Finding the right programme
A MASTER'S in business administration (MBA) is a sought-after qualification, designed to develop your skills in both business and management. It can be an expensive investment in terms of time and finances.
One thing to consider when selecting the right MBA for you is the quality of the institution that is offering the course. One can easily look up university world rankings, such as those published by QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) and THE (Times Higher Education).
However, these only give an overall view of the university. It says nothing about the quality of the business school or the degrees that it offers. In fact, a high-ranking university may not even offer an MBA.
Besides world rankings, both QS and THE also offer the option to look specifically at universities that provide business and management degrees and how they rank in this area.
The table below shows the rankings of five Malaysian research universities as well as five UK universities with branch campuses in Malaysia. The table lists them in the order they appear in the QS World University Rankings and shows the business and management studies rankings, which are given as a range rather than an exact value.
Some of the universities have similar world and business rankings. For example, Nottingham is ranked 75th in the world and its business and management studies is ranked 51-100. Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) are higher ranked for business and management studies compared to their overall world ranking. A hyphen indicates that the university is either ranked outside of the top 200 or does not offer business and management studies degrees.
A further quality measure is accreditation by external bodies that have worldwide recognition. The three most recognised ones are EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System), AMBA (The Association of MBAs) and AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business).
The table above shows the recognition received by the universities. Many institutions strive to have the triple accreditation or the so-called triple crown. As of September last year, only 75 institutions around the world achieved this standard. It is pleasing to see that two of the UK universities in Malaysia have achieved this and at least one more hopes to get the AACSB accreditation sometime this year.
Getting into an MBA programme that is offered by a high-ranking university that has its programmes accredited by bodies such as EQUIS, AMBA and AACSB is certainly a good aim as it would enable you to get a return on your investment as your career develops.
Prof Graham Kendall is the chief executive officer, provost and pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. Twitter: @Graham_Kendall