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 Home > By Career > Management and Business > MBA
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The Master of Business Administration (MBA or M.B.A.) is a master's degree
in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic
disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from
the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out scientific
approaches to management. The core courses in the MBA program are designed to introduce
students to the various areas of business such as accounting, finance, marketing,
human resources, operations management, etc. Students in MBA programs have the option
of taking general business courses throughout the program or can select an area
of concentration and focus approximately one-fourth of their studies in this subject.
Accreditation bodies exist specifically for MBA programs to ensure consistency and
quality of graduate business education. Business schools in many countries offer
MBA programs tailored to full-time, part-time, executive, and distance learning
students, with specialized concentrations.
History
The first graduate school of business in the United States was the Tuck School of
Business, part of Dartmouth College [1] Founded in 1900, it was the first institution
conferring advanced degrees (masters) in the commercial sciences, specifically,
a Master of Science in Commerce degree, the forebear of the modern MBA degree.
In 1908, the Graduate School of Business Administration (GSBA) at Harvard University
was established; it offered the world's first MBA program,[2] with a faculty of
15 plus 33 regular students and 47 special students. There are M7 peer recognition
for top MBAs.
The University of Chicago Booth School of Business first offered working professionals
the Executive MBA (EMBA) program in 1943,[3] first available in permanent campus
in three continents (Chicago, London and Singapore) and this type of program is
offered by most business schools today.
In 1946, Thunderbird School of Global Management was the first school to offer an
MBA program focused on global management.
In 1950, the first MBA degrees awarded outside the United States were by the Richard
Ivey School of Business at The University of Western Ontario in Canada,[5] followed
in 1951 with the degree awarded by the University of Pretoria in South Africa.[6]
In 1957, INSEAD became the first European business school to offer an MBA program.
In 1986, the Roy E. Crummer Graduate School of Business at Rollins College (Florida)
was the first MBA program to require every student to have a laptop computer in
the classroom. Initially, professors wheeled a cart of laptops into the classroom.
The MBA degree has been adopted by universities worldwide, and has been adopted
and adapted by both developed and developing countries.
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 three
major accrediting bodies in the United States are Association to Advance Collegiate
Schools of Business (AACSB), which accredits research universities, the Accreditation
Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), which accredits universities
and colleges, and the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE),
all of which also accredit schools outside the US. The AACSB, the ACBSP, and the
IACBE are themselves recognized in the United States by the Council for Higher Education
Accreditation (CHEA).[11] MBA programs with specializations for students pursuing
careers in healthcare management also eligible for accreditation by the Commission
on the Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME).
In the United States, a college or university must be accredited as a whole before
it is eligible to have its MBA program accredited. Bodies that accredit institutions
as a whole include the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA): Middle
States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA), New England Association of Schools
and Colleges (NEASCSC), Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association
of Colleges and Schools (HLC), Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
(NWCCU), Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), and Western Association
of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
Accreditation agencies outside the United States include the Association of MBAs
(AMBA), a UK based organization that accredits MBA, DBA and MBM programs worldwide,
government accreditation bodies such as the All India Council for Technical Education
(AICTE) that accredits MBA and PGDM programs across India, 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
Two-year (Full Time) MBA programs normally take place over two academic years (i.e.
approximately 18 months of term time). For example in the Northern Hemisphere beginning
in late August/September of year one and continuing until May of year two, with
a three to four month summer break in between years one and two. 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 the two year programs. They involve
a higher course load with more intense class and examination schedules. They usually
have less "down time" during the program and between semesters. For example, there
is no three to four month summer break, and between semesters there might be seven
to ten days off rather than three to five weeks vacation.
Part-time MBA programs normally hold classes on weekday evenings, after normal working
hours, or on weekends. Part-time programs normally last three 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, nonprofit, 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 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 schools offer these programs.
Dual MBA programs combine MBA degree with others (such as an MS, MA, or a J.D.,
etc.) to let students cut costs (dual programs usually cost less than pursuing 2
degrees separately), save time on education and to tailor the business education
courses to their needs. Some business schools offer programs in which students can
earn both a bachelor's degree in business administration and an MBA in four or five
years.
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. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is also accepted
by some schools in lieu of the GMAT. Some schools are also interested in extracurricular
activities, community service activities and how the student can improve the diversity
of and contribute to the student body as a whole. All of these qualifications can
be important for admission; however, some schools do not weigh GMAT scores as heavily
as other criteria. In order to achieve a diverse class, business schools also consider
the target male-female ratio and local-international student ratios.
