many mba graduates out there - it must be the most common masters qualification! The so-called edged has to be seen in that perspective!

Unless you get into a really top notch programe like insead, chicago, LBS, wharton etc, have to question whether it is worth the effort just to add mba behind your name and consider stress to work/life balance.

I hate to post this but here goes.
I disagree with your point. Some people took an MBA when they should not have (not ready to utilise one), hence if they are unable to reap the potential benefits, it is no one but the person him/herself to blame.

I'm not being biased or sterotyping etc, people have the right to follow their interest / dream but again, not being able to utilse the MBA does not provide the MBA doesn't provide the edge, rather, the person has not reach the path where the edge is needed.

No offence to anyway.

Lets get back to the constructive discussion on selecting MBAs and not the debate if one is needed (if you are debating, then you don't need one) :)
 

Inspiron510m

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
Messages
65
Reaction score
0
1 more point - got bond or not ? How long? Don't be beholdened to your company who can then dictate your salary and progression...

I'll keep this to the last post where it goes out of topic.

Yes, there will be a bond, it there is none, than that is a bonus.

If one cannot investigate and reason out the pro and cons of taking an MBA the bond etc, than again, the person is not ready for the MBA (if you cannot forsee and analyse something that simple, you are not ready for an MBA).

In addition, bonds can always be bought over (btw, this is not a new concept, its common).

Before the argument goes into stuff like bond breaking is not ethical etc etc, may I first state that in the world of business, it is what you can pull off and be successFUL that counts, ethics is subjective as it is tied to culture, having your bond bought over can sometimes be beneficial (hint : means you are being head hunted)

alright, lets get back to topic.
 
Last edited:

crankster

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 23, 2003
Messages
75
Reaction score
0
Nah i don't want a debate. Just expressing opinions. I have been headhunted myself so I know that stuff. My cousin did his MBA at Wharton and as usual like most grads from there, he had a top-notch NY consultancy job waiting before he graduated. Anyway, it is your time and your prerogative, so good luck :)
 

darka2000

Member
Joined
Jul 10, 2005
Messages
244
Reaction score
0
the enviable salaries we saw at ft.com of ivy league MBA grad are:

i) the western pay scale, which we all know is at least 50%-100% more than asians partly due to the much higher gov tax. its the same story working at silicon valley.

ii) the top biz schs have been selective in shortlisting students to participate in ranking surveys upon grad. those brokers/traders/self employed with high commission payout will be targetted first. there was an article before on how to increase MBA rankings for the audited salary column. the author recommended biz sch to accept brokers/private bankers as top priority student during enrolment.

iii) outside of US/EU, say hewlett packard asia pacific. do you all think their HRD will pay ivy league grad US$100k working as a business development manager 3 years later? hahahaha.

ivy league grads will most probably stay within US/EU because of the salary. the rest of the world will be complemented by mostly non-ivy league grads to fill mgmt positions, for mnc like HP, etc. i personally know of 2 managers from local MNC sponsored by their employers to do a distance learning MBA. another 2 senior personnel got promoted to managers after they started their distance learning MBA.

who says not worthwhile? :s13: of course it will be if the whole world = wall street

*my context is asia where other than insead, most MBA are meant for working adults/professionals at least 32+ yo.
 
Important Forum Advisory Note
This forum is moderated by volunteer moderators who will react only to members' feedback on posts. Moderators are not employees or representatives of HWZ. Forum members and moderators are responsible for their own posts.

Please refer to our Community Guidelines and Standards, Terms of Service and Member T&Cs for more information.
Top