MBA in questions and answers

MBA( em-bi-hey), English abbreviation, meaning "Master of Business Administration".It is a golden invitation card to the elite of the business world. And although the history of the MBA totals more than a hundred years, for beginner sharks of big business in Ukraine, this sonorous abbreviation still remains as mysterious as a UFO.So, all you wanted to know about the MBA, but did not know who to ask. MBA - is that, graduate school? Second degree? Neither one nor the other.

MBA is the highest qualification in the field of management. It is awarded to those who have successfully completed the program to obtain this qualification. In the Western business world, all the more or less high positions require an MBA degree from a candidate. For example, in the USA, every 250th resident of the country has a master's degree in business administration. In Ukraine, serious business is also headed by the pros.

That is, without an MBA it is impossible to occupy a high position?

You can borrow, but managing a complex business from an amateur perspective is not only difficult, but also dangerous. You can ruin a good cause, earn a nervous exhaustion and forever ruin your business reputation.

And where can I become a professional leader?

There are approximately two and a half thousand MBA programs that provide about a thousand universities and business schools around the world. Choose any.

Can I just take it and act?

Of course not. Efforts that a person has spent to get this qualification are in themselves the best business characteristics. MBA is usually attended by middle managers who have higher education, work experience, ambitions and a thick wallet.

There are also special programs for top managers, those who fly on private planes and spend weekends at a villa in Fontainebleau.

MBA - expensive pleasure?

There are very prestigious elite universities like Stanford, Harvard or Berkeley, where training costs about 35 thousand dollars a year. Multiply by two, because the program takes two years. Add to this the costs of living, travel plus the income that you could get for two years, earning money, but did not get. ..

I will never find such money.

Nothing of the kind. If you are a good manager, you will find a way out of any financial situation, and from such a trifling and even more so. First, there are excellent em-bi-ayye programs that you can go through without leaving your native country and work. Secondly, who said that you need to pay from your own wallet?

From somebody else it's somehow inconvenient. ..

Not only convenient, but also accepted. Here are the most popular options. First: present to your superiors a memo explaining that it would be more profitable for your firm to have a highly qualified manager with an MBA diploma, rather than incur losses due to ineffective management. Many organizations willingly pay for training to their employees. Ultimately, these costs turn into profits for the organization. Second: look for funds that provide grants( gratuitous cash aid) for obtaining an MBA.In Ukraine, for example, the Sen. Edmund Mask Foundation works. He provides those same $ 35 LLC per year, which requires, say, Harvard. Third: take a loan from the bank. This method is the most difficult, because it is more difficult to convince conservative bankers than even the late senator. But if you succeed, it means that you, the communication genius and the process of studying for yourself, will not be difficult.

I've read the ad on the Internet: "MBA for ten days" and it cost only three hundred dollars.

Buy such "crusts" MBA - it's like buying a souvenir shop "Oscar", and then sincerely believe that you gave it to the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts for the best female role. But the question is good. The quality of the MBA diploma in the eyes of your employer is determined by where you got it. In order not to make a mistake with the choice of the university, you need to look at his rating and check accreditation. Accreditation is carried out by the state or by serious public organizations, for example, the American Assembly of Business Schools or the Foundation for the Accreditation of Business International Management. The certificate issued by such organizations means that teaching, teaching materials and the organization of the learning process meet high international standards.

A rating?

Rating is based on surveys of analysts, professors and employers by special agencies and large business publications, for example, Business Week. The rating takes into account how much the graduate of this or that university receives and how great the demand for it. For example, the top three includes universities whose graduates receive prestigious positions in the first three months after the end of the program and an annual salary of 170-200 thousand dollars a year. To start.

That is, I go out with an MBA diploma in my pocket, and employers immediately start hunting for me?

To make a successful career, you have to work hard. But in the process of studying, the chances are not so great to catch just some crucian carp, but the most that there is a goldfish. In addition to academic studies, students communicate very closely with each other in independent occupations, in pubs, graduate associations, etc. Your classmates will be the first persons of large companies or prospective managers. You will have a brilliant opportunity to demonstrate such outstanding qualities as initiative, communication skills, ability to think systematically, knowledge of basic management technologies, etc. Guess who will most likely fall into the prestigious position in the company for your classmate - you or the faceless protege of a recruitment agency,no matter how wondrous it may be?

Can not you be a good leader without any diplomas? Previously, somehow managed.

Of course, you can! And before really treated. Mainly, in the countries of Eastern Europe. And look at the result. Our economy is still difficult to call prosperous. In addition, with the development of digital technologies, the speed of doing business and the workload of managers is incomparable with that which was even 20 years ago. Imagine the situation: having poured your morning cup of coffee, the manager of the marketing department in, say, the transport company "Antelope Gnu" intends to draw up a plan for the development of communications with the client, but then comes an e-mail from the accounting department with a demand to immediately resolve the issue of payment for the last series of orders. The logistics department reports that the drivers have announced a strike, and the technical department has officially notified that the cars are sent for inspection at the request of the SAI.In the waiting room, the secretary screams loudly, at which the customer, angry with idle time, screamed. A cup of coffee capsizes on the table and pours the forms with a facsimile signature of the director who has served for a month on vacation. This is not an episode from a horror film. This is the most usual day of the most ordinary middle manager.

