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THE MBA, MY WORST MISTAKE!


It was a rainy evening in Maastricht, a not particularly big city in the South of Holland. It had been raining non stop for 3 weeks and if you wouldn't know better, you would wonder why the heavens do not run out of water! Maastricht is a city that seems to have been stuck with one leg in the early 20th century and it is exactly that which gives it its charm. For me, a trip to Maastricht is not just a trip in space. It is also a trip in time! Anyways, enough with the city marketing, especially because they did not pay a cent to sponsor this article!  

I had a busy day in Maastricht discussing a possible partnership with a Belgian e-commerce company. Long story short, we did not agree on a cooperation, but we had a few laughs and shared some valuable experiences and that too is not a bad outcome. Without an agreement, but with a cup of coffee in my hand, I was waiting in the central station of Maastricht, waiting for the train that would take me back home. Then I hear "hello sir" coming from behind me. I look and it turns out to be a student that took my operations management class many years ago. He was a very bright student and probably one of the most talented ones that took my course. I remember that he once came in my office to ask me for advice. He wanted to know whether it would be better to start working or to immediately continue to an MBA program.       

I advised against the MBA program. I told him that he should either go and work or do a relevant MSc or MA program, but not an MBA! But I noticed that every time he mentioned the MBA program, he had a very specific look on his face. It was the look that you have when you talk about the person you are in love with, or the country you once want to immigrate to, or that rock band that you want to form. Let's call it the "fairy tale look." And I know from experience that when people have the fairy tale look, there is no reasoning with them. They have to live their fairy tale and only then will they come to their senses again. Any kind of opposition, no matter how rational, will be in vain. To quote the famous 1982 movie Blade Runner, it will get lost "like tears in the rain."   

Be it as it may, we talked about "koetjes en kalfjes" which is the Dutch way of referring to small talk, but then the MBA came up. As it turned out, he was admitted to a prestigious MBA program and enrolled, immediately after obtaining his undergraduate degree in business. His facial expression changed to dead serious as he admitted that the MBA was the biggest mistake of his life, a mistake that cost him almost 60,000 EUR directly and perhaps more than double of that indirectly. I was not shocked though. I warned him and I could see it coming. Why?  

The MBA is more than a century old. It was originally intended to equip managers with a solid foundation of business so they could perform their function better. At the start of the 20th century, many managers had backgrounds in technical subjects, law and sciences. As valuable as these subjects were, that background failed to equip the managers with the right tools to analyse a balance sheet or income statement, come up with a marketing campaign, or optimize the organization so it could serve the corporate goals better. The MBA track was designed to equip them with the main tools and techniques of business administration in a relatively short time, typically 1-2 years. It was never intended for those who had business undergraduate degrees. It simply was not designed for that purpose. It was intended for the doctor who wanted to run a hospital, the engineer that became the CEO of a railroad company, or the chief scientist who wanted to lead a pharmaceutical company.   

What we see today is that those with a business undergraduate degree often opt for an MBA. It sounds prestigious. They like to put that MBA title behind their name. They think it will open otherwise closed doors. However, at the end of the often pricey program, they do confess in private that they learned very little new knowledge, sometimes even nothing new. The MBA just repackaged and sold them their undergraduate degree at a much higher price and took two years of potential earnings from them in the process. What is worse is that most companies are not really looking for a combination of business undergraduate degree + MBA, because these candidates tend to be older, less experienced and have higher salary expectations than a plain business undergrad, without necessarily having more skills. A bad combination on many fronts! So, when considering an MBA, think deeply. It's a fantastic degree. But not for everyone! Are you paying for new knowledge, or are you paying to repurchase something you already own? 

Maz

www.ssaa.nl   




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