It's been a while, since my last post where over the past two months, I've noticed several articles in refute of the value of an MBA, by folks that currently hold a bachelors! After considering many of the arguments that focus on cost and the added value to corporations without individual experience, to some extent, I would have to agree. In these distressed financial times of rising costs to education and extreme downward pressure on wages due to an employer's market; the view of most financially savvy individuals is that ROI for an MBA is long-term with a higher risk than normal, not to recoup costs. However, when we consider America's ever rapid decline in education against the world, there's cause for concern as recent comments by certain business and community leaders have worked to undermine the importance of education.
In contrast, very many scholars would argue in favor of an MBA (with concrete evidence as a backing) that if ever there were a need to educate the masses, it's now as the global market pressure to compete within the technology sector increases exponentially year after year, as technology itself influences the rate of change. Other arguments in support of an MBA, come from the fact that upon entry into a program, most MBA candidates are not sure of their career options, making a relationship with experienced academic staff all the more important.
Finally, how do we gauge individual proficiency of relative the disciplines without institutional guidelines? Sure, there will always exist a few smart and self-reliant persons who can show discipline and aptitude to educate themselves on finance, accounting and read various books on leadership, but for most of us institutional structure is desired and needed. When we consider that in the past like the 17th century, people like Ben Franklin and others were self-taught and successful, but times were very different and competition with a need to adhere to standards were non-existent. So, it maybe feasible for small number of us to sell-educate, however, who's going take a chance on an individual based solely on their claim for aptitude? And an MBA is not all about reading books on the subjects it's about professional networking, the intangible and practical aspects of leadership!
