Ricky’s Online Business Blog

This is the original version of my article sent to be published in MBA Edge Quarterly magazine January 2011 issue. The edited version published in magazine might be a little different. Your feedback is much welcome.

May Lee and Muralee parted as MBA coursemates as they graduated from business school. May Lee continued working for her employer and sponsor. Muralee applied for Cradle Investment Programme (CIP) to set up his own multimedia production house. Now armed with MBA qualification, both graduates hope high for better life to come. However, the reality is not as rosy as they dreamed of.

Far from becoming a capable manager, team leader and player in the company as expected by her company, May Lee does not seem to have improved in these capacities except an increase in head knowledge. Her China-man boss starts to wonder what kind of “shit paper” she has acquired in her MBA certificate sponsored out of employee development fund.

No doubt May Lee’s paper qualification shows her straight A results. But her performance is not up to the mark at all. Her MBA course was conducted in English, but her English does not seem to have improved. She may have spoken in many class presentations, but she still reads from the slides and her presentation does not excite the audience at all.

She may have completed piles of assignments and case studies, but she does not seem to have any clue when asked to comment on the strategic direction of her company. She may have worked in teams and groups, but she still does not seem to be able to work independently, much less handle tough negotiations with clients competently.

Muralee is in no better situation. In order to apply for pre-seed grant from the Cradle fund, he needed to draw up a business plan for his new proposed business. However, he does not remember having learned about business plan in his MBA course. Well, he did write a marketing plan in Marketing Management class. He also submitted one assignment on financial projections in Financial Management class. But there is no one single class or project requiring him to combine all these individual pieces into one complete business plan!

Moreover, Muralee never learned how to pitch his idea to judges who must pick the best business ideas out of so many. He has never been taught to communicate and sell his ideas to venture capitalists and angel investors. His MBA did not even talk about venture capital! Of course, the judges rejected his application in favour of much better ideas and pitches by non-MBAs who know the trade better. To them whether they have MBA or not does not really matter. In fact, the higher qualification you have, the better piece of work you are expected to produce.

What went wrong with May Lee and Muralee? Well, they may have thought MBA qualification is the panacea that makes us better person at work and in business. They were once convinced that MBA is the passport towards higher salary, promotion and prosperous future. After all, business schools tout slogans like “Shaping Business Leader of 21st Century”. But is this the truth? Has MBA failed to address the real needs in the marketplace?

Read on here…

I just finished reading the book MBA Diary, which contains a collection of articles written by MBA students and graduates, on their experience in pursuing the MBA (Master of Business Administration).

The articles are compiled by Rodney Toh and Benson Wong, who also write many chapters in it. What is so special about this book is that it is like a “devotional” book on MBA. That means it contains short articles that you can read up quickly anytime you are free, perhaps after waking up in the morning, or before you sleep at night.

What is so advantageous about having an MBA in the marketplace? The subtitle gives you an overview – “How an MBA experience enhances managerial skills, knowledge, networking and professional value in today’s competitive world”.

There are people who criticize having an MBA as useless as it is an academic qualification. I have some customers who share this view, especially those who came out from school early and built their businesses from scratch. They would rather hire MBAs to work for them, instead of going for MBA themselves.

But the second chapter “Building Competitive Advantage Through MBAs” by Rodney gives me some answers. While there are some truths behind the criticisms, and while there are poorly run MBA courses around, a good MBA is not just about studying and going to exam.

A good MBA trains our minds to see things differently (rather than always through our lens of experience) and so solve business problems creatively. It is is much more than a course. It is also a self-development training, an eye-opening experience, a life journey, a networking opportunity, and more.

The book is one of its kind in the market. There is no other book on MBA like this (not the kind like the dry “The Ten Day MBA”). The book is a blue ocean product for the authors. I envy the authors must have earned a lot

Besides being a great promotion tool for MBA, the book is also like a dream book for would-be MBA students to “preview” their MBA dream before pursuing it. Am I interested to take up MBA? Of course, otherwise I would not have bought the book!

Too much to share here. Better go buy and read the book yourself!