INTO UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
English language skills for international diploma
The Master in Business Administration
degree is a valuable investment for a
career in business. To what extent do you
agree with this statement?
Huiping ZI
Group: 1
Tutor: Beverly Claffey
Draft: Final
Word count: 923 words
Contents
page
1. Introduction .................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2. MBA degree is a valuable investment Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.1 Section heading 1 ............. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.2 Section heading 2 ............. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.3 Section heading 3 ............. Error! Bookmark not defined.
3. Conclusion .................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
4. List of references......................................................................8
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Introduction
It seems that the Master in Business Administration degree is a valuable
investment for an exciting career prospect. After Completing a MBA degree,
graduates generally tend to have abilities to be managers (Baruch, Bell and
Gray, 2005). However, some people believe that waste time, money and
energy. Although some eductors oppose the return on investment for MBA
graduates, there is some evidence that acquiring MBA degree in a chosen
field has positive results. This essay will implicate and evaluate the welldocumented benefits and drawbacks of MBA programs.
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MBA degree is a valuable investment for a career in business
2.1 Section heading 1:
Opponents of completing a master degree claim that MBA degree is not
valuable investment. This is because that students have to sacrify a great
deal of time, money and devotion. For example, the average cost of MBA
courses is so expensive that an ordinary family cannot afford. Especially for
those who attempt to obtain an international graduate degree, the
expenditures of just one month of studying abroad is almost equal to the
master tuition of a whole year in students own countries. Stephens ( 2013)
suggests, applicants should take that same amount of money invested in
themselves. This view has some merits on the surface. However, it is too
objective. A survey done by Baruch, Bell and Gray
(2005), the responses
from 318 master alumni, shows exactly opposite attitudes to MBA programs.
Most graduates gain individual self-development and career success. For
instance, (ibid) “most of them now working managers, clearly indicate the
value they gained from pursuing a graduate business degree. The most
prominent impact of competencies and skills portfolio gained was on both
internal and external measures of career success, for both the MBA and
specialized programs.” More important, in the long run, those who have
acquired MBA gain both tangible and intangible value, such as gaining
scholastic, social, cultural, inner-value and market-value capital.
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2.2 Section heading 2:
Opponents also maintain that MBA programs have not attitudes of its students
about the value of their degrees and the courses are not flexible. They even
say that it may lack a business work opportunity (Stephens, 2013). However,
such an argument completely ignores the facts that MBA courses, including
full-time, part-time, and executive programs, are diversity and satisfied
students’ needs (Bruce, 2010). Besides, MBA educators focus on what the
latest teaching strategies and business ethics are, how students can build a
network, and do their universities have the internship chances to practice
skills (Van, Wells and Chrysler, 2005). Statistics (Baruch, Bell and Gray, 2005)
shows that most MBA graduates have better performance and internal and
external improvement. Moreover, the economy would be better off with
students graduated from both generalist and specialized MBA programs
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2.3 Section heading 3：
The final argument advanced by opponents is that the occupational skills
through the MBA is less practical. However, research supports exactly the
opposite conclusion: schools focus on the issue of skills in graduate business
education, and students are trained to be professional and strengthen their
ethical education (Van Auken, Wells and Chrysler, 2005). As described by
experts, only when living standards are improved, can people have the energy
to take advanced courses, to read the many books required and to improve
their own professional and moral training. But if they choose to study the MBA,
all the requirements, such as occupational skills and leadership skills, will be
met through the course. Professors would help create a whole new learning
atmosphere and adapt students to a new culture which may expand students’
horizons.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, business Administration degree is a valuable investment for a
career in business, both for individual self development and economy. As
stated previously, the return on investment for MBA graduates can be both
tangible and intangible value, for example, increasing salary, getting a higher
qualification, learning leadership competencies and even
improving the
growth of economy. In my opinion, students should be encouraged to obtain
such master degree.
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List of references
BARUCH, Y., BELL, M.P. and GRAY, D., 2005. Generalist and specialist
graduate business degrees: Tangible and intangible value. Journal of
Vocational Behavior, 67, pp. 51–68.
BRUCE, G.D., 2010. Exploring the Value of MBA Degrees: Students’
Experiences in Full Time, Part-Time, and Executive MBA Programs. Journal
of Education for Business, 85, pp. 38–44.
DALEY, J., 2012. MBA Smackdown: with entrepreneurship on the rise, is a
traditional business education still necessary? Two outspoken academic
leaders offer opposing views on the continued relevance of that time-honored
degree. Entrepreneur, Oct., pp.64-68.
VAN AUKEN, S., WELLS, L.G. and CHRYSLER, E., 2005. The Relative
Value of Skills, Knowledge, and Teaching Methods in Explaining Master of
Business Administration (MBA) Program Return on Investment. Journal of
Education for Business, Sept/Oct 2005, pp. 41-45.
STEPHENS, D., 2013. A Smart Investor Would Skip the M.B.A.: Why spend
six figures on a business degree? Students would do better to train and
network on their own [online]. The Wall Street Journal. Available at:
<URL:http://online.wsj.com/ > [Accessed 11 March 2014].
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