Reinventing the MBA for the future
MBA degrees are being revamped in a bid to ensure they stay relevant in the 21st century.
With an increased focus on modern workplace issues such as entrepreneurship, sustainability and corporate social responsibility, as well as changes to the way information is delivered, today’s Master of Business Administration degrees are vital for workers wanting to transition into managerial roles. MBA News Australia managing editor Ben Ready says the content of an MBA constantly evolves.
“There’s a lot of courses around now that have a focus on environmental sustainability because that’s becoming a big issue for businesses,’’ Ready says.
“There’s also a big push towards entrepreneurship and innovation, and a lot of courses have a focus on those areas for those that are involved in start-ups.’’
The Master of Business Administration qualification has come under fire for being little more than a waste of time and money, with the University of Sydney last year declaring “the traditional MBA is dead’’.
But Ready says business schools have changed their offerings to ensure the new MBAs give graduates the skills they need.
“All workers — whether they’re accountants, lawyers, anybody — they’ve all done their own specialised training and they all have their foundation skills [within their profession],’’ he says.
“But at a certain point, an engineer, or an accountant, or a lawyer, starts managing people and taking on more human resources and finance-type roles — and the MBA provides the skills for them to transition to that.’’
Ducere Business School head of enrolments Daniel Cairns says MBAs are now often able to be completed entirely online, allowing workers to fit study in around their other commitments.
Ducere has partnered with the University of Canberra to offer an industry-focused MBA that requires students to complete three projects across the not-forprofit, government and corporate sectors in 12 months.
Darren Segal, 37, completed his MBA last year and says it was key to successfully joining creative video agency Playlab as a strategy director.
“The fact it was so practical,’’ Segal says. “It wasn’t just case studies we were given. We had real problems we were trying to solve, which was hugely empowering for me.’’