Depending on the program, type and length of work experience can be a critical admissions
component for many MBA programs. Many top-tier programs require five or more years
of work experience for admission.
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. MBA programs expose students to
a variety of subjects, which students may choose to specialize in a particular area.
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. Typical specializations include: accounting,
economics, entrepreneurship, finance, international business, management science,
marketing, operations management, organizational behavior, project management, real
estate, and strategy, among others.
In Europe
History of the MBA in Europe
In 1957, INSEAD became the first European university offering the MBA degree, followed
in 1959 by ESADE, ICADE in 1960 (who had started offering in 1956 a "Technical Seminary
for Business Administration") [16], IESE (first two-year program in Europe) in 1964,
UCD Smurfit Business School in 1964, Manchester Business School and London Business
School in 1965, The University of Dublin (Trinity College), the Rotterdam School
of Management in 1966, the Cranfield School of Management in 1967 and 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 1972, Swiss business school IMEDE
(now IMD) began offering a full-time MBA program, followed in 1974 by AGH University
of Science and Technology in Cracow, Poland. In 1991, IEDC-Bled School of Management
became the first school in the ex-socialist block of the Central and Eastern to
offer an MBA degree. Because of technology advances, distance or online MBA programs
have recently emerged in Europe. Several business schools in the United Kingdom
now offer distance MBA programs. In 2007, ESCEM became the first French Business
school to offer their own distance or online MBA. See List of business schools in
Europe
Bologna Accord
In Europe, the recent Bologna Accord established uniformity in three levels of higher
education: Bachelor (three years), Masters (one or two years in addition to three
or four years for a Bachelor), and Doctorate (an additional three or four years
after a Masters). 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.
Accreditation
Accreditation standards are not uniform in Europe. Some countries have legal requirements
for accreditation (e.g. most German states), in some there is a legal requirement
only for universities of a certain type (e.g. Austria), and others have no accreditation
law at all. Even where there is no legal requirement, many business schools are
accredited by independent bodies voluntarily to ensure quality standards.
Austria
In Austria, MBA programs of private universities have to be accredited by the Austrian
Accreditation Council (Österreichischer Akkreditierungsrat). State-run universities
have no accreditation requirements, however, some of them voluntarily undergo accreditation
procedures by independent bodies. There are also MBA programs of non-academic business
schools, who are entitled by the Austrian government to offer these programs until
2010 (Lehrgang universitären Charakters). Some non-academic institutions cooperate
with state-run universities to ensure legality of their degrees.
Czech Republic
January 1998 saw the first meeting of the Association of the Czech MBA Schools (CAMBAS).
The Association is housed within the Centre for Doctoral and Managerial Studies
of UEP, Prague. All of the founding members of the Association have their MBA programs
accredited by partner institutions in the United Kingdom or United States of America.
Finland
In Finland, as in most countries, MBA does not have the status of official degree.
MBA programs are run by various universities including the top universities in the
country.
France and French speaking countries
In France and in the Francophone countries such as Switzerland, Monaco, Belgium,
and Canada, the MBA degree programs at the public accredited schools are similar
to those offered in the Anglo-Saxon countries. Most French Business Schools are
accredited by the Conférence des Grandes Écoles, which is an association of higher
educational establishments outside the mainstream framework of the public education
system.
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 in Betriebswirtschaft (Diplom-Kaufmann;
Master's degree equivalent) but since 1999, bachelor's and master's degrees have
gradually replaced the traditional degrees (see Bologna process). Today most German
business schools offer the MBA. Most German states require that MBA degrees have
to be accredited by one of the six agencies officially recognized by the German
Akkreditierungsrat (accreditation council), the German counterpart to the US-American
CHEA. The busiest of these six agencies (in respect to MBA degrees) is the Foundation
for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA). All universities
themselves have to be institutionally accredited by the state (staatlich anerkannt).
Italy
Italian MBAs programs at public accredited schools are similar to those offered
elsewhere in Europe. Italian Business Schools are accredited by EQUIS and by ASFOR.
Poland
There are several MBA programs offered in Poland. Some of these are run as partnerships
with American or Canadian Universities. For example, the CEMBA program is run by
the Warsaw School of Economics and the University of Quebec at Montreal, Warsaw-Illinois
Executive MBA (WIEMBA) run as partnership of University of Warsaw and University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Others like the programs offered by the Institute
of Economics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (INE PAN) rely on their own faculty
and enrich their courses by inviting visiting lecturers. The CEMBA, WIEMBA and INE
PAN programs as several other programs in Poland, are offered also in English.
