Master of Business Administration

The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging as the country industrialized and companies sought out scientific approaches to management. The first American business school, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, was established in 1881, 62 years after the world's first business school ESCP-EAP was established in 1819 in Paris. The Tuck School of Business, part of Dartmouth College, was the first graduate school of management in the US. Founded in 1900, it was the first institution conferring advanced degrees (masters) in the commercial sciences, the forebearer of the modern MBA. Founded in 1898, the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, the second oldest US business school, was the first graduate school in 1940 to offer working professionals the Executive MBA (EMBA) program, a mainstay at most business schools today. Thunderbird School of Global Management, founded in 1946 following World War II by Lieutenant General Barton Kyle Yount, (the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Training Command), is the first and the oldest Business School in the United States focused solely on "International Business".

As the US MBA model emerged at the turn of the 20th century, Europeans developed such business schools as at Webster Graduate School at Regent's College, London and in Manchester Business School; elsewhere colleges such as Cass Business School, London, IMD, MBA-HSG, Instituto de Empresa, INSEAD, Henley Management College, Cranfield School of Management, and Ashridge were established for management training. In 1950 the first MBA degrees were awarded outside the United States by the University of Western Ontario in Canada,[1] followed in 1951 with the degree awarded across the Atlantic by the University of Pretoria in South Africa.[2] In 1957, INSEAD became the first European university offering the MBA degree, followed in 1969 by the HEC School of Management (in French, the École des Hautes Études Commerciales) and the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris. In 1968, the Asian Institute of Management was founded.

The MBA degree has been adopted by universities worldwide, and all six inhabitable continents have universities offering MBA programs.

In Europe, the recent Bologna Accord established uniformity in three levels of higher education: Bachelor (3 years), Masters (5 years), and Doctorate (8 years). Students can acquire professional experience after their initial bachelor degree at any European institution and later complete their masters in any other European institution via the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System. A European masters degree in Management is therefore equivalent to the American MBA having additional scientific content; for example, a European master of science in management requires writing and defending a master's thesis.

Accreditation

Business schools or MBA programs may be accredited by external bodies which provide students and employers with an independent view of their quality, and indicate that the school's educational curriculum meets specific quality standards. The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is generally regarded as being the most prestigious MBA accreditation, covering business schools worldwide.

The United States also has six regional accreditation agencies as members of the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA): Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA), New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASCSC), North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), and Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).[3]

Other US accreditation agencies include the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP) which typically accredits smaller, private American schools, and the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE).

Accreditation agencies outside the United States include the Association of MBAs (AMBA), a UK organization that accredits schools worldwide; the Council on Higher Education (CHE) in South Africa; the European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) for mostly European and Asian schools; and the Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA) in Europe.

Basic types of MBA programs

Full time MBA programs are the most common, normally lasting two years. Students enter with a reasonable amount of prior real-world work experience and take classes during weekdays like other university students.

Accelerated MBA programs are a variation of full time programs, lasting 18 months or less, involving a higher course load.

Part time MBA programs normally hold classes on weekday evenings, after normal working hours. Part time programs normally last 3 years or more. The students in these programs typically consist of working professionals, who take a light course load for a longer period of time until the graduation requirements are met.

Executive MBA (EMBA) programs developed to meet the educational needs of managers and executives, allowing students to earn an MBA or another business-related graduate degree in two years or less while working full time. Participants come from every type and size of organization – profit, non-profit, government — representing a variety of industries. EMBA students typically have a higher level of work experience, often 10 years or more, compared to other MBA students. In response to the increasing number of EMBA programs offered, The Executive MBA Council[4] was formed in 1981 to advance executive education.

Distance learning MBA programs hold classes off-campus. These programs can be offered in a number of different formats: correspondence courses by postal mail or email, non-interactive broadcast video, pre-recorded video, live teleconference or videoconference, offline or online computer courses. Many respectable schools offer these programs; however, so do many diploma mills. Potential students should check the school's accreditation before undertaking distance learning coursework.

Admissions criteria

Most programs base admission on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), significant work experience, academic transcripts, essays, references or letters of recommendation, and personal interviews. Schools are also interested in extracurricular activities, community service activities and how the student can improve the diversity and contribute to the student body as a whole. All of these qualifications are important for admission; however, some schools such as Harvard University do not weigh GMAT scores as heavily as other criteria.[5]

Most schools are first concerned with whether or not the applicant can handle the quantity of course work. The GMAT (the quantitative score) and academic transcripts help determine this. Once the school determines that the student can succeed academically, they examine the remainder of the application to evaluate the applicant's experience and leadership abilities.

