Know what you want before you choose
Your degree is about much more that just your next step; it is about your ultimate destination
Our fast-paced, careerdriven society places a premium on upgrading skills and qualifications at all levels to meet the demands set by companies, customers and ourselves.
With the establishment of more business schools and new niche qualifications being developed, aspiring management candidates are starting to review their options and future prospects, increasingly asking the question: Is the MBA still relevant?
Started in the late 1950s as an offshoot of management science, the MBA was originally developed to make use of this new field’s ideology, methodology and thinking to drive a completely different approach to management.
Almost 70 years later, it is to be expected that institutions and students are questioning the continued relevance of the qualification, given how the role of managers and leaders has changed and economies have evolved. Issues as diverse as data analytics and stress management were not even considerations at the time the MBA was conceptualised, but today they are.
Students need to l ook at the detailed programme in the context of their individual journeys.
Many business schools have updated their curricula to reflect the current needs of the market, including course material that, for example, addresses issues of sustainability, ethics and governance.
But the fundamentals of the MBA in terms of analytical thinking and thoughtful questioning are arguably still relevant in most instances. It’s about taking the time to see whether the course offered will equip you with the skills you need in your complex role as a manager in the future.
Any investment in postgraduate education should be an investment in your future career, which cannot be divorced from the qualification to be studied. As careers in some industries and sectors become more specialised, it is worth weighing up whether a specialist degree could be more beneficial than a general qualification in the long term.
Although your planned next step up the career ladder will undoubtedly influence your decision to study, you need to look beyond that. Apart from the subject matter itself, you should also consider the skills you will acquire in the process, particularly critical thinking and analysis. These then need to be weighed up in the greater context of your future and your vocational destination.
Perhaps most important to note is that your application of your learning and qualification makes it relevant, and not what the market states.
Unisa’s Graduate School of Business has seen an increase in master of business leadership (MBL) applications over the past year. Students who see themselves as potential agents of change or who want to learn to manage themselves better to lead others are finding the MBL the preferred choice. This is also the case for those wanting to learn to think more strategically.
With today’s managers being required to lead, innovate and influence, as well as understand and master the evolving micro- and macro- business environments, equipping yourself with the skills and savvy you need to make the most of your future has become a nonnegotiable. In evaluating how best to fast-track your career, however, it is critical that you invest in the right qualifications to enable your journey.
As choices increase and programmes become more refined, it is worth taking the time to find out whether an MBA is the correct qualification for you based on your needs. In this way you’ll ensure it becomes a legacy investment.