Ukraine
Recently MBA programs appeared in Ukraine where there are now about twenty schools
of business offering a variety of MBA programs. Three of these are subsidiaries
of European schools of business, while the remaining institutions are independent.
Ukrainian MBA programs are concentrated mainly on particulars of business and management
in Ukraine. For example, 2/3 of all case studies are based on real conditions of
Ukrainian companies.
United Kingdom
The UK based Association of MBAs (AMBA) was established in 1967 and is an active
advocate for MBA degrees. The Association's accreditation service is internationally
recognised for all MBA, DBA and Masters in Business and Management (MBM) programs.
AMBA also offer the only professional membership association for MBA students and
graduates. UK MBA programs typically consist of a set number of taught courses plus
a dissertation or project.
Australia and Oceania
Australia
In Australia, 42 Australian business schools offer the MBA degree. Universities
differentiate themselves by gaining international accreditation and focusing on
national and international rankings. Most MBAs are one to two years full time. There
is little use of GMAT, and instead each educational institution specifies its own
requirements, which normally entails several years of management-level work experience
as well as proven academic skills.
Ratings for Australian MBAs are carried out by the Graduate Management Association
of Australia, which publishes an annual Australian MBA Star Ratings. See List of
business schools in Australia.
Africa
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.[citation needed]
Ghana
Business schools of the traditional universities run a variety of MBA programs.
In addition, foreign accredited institutions offer MBA degrees by distance learning
in Ghana.
Kenya
MBA is studied in all Public university and major private university. Student choose
to specialize in one of this areas; Accounting, finance, entrepreneur, Insurance
and Human Resources. The course takes 4 semester of about 4 months each.
Asia
Japan
Japanese business schools offer full time MBA programs, part time MBA programs,
and E-Business Management.
MBA in public universities are generally more prestigious than their private counterparts
with only 25 percent of all university-bound students being admitted to public universities.
The public universities such as Nagoya University, University of Tsukuba, Kyushu
University, Kyoto University offer management studies and business administration
and are the oldest and most prestigious[peacock term] universities in Japan.
India
There are 1600 business schools in India offering two year MBA programs. The students
are a mix of fresh graduates without any work experience and people with significant
work experience. Among those schools, the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM)
are the oldest institutions for management education in India. Admission to any
of the IIM schools requires passing Common Admission Test (CAT), however other business
schools require passing either CAT, XAT, GMAT, JMET, MAT or others. Apart from these
entrance tests there are few business schools which conduct aptitude tests individually
for admission to that particular business school. The IIM and other autonomous business
schools offer a post-graduate diploma in management (PGDM) or Post Graduate Programme
in Management (PGPM) which is recognized in India as equivalent to an MBA degree.
Government accreditation bodies such as AICTE established that autonomous business
schools can offer only the PGDM or PGPM, whereas a full post-graduate degree can
be awarded only by a university, in two-year full-time program. The curriculum of
the PGDM or PGPM and MBA degrees are equivalent, although the MBA degree is examination
oriented and concentrates on theoretical aspects of management whereas the PGDM
or PGPM is industry-oriented. PGDM and PGPM usually utilize the case method of instruction,
and mainly focus on building soft skills. However, a PGDM or PGPM holder cannot
pursue PhD since they are not full post-graduates, but can pursue Fellowship programs
instead from many B-Schools. Non-government accredited, one-year fast-track programs
have proliferated in India, especially for candidates with work experience. Such
programs are commonly known as Post Graduate Programme for Executives (PGPX or ExPGP)
in Business Management. See List of business schools in India.
Israel
All public universities are offering a two years MBA program. Some private colleges
are offering a one year MBA program for working people who prefer to study at the
evening and on Friday (which is a rest day in Israel).
Pakistan
The IBA was the first instiute in Pakistan, set up in 1955 in collaboration with
the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and is the first business school
in South Asia set up on the US MBA model. Now in Pakistan, 16 Universities that
are recognized by the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan are the only ones
that offer MBAs.
Other Asian countries
International MBA programs are acquiring brand value in Asia. For example, while
a foreign MBA is still preferred in the Philippines, many students are now studying
at one of many "Global MBA" English language programs being offered. English-only
MBA programs are also offered in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan,
and Thailand. For international students who want a different experience, many Asian
programs offer scholarships and discounted tuition to encourage an international
environment in the classroom.