Program content

Most top MBA programs cover similar subjects within their core required courses. For information about the typical content of an MBA program's core curriculum, see the overview at the Wikiversity MBA topic page.

Breadth

MBA programs expose students to a variety of subjects, including economics, organizational behavior, marketing, accounting, finance, strategy, operations management, international business, information technology management, supply chain management, project management and government policy. Students traditionally study a wide breadth of courses in the program's first year, then pursue a specialized curriculum in the second year. Full-time students typically seek an internship during the interim .

Specialization

Many programs allow students to specialize or concentrate in a particular area. Standard concentrations include accounting, corporate strategy, decision sciences, economics, entrepreneurship, finance, general management, human resources, international business, marketing, organizational behavior, project management, and operations management. Unspecialized MBA programs often focus second-year studies on strategic management or finance.

In addition, a program may offer more specialized concentrations such as Asian business, consulting, sports management, or degrees emphasizing real estate or insurance. Many schools offer unique concentrations available nowhere else.

Non-American based MBA programs

Today, MBA and Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) designations can be found anywhere and even accessed through on-line, distance learning or e-learning. Because of the varying standards of MBAs worldwide, many business schools are accredited by independent bodies, such as the Association of MBAs and the European Foundation for Management Development.

United Kingdom

Persons holding an MBA from the world's top fifty business schools (according to the list published by the UK government[6]) automatically receive the minimum score necessary to qualify for the UK's Highly Skilled Migrant Programme. This programme initially entitles the person to a two-year UK work permit, after which it can be renewed for an additional three years, if that person is gainfully employed at the time of renewal.[7]

Germany

Germany was one of the last western countries to adopt the MBA degree. In 1998 the Hochschulrahmengesetz (Higher Education Framework Act), a German federal law regulating higher education including the types of degrees offered, was modified to permit German universities to offer Master's degrees. The traditional German degree in business administration was the Diplom but since 1999, Bachelor's and Master's degrees have gradually displaced the traditional degrees (see Bologna process). Today most German business schools offer the MBA. German MBA degrees should be accredited by the Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA), the only agency officially recognized by the German Akkreditierungsrat (accreditation council), the German counterpart to the US-American CHEA. Furthermore, most German states require that universities receive accreditation by an officially recognized accreditation agency, so FIBAA accreditation is mandatory in these states although accreditation by other agencies remains voluntary. All universities themselves must also be recognised by the state (staatlich anerkannt), which guarantees that they have the relevant funds to offer education, and are able to award degrees that have value.

Ukraine

Recently MBA programs appeared in Ukraine where there are now about ten schools of business offering a variety of MBA programs. Two of these are subsidiaries of the strongest European schools of business (OUBS and IBR), while the remaining eight are independent institutions.

South Africa

In 2004, South Africa’s Council on Higher Education (CHE) completed an extensive re-accreditation of MBA degrees offered in the country. The process was the first of its kind in the world to be undertaken by a statutory body and attracted widespread international media attention for its innovation and thoroughness.

Pakistan

The Lahore University of Management Sciences MBA program is well-recognized all over the world. Recently, MBA students participated in confluence 2003 at IIM Ahmedabad, India and won the Marketing Strategy, Advertising and Publicity contests.

LUMS has also successfully instituted exchange programs with Copenhagen Business School, Stockholm School of Business, F H Joanneum, School of International Management Austria and University Utara Malaysia.

The Asian Development Bank recognizing LUMS as a center of excellence, awards full scholarships to MBA applicants from ADB member countries, covering the tuition fees, allowance for books, monthly subsistence and housing allowance, medical insurance and travel expenses. Students from China, Nepal, Srilanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia and the Philippines, have already availed this scholarship and after completing their MBA at LUMS are pursuing successful careers in their own countries. LUMS Website

India

The Indian School of Business, founded by its partners Wharton Business School, Kellogg School of Management, and London Business School, has become the premier one year, US style Business School in India, focusing on Indian-International Businesses. The school is backed by many premier MNCs and Indian Business leaders. However, it awards neither a Diploma nor than a Degree, but rather a Certificate.[8]

The Indian Institutes of Management are also the premier and the oldest institutions for management education in India. Gaining admission to any of the IIMs requires passing the Common Admission Test. The acceptance rate is less than 1%, making the IIMs among the world's most selective schools. Although the institute offers a Post-Graduate Diploma in Management rather than an MBA degree, the institute's diploma has gained prestige in India. In addition to the IIMs, there are many other notable institutes imparting management education; see a list of business schools in India.

Rest of Asia

International MBA programs are acquiring brand value in Asia. For example, while a foreign MBA is still preferred in South Korea, many students are now studying at one of many "Global MBA" English language programs being offered. Hong Kong and Singapore are also becoming MBA destinations. For North American students who want a different experience, many of these programs offer scholarships and discounted tuition, to encourage an international environment in the classroom.

