Globally the most popular area of post-high school study is business, whether for certificates, diplomas, undergraduate degrees or MBA and other post-graduate studies.
Business studies, and MBAs or other Master level degrees in related fields such as Finance and Marketing, are widely recognized and evaluated. Job candidates who have them get priority treatment for promotion to management level positions within their current firms or organizations and have a far better chance of landing promising new management and executive positions.
This tends to cut across all sectors such as business, education, health care, and Internet of Things (IOT).
Within academic institutions, business departments are relatively recent additions to universities. The areas were first begun to be studied in the industrial heartlands of the early benefactors of the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th Century. They were, therefore European and American universities, including the first graduate program at Harvard (where former president George W. Bush received his MBA).
The study of business and management helps participants to better understand how the world moves, and it affords participants opportunities to learn more about critical thinking, analysis and problem-solving skills, all useful in any working environment. During my time as an MBA student, I met two medical doctors, other English teachers and administrators amongst the ‘regular business’ students and all benefited from the practical management knowledge and interaction with talented fellow students from a variety of countries and fields.
Technology has increased the options and availability and decreased the cost of studying for MBA’s and equivalents. Some leading MBA and partial MBA programs offer blended-learning solutions (partly online and partly live or on Skype, with ongoing support and encouragement).
These programs are at least half the cost of regular MBA programs but the resulting MBA degree, access to the faculty at and the resources of the business school are the same.
In addition, you can participate in these programs while you work (so you don’t lose income) and from your current location (so your family and social lives are not disrupted).
For those not sure making the commitment to go into a fulltime MBA program, one good option is to ease into it through an MBA Certificate program such as the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management one that is offered in Japan.
By starting a with a shorter Mini MBA Certificate program, results can come quickly as the time to completion is a lot shorter than the full graduate degree. Once you have completed the Mini MBA (about 1/3 of a full MBA) you can use the accumulated credits toward a full MBA or Master of Finance graduate degree.
As an educational achievement, it shows commitment and a broad understanding of the basics of business. After all, the degree is a generic degree that covers the basics of business: Finance; Marketing; Human Resources and Manufacturing/Service. There are, of course other supporting courses that cover; Economics, Systems, Statistics, Corporate Strategy, amongst others. With the coursework there may be a dissertation or comprehensive exam (sometimes referred to as the ‘comps’).
Once successfully completed, you will not only have a fundamental basic understanding of business, but an overview of how the modern world works through business. With the basics of understanding comes analytical skills and the ability to learn and apply theory to a variety of real world situations. As one colleague stated, ‘those with an MBA are able to “talk MBA speak”, and that is immediately noticeable’.
Therefore, for those with ambition, it is the degree that can open doors in a variety of different industries and different setting. And those employers looking for skills such as the skillset that is learned on an MBA program transfer easily across almost all industries. As far back as a century ago, the president of the United States at that time stated that: The business of America is business”, and that motto has led to business and economic success that is unparalleled in human history.
The skillsets learned in business programs are extremely valuable for any career in the modern world. Will you get one?
Written by Richard Miller
