What is an MBA Anyway?

[By Diane Stafford July 18, 2004]

"An MBA definitely tips the scales when we're looking at individuals," said Linda Hosler, director of corporate resources at American Century Investments. "We'd look at the MBA person ahead of the non-MBA."

Some jobs require an MBA. For others, it's gravy. The degree itself is only part of the package that employers seek.

"We're looking for individuals who bring solid, relevant work experience," said Sara Wasson, manager of recruiting for Cerner Corp. "We're also looking for an excellent curriculum from a high-quality MBA program."

The interesting words above are "high-quality MBA program".
How can we define a high quality MBA program apart from a low or mid quality MBA program.

Well, its quite simple actually, most times you look at the reputation of the school and the GPA of the particular student. It's not a exact science, I have seen some outstanding students from perceived "low quality" schools.

The foundation of this entire blog sits on the question:

Is an online MBA high, low or mid quality?

Some sub questions are:

1. Are online degrees in a category of their own? and hence the rating system (ivy etc) does not apply?
2. What are the things that students get from an MBA (Brick and Mortar) and can ALL of those be accomplished online?
3. What is delivered online above and beyond Brick and Mortar? and does it equalize whatever is lacking?

I am sure there are more, if you got to the bottom of this blog, you would have realized by now that this was a tremendous undertaking and so far I have only gotten the buy in of a few contributors.

Its the last work day of the year, I have to be productive.

We can stick with this for now...

[By Diane Stafford July 18, 2004]

"It's almost a given that MBAs have advanced technical skills and financial acumen," Kruse said.

But, even there, she said, all MBAs are not created equal. There is strong preference among employers for MBAs that come with classroom experience rather than those obtained exclusively online.

"The message we're getting is that employers see a pure online MBA as a pseudo MBA because students aren't getting the value of classroom interaction," Kruse advised.

"Personal skills, balanced with analytical skills, are what's important," Theobald said.

• Technical Skills
• Financial Acumen
• Personal Skills
• Analytical Skills

hummmmmm.