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| The Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a master's degree
in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic
disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from
the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out
scientific approaches to management. The core courses in the MBA program are
designed to introduce students to the various areas of business such as
accounting, marketing, human resources, operations management, etc. Students in
the MBA program have the option to select an area of concentration and focus
approximately one-third of their studies in this area. |
|
Accreditation bodies exist specifically for MBA programs to ensure consistency
and quality of graduate business education, and business schools in many
countries offer MBA programs tailored to full-time, part-time, executive, and
distance learning students, with specialized concentrations.
Contents
Background
The Tuck School of Business, part of Dartmouth College, was the first graduate
school of business in the United States. Founded in 1900, it was the first
institution conferring advanced degrees (masters) in the commercial sciences,
specifically, a Master of Science in Commerce degree, the forebear of the modern
MBA degree.
In 1908, the Graduate School of Business Administration (GSBA) at Harvard
University was established; it offered the world's first MBA program, with a
faculty of 15 plus 33 regular students and 47 special students.
The University of Chicago Graduate School of Business first offered working
professionals the Executive MBA (EMBA) program in 1940, and this type of program
is offered by most business schools today.
In 1950, the first MBA degrees were awarded outside the United States by The
University of Western Ontario in Canada,[1] followed in 1951 with the degree
awarded by the University of Pretoria in South Africa.[2] The Institute of
Business Administration, Karachi in Pakistan was established in 1955 as the
first Asian business school by the Wharton School of the University of
Pennsylvania. In 1957, INSEAD became the first European business school to offer
an MBA program.[citation needed]
The MBA degree has been adopted by universities worldwide, and has been adopted
and adapted by both developed and developing countries.[3]
[edit] Accreditation
Business schools or MBA programs may be accredited by external bodies which
provide students and employers with an independent view of their quality, and
indicate that the school's educational curriculum meets specific quality
standards. The three major accrediting bodies in the United States are
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which accredits
research universities, the Association of Collegiate Business Schools and
Programs (ACBSP), which accredits universities and colleges, and the
International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE),[4] all of
which also accredit schools outside the US. The AACSB and the ACBSP are
themselves accredited in the United States by the Council for Higher Education
Accreditation (CHEA).[5] MBA programs with specializations for students pursuing
careers in healthcare management also eligible for accreditation by the
Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME).
In the United States, a college or university must be accredited as a whole
before it is eligible to have its MBA program accredited. Bodies that accredit
institutions as a whole include the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA):
Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA), New England Association
of Schools and Colleges (NEASCSC), Higher Learning Commission of the North
Central Association of Colleges and Schools (HLC), Northwest Commission on
Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
(SACS), and Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).[6]
Accreditation agencies outside the United States include the Association of MBAs
(AMBA), a UK based organization that accredits MBA, DBA and MBM programs
worldwide, government accreditation bodies such as the All India Council for
Technical Education (AICTE) that accredits MBA and PGDM programs across India,
the Council on Higher Education (CHE) in South Africa, the European Quality
Improvement System (EQUIS) for mostly European and Asian schools, and the
Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation (FIBAA) in
Europe.
[edit] Basic types of MBA programs
Two-year (Full Time) MBA programs normally take place over two academic years
(i.e. approximately 18 months of term time). For example in the Northern
Hemisphere beginning in late August/September of year one and continuing until
May of year two, with a three to four month summer break in between years one
and two. Students enter with a reasonable amount of prior real-world work
experience and take classes during weekdays like other university students.
Accelerated MBA programs are a variation of the two year programs. They involve
a higher course load with more intense class and examination schedules. They
usually have less "down time" during the program and between semesters. For
example, there is no three to four month summer break, and between semesters
there might be seven to ten days off rather than three to five weeks vacation.
Part-time MBA programs normally hold classes on weekday evenings, after normal
working hours, or on weekends. Part-time programs normally last three years or
more. The students in these programs typically consist of working professionals,
who take a light course load for a longer period of time until the graduation
requirements are met.
Executive MBA (EMBA) programs developed to meet the educational needs of
managers and executives, allowing students to earn an MBA or another
business-related graduate degree in two years or less while working full time.
Participants come from every type and size of organization – profit, nonprofit,
government — representing a variety of industries. EMBA students typically have
a higher level of work experience, often 10 years or more, compared to other MBA
students. In response to the increasing number of EMBA programs offered, The
Executive MBA Council was formed in 1981 to advance executive education.
Distance learning MBA programs hold classes off-campus. These programs can be
offered in a number of different formats: correspondence courses by postal mail
or email, non-interactive broadcast video, pre-recorded video, live
teleconference or videoconference, offline or online computer courses. Many
respectable schools offer these programs; however, so do many diploma mills.
Dual MBA programs combine MBA degree with others (such as an MS or a J.D., etc)
to let students cut costs (dual programs usually cost less than pursuing 2
degrees separately), save time on education and to tailor the business education
courses to their needs. Some business schools offer programs in which students
can earn both a bachelor's degree in business administration and an MBA in four
or five years.
[edit] Admissions criteria
Most programs base admission on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT),
significant work experience, academic transcripts, essays, references or letters
of recommendation and personal interviews. The Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
is also accepted by some schools in lieu of the GMAT.[7] Schools are also
interested in extracurricular activities, community service activities and how
the student can improve the diversity and contribute to the student body as a
whole. All of these qualifications are important for admission; however, some
schools do not weigh GMAT scores as heavily as other criteria. In order to
achieve a diverse class, business schools also consider the target male-female
ratio and local-international student ratios.
[edit] Program content
Most top MBA programs cover similar subjects within their core required courses.
For information about the typical content of an MBA program's core curriculum,
see the overview at the Wikiversity MBA topic page. MBA programs expose students
to a variety of subjects, which students may choose to specialize in a
particular area. Students traditionally study a wide breadth of courses in the
program's first year, then pursue a specialized curriculum in the second year.
Full-time students typically seek an internship during the interim. Typical
specializations include: accounting; economics; Entrepreneurship; finance;
international business; operations management; organizational behavior;
marketing; real estate; and strategy, among others.
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