Why should you do an MBA?

1. M BArk
Why should you do an MBA?
This is an invariable question in any MBA entrance-interview. Getting this answer
pat right is critically important because it shows how clear you are about your
expectations from the course. It is imperative that you answer this question to
yourself before you rush to fill up forms to various MBA colleges.
It is crucial on two counts: economics is offered say Rs. 7000 per month as a
1. If you do qualify for a course and find yourself a starting salary, an MBA graduate is typically offered
complete misfit for the curriculum it would mean you at least Rs. 10000 to 12000 per month.
are actually not cut out for the management cadre in 4 The Reluctant Graduate who believes that he/she
the corporate world. So you are likely to saddle has learnt nothing at all that can get him/her a job.
yourself with a career that makes you unhappy. The non-professional graduate courses available
2. An MBA course is an investment both in terms of time today are not perceived to have any marketable value
and money hence wasting it is an offence. by the corporate world. These therefore need to be
Moving on, let’s look at a few caricatures wherein an MBA augmented to make the graduate ‘market worthy’.
degree can be handy: The underlying advantage in all the six caricatures is
4 The Anointed Heir who wants to hold the keys to that an MBA degree immediately flags you off as someone
his/her kingdom. This guy is someone like an who can be trained to take up positions of authority.
industrialist’s son, who will have to take over the Apart from the positive boost that a person’s career
running of an existing corporate empire. gets, an MBA degree also offers three side benefits. Some
4 The Shop Floor Enthusiast who wants to sit in the may argue that these are the main benefits ..
gilded corporate office This guy is typically someone 1. An MBA course is a hothouse where you are pushed
who has devoted many years on the shop floor (it to deliver. You are introduced to fierce competition.
could also be in a lab..or in sales..or in data collection), The conditions work on you in such a way that either
mostly a technical person who executes rather than you breakdown and leave the course half way or you
strategises. This guy now wants to be a part of the end up becoming a tough professional.
strategic team. 2. An MBA programme exposes you to a very wide area
4 The Intrepid Entrepreneur who wants to create an of experience in terms of subjects and people. You
empire. This guy is someone who is all set to start his get exposed to varied subjects like macroeconomics,
or her own business and wants to know the tools of consumer behaviour, psychology, marketing, cultural
how to do so. heritage, communication theory, operations research,
4 The P o w e r S e e k e r who wants to crack the quantitative techniques, finance, HR, etc. Most
management ceiling he/she has hit because of a lack programmes cover over 30 subjects! Apart from
of an MBA degree. This person is exposure to subjects, you meet people
typically someone who is a part of from various backgrounds and places.
management but sees many This really broadens your outlook!
promotions pass by him/ her due to a 3. And last but not the least, an MBA
perceived lack of managerial course brings together impressionable
perspective. Most of the top young men and women and you may just
management believe that a person with catch your soul mate while slogging over
a management degree has managerial case studies!
perspective. - Jaya Deshmukh
4 The Money Player who would like to Visiting Faculty, IMDR and SIMS
increase his/her pay packet. An MBA (Pune)
degree immediately increases your Ex Associate Brand Manager,
market value. If a postgraduate in AT&T Corp. Asia Pacific
Advanc'edge MBA / April 2003

