Jeff Saperstein

I am often asked about the usefulness of an MBA. Having taught in several MBA university programs (15 years at San Francisco State University among others) and seen career trajectories of many MBA graduates—including my older son who is well into 15 years in his career—I have my own and observed experience[JS1] [JS2] .

First, you can have better focus on what you want to achieve in an MBA program if you have career work experience for at least five years of job experience.  Then there are several reasons to consider going for an MBA:

Expand the areas of expertise beyond your department or function.

You can learn other disciplines. A marketing/sales professional will become familiar with finance, accounting, technology platforms, management, international commerce, government regulations, and other disciplines as part of the program.

You get to sample to see what appeals to you for a transition into that field. Importantly, you will better understand and work with other professionals in those domains so you can engage in multi-functional teams and be prepared for higher management roles to supervise and guide others.

You get to see the whole picture from each perspective.

Develop strategic thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, and real-world project experience.

 At the core of most MBA programs are case study and project based learning assignments. Working with groups, you can hone critical thinking and practical applications to varied business problems. Valuable to build your ability to understand what is important to know, the complexity of problems, and ways to evaluate alternatives for recommended action with rationale. 

I have published several business case studies; hundreds of cases are distributed on a common platform. Faculty in any university selects cases to engage students. So there is a common database of cases covering each aspect of business management in every field, creating a great pool of knowledge and experiential learning accessible to every business school.

In addition, there is a strong movement towards project-based learning.

Stanford University Design School pioneered and expanded a model of industry provided projects that students work on under faculty and industry advisors, providing real-world experience and exposure to students who can develop viable solutions. There are also industry offered (Microsoft and Google among many) contests and Hackathons now run through MBA schools to accelerate student experience in entrepreneurship and systems applications.

Connect with a cohort that becomes your life-long network.

Attending an MBA program with classroom and face-to-face group meetings, you develop knowledge, relationships, and bond with your fellow students. In addition to the shared experience, you can find and select fellow students who will become your life-long collaborative network for future opportunities.

The quality of the faculty is important for inspiration, knowledge transfer, and mentoring; however, it is your fellow students who can provide shared opportunities, counsel, and friendship that become the lasting value of the MBA experience.

Fortunately, the Bay Area has many good choices: Stanford and UC Berkeley are international student magnets; Wharton, Babson, Columbia (combined with UC Berkeley in a joint diploma) have local campuses; regional universities such as USF, State (San Francisco, Sonoma, San Jose), Santa Clara, St Mary’s, and others have good, reputable programs.

Remember, the Bay Area business and professional management class is peppered with alumni from these regional universities. They can become part of your network through university alumni programs and your own LinkedIn outreach. 

All now enable students to take MBA programs in flexible scheduling during evenings and weekends and use online class offerings as standard operation.  So a student need not stop working to complete a degree. You can fit it into your work/lifestyle.

Even if you do not choose an MBA program, consider reconnecting as alumni for ongoing learning and development in your field.

Professional schools maintain continuing relationships with alumni. Schools of education offer professional development for career teachers; dental schools provide continuing education for practicing dentists; and law schools offer Certified Legal Education for licensed attorneys.