Freitag Mai 20, 2005
What makes an MBA program excellent?
As you might remember, last week I started a new thread about MBA programs. As a result, I received some interesting comments, both online and offline. Here are the two that I found most interesting:
"McNealy and Ballmer attended Stanford GSB. Dennis Kozlowski went to Seton Hall. Need I say more?"
"FWIW, I completely disagree with your friend who believes that MBA's are about brand names. I think they're about the tools, as well as the network. However - it's NOT about the brand name, unless you're in a business where the brand name really matters. If you're a technology person interested in an MBA, then it's about the tools and the learning and the network. If you're a marketing person, it's probably more about brand. As an employer, WHERE you go is only interesting if a) it's really one of the top schools (though it begs the question why someone would bother getting an MBA from Wharton if they're an engineer) b) if it's someplace where I (as a hiring manager) have a connection or an opinion. In general, in engineering, MBA's are only as useful as the amount you learn"
This led me to the question: "What makes an MBA program an excellent MBA program?"
Looking at the biographies of Scott McNealy and Steve Ballmer, there could be several reasons why they both are such successful business men. Here is for example an extract from Steve Ballmer's bio:
"Ballmer was born in March 1956, and grew up near Detroit, where his father worked as a manager at Ford Motor Co. He graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics. While in college, Ballmer managed the football team, worked on the Harvard Crimson newspaper as well as the university literary magazine, and lived down the hall from fellow sophomore Bill Gates. After college, he worked for two years at Procter & Gamble Co. as an assistant product manager and, before joining Microsoft, attended Stanford University Graduate School of Business."
When I read this I was wondering how much of Steve's career was determined by either his dad being a manager at Ford, his attitude and personality (e.g. managed the football team), his first real jobs (at Procter & Gamble), or his education at Harvard and Stanford? What job would Steve Ballmer have today, if he just went to a noname business school, maybe even outside of the US?
Provided that it is critical where you get your MBA, what are the things that make these programs excellent programs? What is different? What do these business schools provide that cannot be learned or aquired somewhere else? What is so unique about Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, INSEAD, etc.?
Again, I'm very curious to hear your opinions and experiences!
( Mai 20 2005, 12:55:57 PM CEST )
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Go to the home page of a top VC, for instance Sutter Hill Ventures (www.shv.com), and see where they got their degrees. Can you see a pattern? (Except for the one guy from DeVry.)
Not everyone wants to be a VC or a McKinsey consultant or a Goldman banker or work in private equity. But if there's any chance you'll want access to that world - perhaps to raise money for your own startup - you have a huge edge by going to the right school, and being able to call the guy who sat next to you in class. Brand = Network. On the other hand, if you are an engineer, have no interest in changing fields, and would like to progress slowly up the technology ranks - then HBS would be an expensive waste of time.
Gesendet von Schmidt am Mai 20, 2005 at 10:23 PM CEST #
Let's take the example of SUN. Everyone know what the 'S' stands for? (I guess they all couldn't get in to Berkeley ...)
Gesendet von Yoda am Mai 21, 2005 at 06:57 PM CEST #
Gesendet von Thomas am Dezember 01, 2005 at 07:44 PM CET #
Gesendet von Matt Miller am Januar 23, 2006 at 02:39 PM CET #
Gesendet von Andrea Jasperson am Mai 05, 2006 at 01:33 PM CEST #