MBA degree was granted for the first time to Dartmouth College graduates (New Hampshire, USA) at the end of 1901. At that time, however, the programme was referred to as Master of Commercial Science, but it was soon renamed into the MBA programme. At the beginning of the XX century this programme represented a kind of alternative to traditional higher education for those who desired to do business. The degree was given to those who had taken a production and market training course. And since the training courses included into the programme were indeed closely related to market and production needs, the MBA programme soon became very popular among students and employers (Dartmouth College, by the way, still maintains its leading position in the world's business education market).
Fist European business schools providing MBA training were opened in 1967 in Great Britain in London and Manchester. Some time later such business schools came into existence in continental Europe (France, Spain, Switzerland).
Whereas MBA-based business education in Russia started to develop only at the turn of the nineties of XX century, although economics- and management-related education in a more academic respect dates back as early as pre-Revolution times.
To cut a long story short — it gives knowledge and skills in business, though a short answer is not always a comprehensive one. That is why let's dwell on the subject.
Modern management is a real-time practice. Management process requires a lot of action from a manager — he is always involved in organizing, making decisions, supervising, controlling and evaluating the results of his activities. One cannot manage a company merely having written a paper on it or drawn a chart. Any idea, even the most brilliant one, will require some effort to be put into practice.
Of course, one may try to learn how to manage a company by watching others doing it, asking for their advice, assistance, guidance, etc. However, it is extremely unlikely to be effective because, as a rule, people, managers in particular, are either very busy or not competent enough to properly explain or show things to others.
Whereas not only will systematic and practice-oriented learning help a trainee find a solution to existing problems, but also teach him how to prevent such problems in future.
Business represents a complicated interweaving of such spheres as production, marketing, finance, personnel and infrastructure management, etc., which should they function in harmony with each other, will make business prosperous. The MBA programme will help you penetrate into the essence of interaction between these spheres and teach you to control it.
A modern successful manager will use not only his own potential, but also that of other people to achieve his goals, however those who possess a range of so-called “soft skills” (communication skills) prove most successful in such tactics. The faculty for a productive communication with one's colleagues and employees has become more valuable in modern business than technical knowledge and skills because it is simply impossible to thrive in business without it. Apparently, no business school is able to teach its students the whole range of “soft skills”, however it will help them grasp their importance and lay the foundation for their building-up and development.
Coming back to the question “What advantages does the MBA programme give?” and making our first answer a bit more extensive, we shall put it like this: MBA programme will provide you with the tools required to make optimal decisions in the dynamic and ever-changing business environment and succeed.
An MBA diploma is an essential means to prove your status of a competent specialist in business.
Statistics indicate that other conditions being equal, MBA programme graduates have a higher income and occupy higher posts. Wages rise and career development are the results of improving one’s knowledge and professional skills and changes in programme graduates’ views. Besides, MBA diploma holders have better perspectives in the labour market and in companies employing them.
In our opinion, an MBA diploma is necessary for those top managers, division, group and project managers, business owners and entrepreneurs who:
Holder of higher education diplomas (bachelor or complete higher education programmes) in any specialty including such specialties as philosophy, sociology, natural and engineering sciences let alone economics and management are admitted to the programme. By the way, the training duration is shorter for holders of diplomas in economics and management thanks to accepting previous test and exam results in some basic economic and managerial disciplines.
In the course of training students work in small groups discussing existing business problems, participating in trainings and business games. It all requires at least certain real experience in management. A fresh graduate may feel a bit awkward among those who are, firstly, older than he is, and, secondly, communicate using a common professional language which fresh university graduates do not always comprehend.
Besides, as specified in the EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development), an MBA programme guideline document, MBA programmes aim at changing or developing a career, thus requiring mandatory work experience of those who sign in for the programme.
However, those who gained work experience in the course of getting higher education may be admitted in certain cases (based on the interview results). Such trainees may be requested to submit letters of introduction from a higher education institution and a former employer.
In the West (at least in Great Britain and the USA) MBA and Master’s degree programmes are considered as programmes of the same level and a Master’s degree will be granted in both cases. For example, a Master of Economics will get a Master of Arts (MA) degree, and an MBA programme graduate will get a Master of Business Administration degree. The difference is in the content and goals of the programmes.
In Russia the Master’s degree programme is a level of higher education, whereas the MBA programme is considered a professional retraining programme providing further education on the basis of higher education an applicant has already got. The difference, however, is rather superficial and accentuated by means of programmes names: Master (of management or economics) and Master (of business administration). As in the case of similar Western programmes, more subtle differences lie in the programmes content and goals.
In point of fact, an MBA degree is the top level of higher education in economics and management comprising practical knowledge and skills based on research and innovative business experience accumulated in various fields.
MBA programme graduates are better prepared to solve specific applied business and management problems since MBA training allows, on the one hand, to systematize the available knowledge and experience and to acquire new knowledge and skills providing for effective business management, on the other hand.
Master’s degree being a level of higher education and in fact a continued Bachelor programme, provides for a broader and more general education in the chosen field without dwelling on specific business problems. This is why the Master’s degree programme does not require real work experience.
Masters of management or economics are largely future researchers, scientists, analysts and methodology developers possessing advanced research and teaching skills. Unlike MBA programme trainees, they do not need to learn business tactics and develop an ability to solve its specific problems.
A Master degree holder is able to work with a quite a wide range of tasks within his sphere. He is a relatively universal specialist who, should it be necessary, may get an MBA degree to extend his knowledge.
Master degree holders are generally inclined to get postgraduate education and a degree of doctor and devote themselves to research and teaching.