A Gibs MBA gives graduates an edge

Alumni reported that the course gave them additional, unexpected opportunities

The Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs) master’s degree in business administration offers student more choice than any other MBA in the country. An MBA is about building general business knowledge to enable graduates either to run or to start their own businesses.

With the University of Pretoria’s Gibs MBA, students are not only given the tools and knowledge to run or start a business, they are also able to make choices throughout their MBA journey to craft the future they want and realise the effect they have on society.

Before we explore the choices a Gibs MBA offers, let’s explore the relevance of an MBA. With access to information so freely available and with the rise of , massive open online courses, why would an individual invest all this time, energy and money into a qualification if they can craft their own learning using free sources on the net? Gibs interviewed its alumni to determine the value and relevance of its MBA — the MBA journey is, after all, a partnership.

What we found is that the MBA offers graduates the confidence and insight to make choices about their career as they learn more about starting or running a business and about themselves. Our alumni reported that the Gibs MBA offered students the opportunity to:

• Identify better employment opportunities that allow them to grow and progress, especially during the current tough economic times. Gibs alumni have used their MBAs to achieve their personal and professional goals.

A case in point is Dudu Msomi, chief executive of Busara Leadership Partners, who used her Gibs MBA as a launch pad to expand her network and business. Dudu’s vision for her business is to be the most soughtafter strategic advisory and consulting firm to facilitate the development and credibility of leaders to achieve effectiveness.

• Change their career paths and identify alternative opportunities they would not have identified without the MBA.

One such example is Dr Adolf Makgatho, a medical doctor who, as a result of exposure to the Gibs MBA, now works as a consultant at management consulting firm McKinsey. Makgatho went from being a specialist to gaining a more general understanding of business, which gave him the tools he needed to consult to other organisations.

• Gain insight into where they want to take their careers.

We see many individuals who embark on the MBA, but are unsure of the next step in their career. They might begin the MBA with the intention of gaining a general management overview, but walk away with much more than that.

Lara Kruiskamp says the Gibs MBA was an eye-opener for her with regard to the social and economic challenges in South Africa. Kruiskamp left a good corporate position to head up the President’s Award for Youth Empowerment, a nonprofit organisation that helps young South Africans through self-development.

Individuals traditionally embark on an MBA to fast track their careers and increase their earning potential. But we have found that what sets the Gibs MBA apart from others is the world of choice available to our graduates.

Our alumni gain so much more from the Gibs MBA than anticipated, because of the choices they’re able to make throughout their journey, which open up a world of choice once they’ve completed the MBA.

Our alumni reported that their MBA journey at Gibs gave them not only the opportunity to tailor their MBA to their specific needs, but also a licence to experiment. Some of the choices our students are offered during the MBA include:

• The format of the Gibs MBA enables our students to choose one that best accommodates their personal and work environment.

• Gibs offers the most extensive portfolio of electives in the country, with more than 60 choices.

Our students select five electives, allowing them to customise the MBA. They focus on either a specific area of interest or test the waters with a variety of electives to determine their next area of interest or