Rankings have been done for Asia Pacific schools by the magazine Asia Inc. which
is a regional business magazine with distribution worldwide. The importance of MBA
education in China has risen, too. See List of business schools in Asia.
MBA program rankings
As MBA programs proliferated over time, differences in the quality of schools, faculty,
and course offerings became evident. As a means of establishing criteria to assess
quality among different MBA programs, a variety of publications began compiling
program information and ranking quality. Different methods of varying validity were
used. The Gourman Report, which ran from 1967 until 1997, did not disclose criteria
or ranking methods,[19] 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. In 1977 The Carter Report published
rankings of MBA programs based on the number of academic articles published by faculty.
Also in 1977, the Ladd & Lipset Survey relied on opinion surveys of business school
faculty as the basis for rankings, and MBA Magazine ranked schools based on votes
cast by business school deans.
Most recently, well-known publications such as US News & World Report, Business
Week, Financial Times, The Economist, and the Wall Street Journal publish rankings
of selected MBA programs. Often a schools’ rank will vary significantly across publications,
as the methodology used to create the ranks is different among each publication.
The U.S. News & World Report ranking incorporates responses from deans, program
directors, and senior faculty about the academic quality of their programs as well
as the opinions of hiring professionals. The ranking is calculated through a weighted
formula of quality assessment (40%), placement success (35%), and student selectivity
(25%). The BusinessWeek rankings are similarly based on student surveys, a survey
of corporate recruiters, and an intellectual capital rating.[23] The Financial Times
incorporates criteria including survey responses from alumni who graduated three
years prior to the ranking and information from business schools. Salary and employment
statistics are weighted heavily. Rankings by the Economist Intelligence Unit and
published in The Economist result from surveys administered to business schools
(80%) and to students and recent graduates (20%). Ranking criteria includes GMAT
scores, employment and salary statistics, class options, and student body demographics.[25]
Although the Wall Street Journal stopped ranking full time MBA programs in 2007,
its ranking are based on skill and behavioral development that should lend toward
career success, such as social skills, teamwork orientation, ethics, and analytic
and problem-solving abilities.
Other rankings base methodologies on attributes other than standardized test scores,
salary of graduates, and recruiter opinions. The Beyond Grey Pinstripes ranking,
published by the Aspen Institute is based on the integration of social and environmental
stewardship into university curriculum and faculty research. Rankings are calculated
on the amount of sustainability coursework made available to students (20%), amount
of student exposure to relevant material (25%), amount of coursework focused on
stewardship by for-profit corporations (30%), and relevant faculty research (25%).
The 2011 survey and ranking include data from 150 universities. The QS Global 200
Business Schools Report compiles regional rankings of business schools around the
world. Ranks are calculated using a two year moving average of points assigned by
employers who hire MBA graduates.[29] Since 2005, the UT-Dallas Top 100 Business
School Research Rankings ranks business schools on the research faculty publish,
not unlike The Carter Report of the past.
The ranking of MBA programs has been discussed in articles and on academic Web sites.Critics
of ranking methodologies maintain that any published rankings should be viewed with
caution for the following reasons:
• 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 17 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.
• Some leading business schools including Harvard, INSEAD and Wharton provide limited
cooperation with certain ranking publications due to their perception that rankings
are misused.
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. The study concluded that a truly objective
ranking would be individualized to the needs of each prospective student. 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. Other publications have produced “rankings of the rankings”, which
coalesce and summarize the findings of multiple independent rankings.[35][36] While
useful, these rankings have yet to meet the critique that rankings are not tailored
to individual needs, that they use an incomplete population of schools, may fail
to distinguish between the different MBA program types offered by each school, or
rely on subjective interviews.
MBA degree and current financial crisis
The Financial crisis of 2007–2010 has raised new challenges and questions regarding
the MBA degree. Graduates of MBA programs have a reported tendency to go into Finance
shortly after receiving the degree. As the field of Finance is tightly linked to
the global economic downturn, anecdotal evidence suggests new graduates are stepping
onto alternate paths.
Deans at top business schools have acknowledged media and public perception of the
MBA has shown some shifts as a result of the financial crisis. Articles about public
perception related to the crisis range from schools' acknowledgment of issues related
to the training students receive to criticisms of the MBA's role in society.
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