One of the most important components of economic education can be considered business education, a special place in which is occupied by MBA programs. Today the holder of an MBA degree from a prestigious business school is a welcome employee in almost any private or state company working in the civilized world. Formerly, any MBA holder could consider that the issue of employment in the best companies with a good salary and high social status is guaranteed.
Today, unfortunately, this is not the case, as not every MBA program allows to be confident about the future. Now, this degree should have an important addition in the form of the name of the business school where this degree was received. (“Why a Top MBA?,” 2009) In the light of the aforementioned, this paper discusses the criteria that distinguish the top MBA programs in the country along with their correspondence with business needs and expectations.
The ratings are an important factor during the process of selecting the business school and the education programs. The criteria of ratings are numerous and, in that sense, unique in their own way based on the institution that formed the ratings. The general evaluations are based on several common characteristics that can distinguish a top MBA program. Part of important characteristics are related to the income and employment, where the rating is looking at “the amount of money a typical graduate of a top MBA program can make” (“Top MBA Program,” 2008) and factors related o career advancement, employment competitive edge and etc.
According to US News rankings of MBA schools, a ranking that is considered “the best ranking for prospective MBA applicants, as their system is the most transparent, and their rankings always come closest to peoples’ common sense perception of relative prestige. “(“Why a Top MBA?,” 2009) The rankings methodology constitutes other factors than the salary after graduation. Part of the evaluation is devoted to factors such as recruiters’ assessment and peers’ assessment. Other areas are related to undergraduate scores such as mean GMAT score, the average undergraduate grade-point average (GPA), and acceptance rate. (Morse & Flanigan, 2009)
In regard of the correspondence of the different criteria to the needs and the expectations of business, it should be said that in terms of content most MBA programs teach the same material, where it varies mostly in the names of the courses and the proportion of the theoretical material and the practical. In that way, such criterion as the amount of money the MBA graduate can make is directly connected to the success of the graduate.
Accordingly, the business is in need of that part of the success. Similarly, it can be said that such practical aspects of the criteria as the employment and recruiters’ assessment are more corresponding to the need of business than the scores, as income is more indicative of the professionalism than grades; ” Intellectual horsepower and potential – rather than business knowledge – is the primary criterion top consulting firms and investment banks look for.” (“Why a Top MBA?,” 2009)
In that sense, these criteria are fair for students and employers as they can directly see what to expect from the graduate of a particular MBA program. In terms of business schools, the criteria are only fair for the programs included in the rankings, as many schools that fall out of the top are not less competent in education. As stated in a letter by John Fernandes, the CEO of AACSB International, “the rankings – limited to full-time, traditional tracks comprising less than 22 per cent of all MBA programmes – tend to mislead rather than inform. Since most MBAs are earned part-time, nearly 80 per cent of all MBA programmes are not part of the ranking process.” (Fernandes, 2005)
References
Fernandes, J. (2005). MBA rankings should be put into context to help students. Web.
Morse, R., & Flanigan, S. (2009). Business School Rankings Methodology. Web.
Top MBA Program (2008). Web.
Why a Top MBA? (2009). Web.