Your actions? Correctly, each of these situations requires serious attitude. But you do not have time to think. Studying for an MBA, you study models of solving such situations, which are very typical for any business sector, you earn your "managerial repertoire".And then just use this repertoire as necessary.

What should I do for an MBA?

It depends on the school. Are we still interested in the first three? Then start preparing for about a year and a half. Write to the university and find out their requirements. Prepare a package of documents, which, as a rule, includes your diplomas, summaries, recommendations. Especially work on the introductory essay. You will be asked to attach the test results: language and analytical. Usually it is GMAT and TOEFL or their analogues. The commission will review your documents and give your decision. Keep in mind that the competition in prestigious business schools is approximately 9-10 people per seat. It's better if you send applications to several universities at once, it's troublesome, but it will increase your chances of admission.

An essay is something like a composition?

Yes, but with all the external simplicity, this is a very tricky document. If the tests show your formal knowledge or analytical abilities, then in four hundred words of the essay you must demonstrate to the selection committee your system of values, beliefs, life experience and global goals. Moreover, the topics for the essay can be very specific, for example "How will MBA training affect your career?", And can be frankly provocative. How do you like this topic: "If you had to dig in five items that best describe your achievements and which would have been dug out in 250 years, what items would you dig and why?"

And the tests are very scary?

For someone like. The results of the TOEFL show if you know the English language so well that you can study complex things on it. With some perseverance in the preparation process, this test is easy to hand over. GMAT( Graduate Management Admission Test) is a more serious test. It is a general education test that reveals your mathematical, verbal and analytical abilities. All this time you spend alone with a computer that behaves rather meanly: the better you answer, the more difficult questions it poses. To answer - two minutes. Questions - 100. In addition to questions, you will have to write two small essays and analyze the text. And so for five hours. The good news is that once you pay, you can retake the test until you get a good evaluation.

Horror! Are there programs that make their applicants more humane?

There are many programs that provide quality knowledge, an excellent organized educational process and all the benefits of an MBA, without requiring you in return for incredible educational feats. Some of them are accepted by everyone who wants to pay for their education. Everything depends on your ambitions. If at the end of the program you write on the CV: "MBA Degree, Stanford", then you can safely pretend( in the long term, of course) to the position of General Motors General Director, and if you have a more modest diploma, then you should look for yourself in the domestic business. To find your bearings, open the "MBA Directory" or wander for an hour or two on the Internet, and you will probably find something suitable for your case. MBA programs are so good that everyone can choose their education according to taste, financial possibilities and degree of workload.

That is, if I work 12 hours a day, will I still be able to study for an MBA?

Of course! There are programs that require classes five days a week from 9 am to 5 pm plus homework( this is for future General Motors presidents).Other programs provide classes only on Saturdays-Sundays and once a month - on a weekday. There are remote programs that take advantage of electronic communication.

There it was mentioned about math. At me with it not so.

In some universities, the course of higher mathematics is 180-200 academic hours. But if you did not get out of triples in algebra at school, this does not mean that you can not study higher mathematics. Simply in due time to you has not carried with the teacher or with motivation. According to statistics, 38% of MBA students have basic technical education, 43% - humanitarian and 29% are engaged in natural sciences.

Why so much mathematics, say, to the director of the network of beauty salons?

A calculation of warehouse stocks, delivery schedules, commodity and cash flows, the formation of profit and cost. ..

Bay! And what do they study in the MBA course?

Well, briefly, the strategy of management and entrepreneurship, marketing and financial management. Management is something between art, science and philosophy, so the disciplines are complex. But interesting. Approximately half of the study hours students give to the analysis of so-called cases, that is, complex business situations. That is why only those who have experience of leading activities are accepted for an MBA.

Can you give an example of a case?

Yes, but only the basic situation. For example, the two biggest competitors of your company announced their merger. Speak on the board of directors with an assessment of the possible consequences of this merger for your company. And propose a program to neutralize these consequences. Here, in fact, that's all. But this situation is attached to about a hundred pages of financial information, office notes of your agents and brokers, etc. All these documents need to be analyzed, draw the appropriate conclusions and convince the audience that they are right. Bear in mind that your audience consists entirely of "zbeeischikov."

M-yes-a. I'm just writing a plan for buying pencils and answering phone calls.

Well, you know, very few are born a member of the board of directors. Just do not mix up the fashion for an MBA with your vocation. It's easy to verify - open on the Internet any site with tests for incoming. If you experience excitement, solving one situation after another, then it is worth trying, and if you are bored, then look for yourself in something else. For example, write an article for a fashion magazine.