what is mba

what is mba

The Significance of an MBA Degree in the Modern Business World

1. Introduction to the MBA Degree

MBA programs are special programs introduced to make us specialize in specific areas related to business. After the Bachelor’s degree, while pursuing M.S. or M.A., the students acquire knowledge in general field areas. But, the students who prefer to go for a corporate career show an inclination to learn fundamental management principles and management techniques for various business fields, which are branded as MBA programs. The new trends in the corporate business field, such as aggressive competition, advanced technology usage, and digital developments, are mainly in need of professional managers. The MBA programs train the students to equip themselves to face the latest corporate challenges with a focus on the future economical situation and society’s needs.

One of the basic requisites of achieving a demanding and successful corporate job in the modern business world is learning management at a business school and acquiring an MBA degree in a specialized business field. People misconceive that an individual professional with relevant work experience alone has the domain knowledge and experience to undertake a particular role effectively. But, it should be understood that corporate roles are handled well when they are geared and blended with scientific management principles. The scientific principles of management can be effectively applied and practiced to attain the company’s mission only with specialized managerial education like an MBA degree, which apart from domain knowledge provides a good understanding of corporate issues, strategic levers, and operational areas.

2. Key Skills and Knowledge Acquired in an MBA Program

An MBA program is noted for its comprehensive curriculum that provides a graduate education in all the major business functions. Students will be exposed to specific business theory, acquire professional training in essential professional skills such as case analysis, group work, and business writing. Graduates also develop a broad perspective that takes into account the strategic impact of business activities on wider external stakeholders and society. A well-designed MBA program helps prepare promising graduates to move up the ranks in their existing career as well as help prepare them for roles in a new field.

Business graduates who prepare themselves for the challenges of the modern business world are the most sought after business professionals in a highly competitive business marketplace. Knowledge acquired in business schools helps practicing business managers and entrepreneurs cope with market challenges more effectively. It also provides a sound basis for further career growth resulting in higher potential for timely promotions and increase. Embarking on an intensive MBA program will enable the students to develop a full complement of practical and theoretical skills with a real understanding of business functions and their linked processes. It enables students to explore and understand business problems at an enriching level and quickly develop proposed solutions to those issues, taking into account real-world constraints that firms face.

3. Career Opportunities and Advantages of Holding an MBA Degree

The business world today has lots of rewarding and enriching career opportunities, and one such career is to successfully lead and manage individuals, teams, divisions, and companies. The business enterprise exists to provide products, services, and infrastructure to support individuals in living, being competitive, and enjoying high-quality standards of living. The Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree is a significant means to advance one’s career trajectory and to fulfill personal employment aspirations. The MBA degree has achieved a high degree of respect, a favorable reputation, and a unique position in the marketplaces – both in terms of graduates’ expectations as well as companies’ expectations regarding management development needs. High stature organizations and large companies value MBA management skills and insights in optimizing information, capital, raw materials, technology, and labor to achieve business success and performance. Small companies view MBA skills and experience in terms of stimulating company growth, successful innovation, expansion, and achieving profit margins, production efficiencies, and product quality.

4. Challenges and Criticisms Surrounding the MBA Education

MBA education promotes use of aggressive, cunning and manipulative strategies, making teaching of ethics in MBA classrooms rather dubious. Empirical studies about the ethical conduct of top executives have revealed an inverse relationship with the growth of business education. The modern corporation is projected as a tool for upward distribution of wealth from several, the share owners, the policy makers and the employees. The question of the role of management education, especially the MBA degree, in generating such a system of upward distribution receives a relatively smaller share of attention in comparison to the discussion on the efficacy of MBA education in meeting the practical demands of corporate world. The unreflective use of management tools divert attention from the ‘real’ world economy. The general mood of disdain is best summed up by Sumantra Ghoshal, “MBA education has moved on over the years to a clear and singular aspiration to facilitate entry into large and established corporations. The exact content of the MBA program became of decreasing importance to the students who are seeking to move into secure and well-paying jobs. They are likely to remember at best a few general principals or some neat equations for the case-studies that they had to analyze.”

MBA education has been subjected to severe criticisms. Foremost among these is the utilitarian underpinnings of management and the MBA degree itself. The next major criticism of the MBA-related management education is the close alliance with the corporate world. This powerful critique has important implications about the content of the MBA education and its delivery. Critics have deplored the increasing professionalism of the management discipline. Academic research has frequently condemned the culture that thrives on returns, payoffs and paybacks from the corporate and the corporate-driven policy environment of the educational institutions. Critics are also baffled by the US’s near total domination of the world in general and the corporate management in particular. They point out that the US trains no more than 75,000 MBA students every year but exports several times this number annually, the third world countries attracted by the laurels of American education.