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Why MBA?
- Dhiraj Malhotra
As you stand at one of the most critical crossroads of your life, there would be a million
questions in your mind. During the last few years of your student life, you would have
looked at a number of career options and tried to gauge what it is that you would like to
become. Eventually, what is the kind of work that you want to do for the rest of your
life? While most of you, by now, would have an idea about your dream job, some of the
more focused among you would also have an idea about your dream companies. Some
professional qualified folks would have by now figured whether to continue in your
technical field or take off on a management career. As you are all set to become serious
about your careers, lets talk about MBA as a career option, if it is what you want to do in
life.
What does MBA have to offer you? my strengths and weaknesses and most importantly
High pay packages, lavish lifestyles, senior my interests. I realised that I always appreciated a 3-
positions in organisations etc are some of the common dimensional object more than scaled single or double-
reasons why people choose MBA as a career option. dimensioned objects. I realised at that time that I was
But if we were to give it a deeper thought, we would a person inclined to research but still enjoyed
wonder, is this the real reason why MBA as a career visualisation and understanding the BIG picture of
option is so popular. There is definitely no denial in the task at hand. I would adopt a modular approach
the above-mentioned factors but well, to base your in handling the task at hand and drill down and zoom
decisions with only these objectives in mind, would in on every related aspect in the context. I was not
seem a highly blinkered attitude, don’t you agree? comfortable starting with something that I came
According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self- across and complete it the way it is expected to be
actualisation comes above social needs (don’t bother without thinking on the why’s and how’s and if’s of
if you don’t know Maslow’s law, you shall soon learn the subject under focus. Hence I concluded that I
about it in your MBA!) So in order to make this needed integrating skills in my personality as well as
decision of a lifetime, you should be much more in the work I do. Being an engineer it was easy to
informed about the pros and cons (if any) of selecting find options where I could get involved in the
MBA as a career option. This write-up, elucidating technical aspect of the project without worrying much
about the other issues. But this as I just mentioned
would not satisfy me. Hence I looked at other options
available and came across the concept of MBA.
I made a well thought-out, well-reasoned decision
of doing an MBA and have since then never looked
back. I enjoy the job I do presently and have had all
how I made this decision of my life, is my attempt to
help you do just that…
In the third year of my engineering, I had started
thinking seriously about the kind of career I wanted
for myself. The first step I took was honestly analysing
Advanc'edge MBA April 2004

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my needs fulfilled appropriately.
Let me tell you about the kind of skills I developed
during my MBA
Integrating skills
One of the most important skills that I developed
during my MBA was integrating skills. I learned how
to work on different areas and how to manage the co-
relations between different functions and verticals. I IIM-A campus
learned to appreciate how a change in one leads to
many changes in other units, components, entities, People Management
and developed the technique of managing this In order to work in teams and create powerful
dynamic equation. Well, some of you might be solutions, one needs to develop interpersonal
wondering what are these units, components etc that sensitivity. Handling people and group dynamics in
I am talking about. I have intentionally used these today’s competitive world is considered to be one of
terms to make you appreciate how crucial it is for one the most important challenges. I worked in multiple
to develop a knack of living with abstractness and teams with and without the people I was comfortable
unknowns and still make them work for you. By units, with. There were instances where I came across a team
functions, components etc., I mean any work area or comprising of people who had zero overlap with my
activity or sub process that gets modified due to some perception, point of view etc. But the challenge of
change in the other. For example, software engineers living and working with them and still getting a
who work on a particular module will not be able to quality job done in time was a lesson I can never
respond to a client’s changing needs midway during forget.
a project. The project may not be dependant on the
fact that their client is shortly planning to implement Street Smartness
SAP. Their job is to complete the application, they Apart from the “technical” knowledge about
have set to develop. Of course, their project managers management, I was also exposed to a number of
and people interacting with the client at higher level situations where my ability to think differently and
would be handling such issues while also supervising “just get the work done” was tested. This in MBA
the technical robustness of the project. It would be jargon is called street smartness. So while the theories
wise to remember that those at managerial levels have and rules of the book are all fine, when you get going,
reached there by experience. I however, chose to learn you should know how to make rules work for you
these skills on my way to becoming a manager. The rather than the other way round. I am sure that people
skill to integrate various functions helps one develop with medical background will agree as they often say
a wider perspective and broadens considerably the “The disease never follows the book!”
overall outlook towards everything.
Confidence
Macro and Micro Issues of Business Having had an exposure to a competitive, holistic and
Strong business acumen is another skill set that I dynamic environment, one, needless to say, develops
developed. The various real life cases handled during a deep-rooted confidence in one’s abilities. The feeling
my MBA made me clinically compare and analyse all that come what may, I am ready to face the challenge
the exceptions to theory that practical life is embedded and face it boldly comes uniquely with this career
in and how processes and people learn to live with option. It might sound biased, but the fact is that
them and how these can be managed. For this, one hundreds of MBA’s I have interacted with have that
needs to be aware of events happening in the business “something different” in them as far as confidence is
world around us. I studied various business models concerned.
and came to appreciate how simple thought processes
and innovation can be a firm foundation of some of The author is an MBA in Finance and consulting with
the biggest organisations of the world. one of the leading multinational consultancies in Mumbai.
Advanc'edge MBA April 2004