Hi,

Has any one pursuing or graduated with USM MBA? Pls share your view and experience in terms of lecturer quality, course mate (alumni) and etc.

Depends on what you want .. If it's just a certificate that you want, then u can enrol any uni for MBA certification . MBA will not teach you too much on the basics as that will be degree in business . It is a compressed course learning managerial skills in managing the people n business in various aspects . You are required to contribute , share experience n reflect your working experience. If you don't have enough corporate exposure , your learning n appreciation of the subjects taught will be limited n the ability of you in completing the assignment will not be fulfilling n well done.

I suggest at least 5 years n then get a proper MBA . It's not just the money but more importantly your time committed to these 2 years journey so make the most out of it!

I took mine after 10 years and I have seen those even in the 5 years working struggling to understand or appreciate what the lecturers is talking...

Hi everyone, I am currently a senior technical consultant in IT (digital security industry). Taking a MBA is always a part of my life plan. After 3 years in the consulting role (previously working in manufacturing plant), I felt that the interest of taking MBA was kept growing. However, I have some concerns for taking MBA. Please read the items in below.

1. My background is from Electrical and Electronic Engineering, will there be any problem in studying the business courses? I mean the understanding for business concept.
2. My company currently placed me in Singapore and my job role required me to fly frequently (except weekend). Are there any uni or colleges offer the weekend classes for part time MBA?

Hope some bros here can give me some advise. Thank you very much.

You haven't answered the most important question which is WHY do you want to do an MBA? Don't just do an MBA because you 'feel' like doing it.

Some of the key factors i would consider before embarking on the MBA route would be:

1) Purpose - you need to know what you intend to gain from the MBA and whr ure heading to
2) MBA specialisations - corporate str, economics, finance, international business, entrepreneurship, general mgmt, etc
3) Quality of student enrolment - more students with upper mgmt / senior positions as compared to lower positions
4) Class diversity - interaction with students from varied industries will enrich your learning experience.
5) Ranking of the business school - if the industry doesnt know your business school, career progression options might be limited
6) Accreditation - not important for Ivy League business schools, but an added advantage for the others especially if yor career path leads you to large MNC's. Again the key word here is 'recognition'.
7) Strength of the alumni - a strong diverse alumni association is a key factor in your career progression post MBA
8) Cost - if factors 1-7 above are clear, then cost should be secondary. ROI of the top MBA programs will ensure you get back your investment within a few years.


This post has been edited by cybermaster98: May 17 2016, 01:46 PM

That is a question that only you can answer.

There are no rules that says someone from Electrical and Electronic Engineering background will have difficulties, or not, when it comes to business concepts. It depends.

Engineering is based on hard skills like mathematics and science, and business is based on soft skills likes sales, marketing, public relations, psychology and other intangibles.

The way these things work is people have a fairly good idea of what they want to do and what it entails before they go down that path.

Since you don't, you should stick to engineering.

Hi Cybermaster98,

Thanks for you advise. The information is very useful for me to consider whether I should enroll for MBA. My key role in my currently is supporting the pre & post-sale activity. I always heard the sales manager or my MD sharing the business strategy/marketing strategy plan when we are working on a project. Being a technical consultant, I also need to act as a project manager where I do need to manage resource, project timeline, and etc. Thus, I was thinking that I maybe can learn the management skills, business and marketing strategy from the MBA.

Bro, please correct me if my mindset was wrong as I really keen to learn something from everyone of you. Thank you.

Hi bro,

Thank you for your advise. You are telling the same thing like my MD told me before. He suggest me to strength my soft skills as I am always at the front line. He also share me the importance of the soft skills apply to my job while facing the customer. Is MBA a good choice to grow my soft skills set? My sister (she was holding a PHD in Economy) also told me that MBA required the student "think and see the things" from different dimension. Is that true?

Looks like the general consensus so far would be:

Number 1: Lancaster University MBA/Sunway University MBA; and

Number 2: University of Strathclyde MBA.

Monash. However, I note that there are minimal discussions about Monash University MBA. Overall Monash has the best recognition and ranking in the world (2016 overall rank: 73) though there are not ranked in the top 100 (Financial Times).

Should the branding and recognition of the university where your MBA is issued be given weight as well? As employers would be more aware of Monash than say, Lancaster or Strathclyde.

I visited Monash and the facilities and programs on offered seems to be pretty exceptional (proper campus, library etc.). One point about Monash is that the fees (RM66k) excludes books which you have to purchase on your own and also it is uncertain if the subjects are exam based or coursework based.

Strathclyde. Strathclyde (2016 overall rank: 400-500) meanwhile, would be the oldest foreign MBA offered here in partnership with CDC since 1999 with a proven track record and alumni network in Malaysia which Monash and Lancaster lacks as they are both pretty new and there are so far no graduates I believe.

One of the biggest drawback for me would be the place where the program is conducted. Unlike the other 2 (campus based), this is delivered in an office at Phileo Damansara without a proper library (I note that you have access to Strathclyde's online library) and it is pretty small and not that conducive IMHO.

Also the course is more theoretical in nature and not so case studies based.

Lancaster. I have not attended any Lancaster (2016 overall rank: 130) preview or visited their campus so I'm unable to comment on the facilities and program offered.

Above are my preliminary thoughts so far on the 3 programs on offered.

Thoughts?

MBA may allow you to look and think from different dimension. However, it doesn't take a MBA to do so too.

Learning should be a continuous effort and I strongly recommend you to start with simple reading daily on articles from HBR, Economists and FT perhaps and then see whether you are incline towards these content or not.

Thank you Kiawin. Your advise are very useful to me.

Are there any good options for those without degree to pursue an MBA? 16 years working experience. I believe the apel test is mandatory though I don't particularly agree with it.

This post has been edited by jerm: May 28 2016, 11:13 AM

imho apel is a good measurement of accepting a student for a master's degree without a first degree.

however, I'm unsure whether apel is in effect for all institutions at this point of time.

nevertheless, you may skip apel by taking an external MBA programme.

What is your primary driver for wanting to take up MBA in the first place?

I know I might be still quite young to ask, I'm currently an ACCA Affiliate, who have thought before pursuing my studies in MBA in the future. I thought this could further strengthen my knowledge regarding to business as what ACCA mainly focuses is about money, governance, ethics blah blah

However, it seems like there are a lot of people who hold MBA qualification nowadays. I wanna ask if it's still valuable in current corporate world? Usually on what circumstances would someone recommend to take MBA?

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This post has been edited by dudejrs: Apr 16 2017, 12:14 PM

I'm currently pursuing my MBA in Marketing. I've done sufficient research on the different availability of MBAs around and its accreditation (single award by local uni, single award by foreign uni, dual award and collaborative award). You may PM me and drop your email to know more =)

why should a lawyer take an MBA? what can he gain out of taking an MBA?

There is Australian MBa for 20k please pm me detail

Does anyone considered on UUM and UPM MBA? How's the quality?

kelmarin, this question is absolutely important. However, the answer varies for each individuals.