MBA program rankings

The MBA degree has become one of the most popular masters' degrees. As more universities started offering the degree, differences in the quality of schools, faculty, and course offerings became evident. Naturally, establishing some criteria of quality is needed to differentiate among MBA programs, especially for prospective students trying to decide on where to apply. As MBA programs proliferated, a variety of publications began providing information on them. Some of these consisted of compilations of information gathered from the universities offering the degree, usually published in book form. Eventually periodicals began publishing articles describing various MBA schools and ranking them according to some perceived quality criteria. One of the most prominent of these is Business Week, which devotes a biennial issue to ranking MBA programs. Financial Times, The Economist, Forbes magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and U.S. News & World Report also publish MBA program rankings. See the External links section below to view some of these rankings.

Different methods of varying validity were used to arrive at rankings of MBA programs. The Gourman Report, for example, did not disclose criteria or ranking methods,[9] and these reports were criticized for reporting statistically impossible data, such as no ties among schools, narrow gaps in scores with no variation in gap widths, and ranks of nonexistent departments.[10] In 1977 The Carter Report published rankings of MBA programs based on the number of academic articles published by faculty. Periodicals based their rankings on interviews with company recruiters who hired MBA graduates, surveys of MBA schools' deans, polls of students or faculty, and a variety of other means. The defunct MBA Magazine asked deans to vote on the best programs. The methods of obtaining ranks often changed from year to year. Initially, rankings included only a small number of universities consisting of the largest and best known Ivy League and state schools.

The ranking of MBA programs has been discussed in articles and on academic Web sites.[11] Critics of ranking methodologies maintain that any published rankings should be viewed with caution for the following reasons:[12]

* Rankings limit the population size to a small number of MBA programs and ignore the majority of schools, many with excellent offerings.
* The ranking methods may be subject to biases and statistically flawed methodologies (especially for methods relying on subjective interviews of hiring managers).
* The same list of well-known schools appears in each ranking with some variation in ranks, so a school ranked as number 1 in one list may be number 3 in another list.
* Rankings tend to concentrate on the school itself, but some schools offer MBA programs of different qualities (e.g. a school may use highly reputable faculty to teach a daytime program, and use adjunct faculty in its evening program).
* A high rank in a national publication tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

One study found that objectively ranking MBA programs by a combination of graduates' starting salaries and average student GMAT score can reasonably duplicate the top 20 list of the national publications.[12] The study concluded that a truly objective ranking would be individualized to the needs of each prospective student.[13] National publications have recognized the value of rankings against different criteria, and now offer lists ranked different ways: by salary, GMAT score of students, selectivity, and so forth. While useful, these rankings still are not tailored to individual needs, and their value is diminished if they use an incomplete population of schools, fail to distinguish between the different MBA program types offered by each school, or rely on subjective interviews.

References and Notes

1. ^ Richard Ivey School of Business page showing awarding of first MBA in 1950, one year ahead of the University of Pretoria's claim
2. ^ University of Pretoria page claiming to have awarded the first MBA outside of America
3. ^ Koenig, Ann; Lofstad, Rolf (2004-09-18). Higher Education Accreditation in the United States (PDF). EAIE Conference.
4. ^ http://www.emba.org/
5. ^ Harvard eliminated the GMAT from admissions requirements in 1985, finding that the test made no difference in quality of applicants (see FairTest.org GMAT facts). Harvard reinstated the test in 1996, although they state that "...there is no 'minimum' score requirement, and ... the GMAT is just one piece of data among the many used to evaluate an application" (Harvard Business School Frequently Asked Questions, retrieved 2007-01-29).
6. ^ 50 Qualifying MBA programmes, Her Majesty's Treasury Pre-Budget Report 2004 (December 2004).
7. ^ Information about the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, Working in the UK website.
8. ^ Frequently Asked Questions, ISB website.
9. ^ Selingo, Jeffrey. A Self-Published College Guide Goes Big-Time, and Educators Cry Foul. Chronicle of Higher Education (1997-11-07).
10. ^ Bedeian, Arthur G. Caveat Emptor: The Gourman Report. The Industrial-Organizational Psychologist (June 2002).
11. ^ Caution and Controversy (HTML). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Retrieved on 2005-09-06.
12. ^ a b Schatz, Martin (1993). "What's Wrong with MBA Ranking Surveys?" (HTML). Management Research News 16 (7): 15-18.
13. ^ The Official MBA Guide uses this approach, allowing students and researchers to rank a large population of MBA programs based on a wide range of criteria and combinations.