Does Everyone Hate an MBA ?
This Happened almost two weeks back.I had just boarded the bus to my School and found an Indian sitting next to me. I said hello to him and learnt that he was about to pursue a Ph.D In Electrical Engineering.He asked me what I was studying.I said MBA. He then went on a advise binge telling me that I was wasting my Engineering skills ( Do I have any ? :-) ) in pursuing an MBA and went on to prove almost theoritically that there is not much use in doing an MBA and if at all you want to do it there is not much difference if you did it from Harvard or IGNOU (IGNOU would love to have him in their PR Dept !).I have never had any illusions myself that MBA is a supreme degree of studies.But it definitely doesn't deserve the abomination shared by most so called " serious academecians" .
By simple law of economics , for the society to survive we need all kinds of people.Carpenters,masons,farmers,doctors,engineers,lawyers.......and of course managers.I remember a passionate article written by an IIT Prof a few years back condemning IIT-ans who directly jump from an IIT to an IIM thereby wasting governement subsidised money funded towards creating engineers. (This was the argument : Why is an aeronautical engineer after studying 4 years at IIT directly jumping to an IIM and start selling soaps for an FMCG company ? Its a colossal waste of Money,Talent,Opportunity ). I am unqualified to comment on this.I have a lot to learn perhaps to even say which side is right.But the question of individual tastes,preferences are overlooked in most of the serious arguments.Most anti-MBA arguments stem from the assumption that MBA as a Coursework is done just for enhancing one's personal worth and seeking lucrative jobs. I do agree that the focus of a B-school must be in creating entrepreneurs as much as corporate managers.
A friend recollected this incident during one of his B-School interviews.
Interviewer : Name a few people you admire ?
Candidate : Bill Gates,Narayanamurthy,Dhirubhai Ambani,Jack Welch,.....
Interviewer : None of the names you mentioned has an MBA. Then Why do you want to do an MBA ?
This Happened almost two weeks back.I had just boarded the bus to my School and found an Indian sitting next to me. I said hello to him and learnt that he was about to pursue a Ph.D In Electrical Engineering.He asked me what I was studying.I said MBA. He then went on a advise binge telling me that I was wasting my Engineering skills ( Do I have any ? :-) ) in pursuing an MBA and went on to prove almost theoritically that there is not much use in doing an MBA and if at all you want to do it there is not much difference if you did it from Harvard or IGNOU (IGNOU would love to have him in their PR Dept !).I have never had any illusions myself that MBA is a supreme degree of studies.But it definitely doesn't deserve the abomination shared by most so called " serious academecians" .
By simple law of economics , for the society to survive we need all kinds of people.Carpenters,masons,farmers,doctors,engineers,lawyers.......and of course managers.I remember a passionate article written by an IIT Prof a few years back condemning IIT-ans who directly jump from an IIT to an IIM thereby wasting governement subsidised money funded towards creating engineers. (This was the argument : Why is an aeronautical engineer after studying 4 years at IIT directly jumping to an IIM and start selling soaps for an FMCG company ? Its a colossal waste of Money,Talent,Opportunity ). I am unqualified to comment on this.I have a lot to learn perhaps to even say which side is right.But the question of individual tastes,preferences are overlooked in most of the serious arguments.Most anti-MBA arguments stem from the assumption that MBA as a Coursework is done just for enhancing one's personal worth and seeking lucrative jobs. I do agree that the focus of a B-school must be in creating entrepreneurs as much as corporate managers.
A friend recollected this incident during one of his B-School interviews.
Interviewer : Name a few people you admire ?
Candidate : Bill Gates,Narayanamurthy,Dhirubhai Ambani,Jack Welch,.....
Interviewer : None of the names you mentioned has an MBA. Then Why do you want to do an MBA ?
posted by Cogito at
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
4 Comments:
Entreprenuer: this is different from being MBA......anyone can be the owner of his/her own company if (1) he is in the right place at the right time (2) luck (3) hardwork (4) street smart.....
no one hates mba man....vayathu erichal :)....
By
kaatss, at 12:07 PM
4 yrs of education is just a stepping stone for your future. I know of someone who did his BE and MS, and started his BS in journalism full-time, it all depends on the individual. You carry on man.
By
Srihari SN, at 1:03 AM
what we learn and what we do will always be totally different, today you are learning MBA, you may even end up in restarting Veritas services again if that task fetches more money(god only Knows) :)
By
gormandizer, at 1:42 AM
Just a minor correction. I think Narayana Murthy has an MBA from IIMA and if MBA is not important for business why did Dhirubhai send both his to B-Schools.
In one way its little troublesome to think that a guy who has learnt how to make aeroplanes (with tax payers money ofcourse) is selling soaps and detergent.
-Sunil
By
Anonymous, at 4:57 PM
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