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You study hard to get a Bus Admin degree in a major that is supposed to represent some marketable job skill; maybe you add a minor ot two that will supposedly make you more adaptable. Then some "hotshot", possibly several years younger, and maybe playing "quota games", and who might have spent his/her undergrad years majoring in some form if intellectual fingerpainting, gets the inside track on the path upward with another year or two of study that merely duplicates the core business courses you took a few years before.
I don't resent MBA's whose intentions are sincere; I do resent the marketing system that devevalues the worth of people who took the harder path, and doesn't have the guts to own up to the fraud.
You study hard to get a Bus Admin degree in a major that is supposed to represent some marketable job skill; maybe you add a minor ot two that will supposedly make you more adaptable. Then some "hotshot", possibly several years younger, and maybe playing "quota games", and who might have spent his/her undergrad years majoring in some form if intellectual fingerpainting, gets the inside track on the path upward with another year or two of study that merely duplicates the core business courses you took a few years before.
I don't resent MBA's whose intentions are sincere; I do resent the marketing system that devevalues the worth of people who took the harder path, and doesn't have the guts to own up to the fraud.
Your "harder path" is an undergrad degree in Business Administration? That's what the football players take when communications is too hard.
I have an B.S. in Computer Science and an MBA. Why do people hate MBA's? It was certainly harder than my B.S. in CS for sure. I am sure it would be harder than a BA in Management. There are non-MBA's who are also horrible Managers. An MBA does not make a good Manager but I for one feel as though I understand certain caveats about business...most of the work was based on case studies on what works and has failed in the business world. I understand how the various elements of an organization function and why. It opened up a new world for me. It also allowed me to break out of the individual contributor function and into a project management and analytics focused role...with it came a decent increase in the level of pay. However, I have yet to see the steady 120K/yr job as those do not exist anyone unless you go to Harvard.
I had one guy tell me he could learn about all of the following stuff below in a three day seminar which was my 3 year program BTW...not including seminar courses...these are the courses I took.
Managerial Accounting
Operations Management
Economics for Managers
Quantitative Techniques
Financial Management
Compensation and Benefits Analysis
International Management
Legal and Ethical Issues
Human Resource Management
Management Information Systems
OS Information Management
Organizational Behavior
I do now want to break into quantitative analytics but would need a MS in Math, Stats or Engineering...If I would do it again I would not do the MBA but it sure has been valuable...but as for the hatred, I don't get it.
Most people who do not have MBAs and hate you are basically intimidated by you. This is true of co-workers and friends alike. Personally, I prefer not to work with people who don't have some kind of advanced degree including an MBA.
There's no way MBA courses are more difficult than CS courses at any degree level whether it be BS or MS of PhD. I found your comment intriguing.
MBA isn't a directly applicable degree. Just my experience, but nowadays you're better off with a specialized skill than a generalized one. An MBA is a generalized skill. If you've got other qualifications, sure it might be beneficial. As far as people just out of college, however, immediately going and getting an MBA with no real skillset, I think that's a tough sell. If you've got a degree in CS, some years of programming experience, then the MBA might be great for spinning into project management. If you have an undergraduate degree in business administration, no real work experience, and an MBA... who wants that?
By the time you have enough work experience under your belt to get into an MBA program you've already developed a specialized skill. A Masters degree allows you to drill down further in that field. An MBA allows you to take some courses to drill down further in that field, but also take courses allowing you to develop skills beyond your field in order to have a broad understanding of all components of a business. That's highly coveted in companies where you need people who can make well-informed decisions based on both their specialized knowledge, and an understanding of other parts of the business.
An MBA is less about gaining useful knowledge and more about being a signifier that you are ready to become a middle manager.
Most people hate their manager, henceforth they hate anyone who wants to be manager too. I'm not sure why someone in CS needs an MBA to get a $120K salary, that is what kids just out of school make in silicon valley these days.
An MBA is not a guarantee that you'll get a better job or better pay, just as having a college degree doesn't. But for people with a good attitude, who are go-getters, and really interested in doing something with their career, it can open doors to opportunities that might not be presented without it. I would advise a lot of people not to get one, because it's a waste of money and time if you have a bad attitude.
The only time I've seen resentment toward people with higher degrees is when the person without one feels threatened or jealous. They don't like dealing with a person who is on a whole other level than they are. It's best not to even deal with that garbage.
You'll also find a group who tell you all MBA's are a waste of time and money because they never had one and they're at the top of their organization or they make six figures or what have you. There's a reason they feel defensive, but it's their problem, not yours.
There are a number of jobs out there that require an MBA. Until we stop seeing jobs posting that requirement, it's not a waste of time if you have the other qualities necessary to be a success.
And this is why I never put myself in debt to get one. I didn't have to pay for my undergrad degree because someone else did and wanted to live life without debt and paying back loans.
It isn't so much against MBA's but rather the organizations that cheapen the heck out of them. Your HBS, Kellogg, Yale, Stanford, UPenn etc that's fine. The public schools that have them that's fine as well. But there are so many institutions that advertise these part time no GMAT nine month programs that it waters it down so much. In other majors they would create some sort of certification with a meaning and standard but as a discipline that didn't really exist.
In addition in academia it is largely publish or perish. Business majors do not really write much. Usually because an executive summary is not going to be more then five pages. That is all well and good but without some research it can be hard to warrant things like....tenure.
In a sense some of this reminds me also of six sigma. It can get hyped up but yet for every one person that knows it there's another three that think they do but they do not. Again there seemed to be little legit ownership of the subject and as a result the market is flooded with product that has nothing to do with it.
I'd recommend looking at nopaymba.com Many of the classes and subjects mentioned can be covered with online classes which is where this pretty much might go. There's also the book personal mba that takes a good look at the fundamentals.
I also think it is a big misleading if anyone thinks they'll just get a mba and get six figures working for some company halfway around the world. Even if that did happen what frankly is that adding to value? A better use of business expertise would be to help small to midsize companies domestically that are in economically depressed areas, women owned, minority owned etc. There are plenty of businesses that need help in advertising, marketing, business plans, taxes etc.
There is nothing wrong in obtaining a business education. But if you think should pay six figures and dedicate so much of your life to it then I think there are ways around that. Read some textbooks, take some online classes, take the GMAT if you must etc.
Your "harder path" is an undergrad degree in Business Administration? That's what the football players take when communications is too hard.
Absolutely true---in years past, when the football players couldn't decide on a major, they were shoved into a business adm program, because it wasn't very difficult.
There seems to be some trend to make an MBA into some "super" degree, when historically it's been treated like a degree of last resort, and deservedly so. Any reasonably bright high school senior could get through those classes.
I think too many people have MBAs because they thought having one would enable them to get ahead or to even keep treading water in this economy.
I work with people who have MBAs who make far less than I do with my "lowly" liberal arts bachelor's degree. In my field, an MBA is practically worthless unless you want to move into middle management...and even then, it usually only acts as a tie-breaker.
My brother, on the other hand, has an MBA and it was an absolute requirement for the field he wanted to get into. You cannot do what he does without one, at least nowadays. Nobody will hire you. Even with the MBA, he's studying for the CPA because that is rapidly becoming another TLA that you have to add to your resume just to stay competitive.
So...should someone get an MBA? Short answer: it depends. I don't think an MBA would do me any good whatsoever.
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